Mac Mini: VERY SLIM!

[[XC] Synthetickiller]

Reading the title, I was surprized to see it wasnt a thread created by "therightway" or whatever his name is. More surprizing, it came from you!

I suppose for the size, its a fairly well spec'ed machine. Although I still wouldnt couldnt justify the price tag for something so gimmicky...
OTOH: it could make for an expensive, yet convenient HTPC. Perhaps there might be something more to this than just a sheeple lure

SFF Fetish... you caught me....

It's funny people are ing about hardware, apple was never known for that. I can't stand Apple, I can't stand their business practices. I just like how it's tiny and the fact that I CAN'T build something like this unless I got plexiglass and learn how to build with it on top of getting very custom boards b/c atom or lesser processors do NOT fit my requirements.

That said, Apple can go suck it, but I'd pick up one of these in a year or two if it was $300. I can always buy a dead laptop off ebay and throw the processor in there and upgrade to something better.

Btw, I can't find any good ITX cases besides SG05/06 and I'm still dealing w/ 775/i3/i5/i7 w/ larger power envelopes (which isn't an issue) but forces larger heatsinks and larger cases, Although throwing 5850s in there rocks, but that's not the point either.

I've been looking for fast (2.4ghz is enough for what I need) w/ 10w power envelope at idle. Apple won't get my money, but in the future, someone else might (at a highly discounted price!)

[FischOderAal]

Teardown
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Mac-M...eardown/3094/1

[BulldogPO]

Those pics from inside I was waiting for

[lowfat]

Teardown
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Mac-M...eardown/3094/1

[haylui]

I don't think this is marvellous
by using everything from nettops, I think it is easy to shrunk to this size.

[Mats]

I've totally missed this chip(set), the GeForce 320M. Seems to be really fast. Too bad it's made for 775..

[ElSel10]

what kind of mac laptop can you get thats comparable to it? imagining you wanted a mac and was debating on this or a laptop.

True. But then that also begs the question, why would anybody want a Mac in the first place?

[Manicdan]

good teardown, im a little lost about the HDDs though, one model is going to have 2, and they couldnt tell if there was enough space for duel hdds?

[lowfat]

good teardown, im a little lost about the HDDs though, one model is going to have 2, and they couldnt tell if there was enough space for duel hdds?

The 'server' model doesn't have an optical drive which is how it can fit two hard drives. The model w/ an optical drive can not fit anything more.

[lowfat]

I don't think this is marvellous
by using everything from nettops, I think it is easy to shrunk to this size.

Did you look at the teardown? It is pretty much jam packed. It is a pretty well engineered.

[Manicdan]

The 'server' model doesn't have an optical drive which is how it can fit two hard drives. The model w/ an optical drive can not fit anything more.

ahh thanks

Did you look at the teardown? It is pretty much jam packed. It is a pretty well engineered.

i dont call that well engineered, its not tough to do that kind of math. you know the size of most things, they are standard. the only thing that looks custom is the motherboard, which always is on every laptop ever built, and the power supply, which is pushing out a measly 84W

if that had only an SSD, which was not a typical 2.5", but much smaller, if the ram sticks were standard, if the cdrom drive somehow had other parts merged with it, etc. then it would be well engineered.

i built a PC into a laptop briefcase (13"x16"x4" i think of internal space)
full ATX mobo, duel slot video card, tv tuner card, 500W psu, HDD, and optical, complete with custom cooling. basically everything u see in a mid tower case i had in a briefcase that was 1/3 the volume. took alot of modding to get it all jammed in there, but it wasnt that hard since most of it was just knowing where i CAN fit it, cause i couldnt change its shape

[BeepBeep2]

Desktop power in a nettop size with mac quality and looks.

I like Apple products more all the time.

This thing cost 50% more than an Acer mini desktop

You didnt just say that. ...

[Wiggy McShades]

You do realize that apple does not make their laptops? Asus makes them.

I find macs very visually unappealing for the most part.

They are designing them though, it doesn't matter who puts the parts together. The better battery life comes through design not by them being put together some special way.

[[XC] Synthetickiller]

I do think it's funny to compare an atom processor to a C2D.

[Manicdan]

space isnt that much different between C2D and atom, just power consumption, which leads to a bigger psu, and heatsink, the fact this dosnt run off a battery is probably the only reason they didnt care to use a weak atom. 84W is alot for a laptop, my beastly C2D laptop complete with screen and dedicated graphics uses only a 54W brick. the docking station recommends much higher though, like 95W, due all the powered ports and crap.

[perry_78]

considering the high-power hardware present in macbooks their battery life is extremely impressive; and NO other manufacturer comes remotely close to the macbooks in terms of build quality and design

IBM's thinkpads definitely surpassed them, and the current Lenovo's that I've seen are still pretty good. My old T60 4 years ago came with a full magnesium chasis and magnesium alloy top, and these things are, unlike the MBs and MBPs, pretty much bulletproof. Everyone who I know with a MB or MBP has had to have had theirs serviced or replaced within 2 years.

I like this mac mini, if anything the design on it is stunning. I'm just left wondering why they integrated the power supply, other than for being able to say "smallest desktop with integrated psu"?

[Baron_Davis]

Macs are for girls cause they like small and nice looking things. Custom PC's are for men, cause they like things that are big and powerful.

[lowfat]

Macs are for girls cause they like small and nice looking things. Custom PC's are for men, cause they like things that are big and powerful.

Go troll somewhere else.

[Mats]

The problem is that people compare the cheapest Apple product with the cheapest x product, even if the former costs 3 times more.
Apple laptops should be compared to Thinkpads, Elitebooks etc. Not the cheapest Acer or whatever.

Apple fans NEVER look at the price when comparing.

Calling Apple über quality.. I dunno about that. They're about as good as anything in the same price category, but better? No way. Design however is a matter of taste.

Look for Macbook Air hinges, LOL. http://www.google.com/search?q=macbook+air+hinge

Or blown caps in iMacs from 2006, both motherboard and PSU? Come on, that's waaay to late to blame some failed industrial espionage, everybody else had known this for at least a couple of years by then.
Cheap caps, simple as that.

[Baron_Davis]

Go troll somewhere else.

The fact that you have a Mac makes you a girly man. Real men care about power, not how cute and tiny their PC is.

Also, I've seen pics of your PC. You are vain, you care too much about looks. But it's OK, it's a growing trend among so-called "men" these days. They care more about the look of their toys more than teenage girls do. They enjoy reading posts from their fellow girly men saying how nice and organized their "hardcore" setups are. They waste money on fancy looking Lian-Li cases and fancy sleeved cables instead of putting that money towards more power.

This is why companies like Apple succeed. They feed off the effeminate men of today and their teeny bopper counter parts. Keep caring about the superficial and Apple will keep making millions off your dumb asses.

[Mats]

Baron_Davis: lowfat doesn't deserve that..

[Wiggy McShades]

the fact that you have a mac makes you a girly man. Real men care about power, not how cute and tiny their pc is.

Also, i've seen pics of your pc. You are vain, you care too much about looks. But it's ok, it's a growing trend among so-called "men" these days. They care more about the look of their toys more than teenage girls do. They enjoy reading posts from their fellow girly men saying how nice and organized their "hardcore" setups are. They waste money on fancy looking lian-li cases and fancy sleeved cables instead of putting that money towards more power.

This is why companies like apple succeed. They feed off the effeminate men of today and their teeny bopper counter parts. Keep caring about the superficial and apple will keep making millions off your dumb asses.

Real men are tough on the internet.

[Baron_Davis]

Baron_Davis: lowfat doesn't deserve that..

It was more of a general attack on the wannabe xtremers on this forum. Everytime something interesting comes out, instead of looking at functionality, all these random losers start going off on how it looks. WTF does looks have to do with anything? This ain't Xtreme Barbie Makeover. It's XtremeSystems.

PS. I'm even tougher IRL.

[pwolfe]

The fact that you have a Mac makes you a girly man. Real men care about power, not how cute and tiny their PC is.

Also, I've seen pics of your PC. You are vain, you care too much about looks. But it's OK, it's a growing trend among so-called "men" these days. They care more about the look of their toys more than teenage girls do. They enjoy reading posts from their fellow girly men saying how nice and organized their "hardcore" setups are. They waste money on fancy looking Lian-Li cases and fancy sleeved cables instead of putting that money towards more power.

This is why companies like Apple succeed. They feed off the effeminate men of today and their teeny bopper counter parts. Keep caring about the superficial and Apple will keep making millions off your dumb asses.

[Mats]

It was more of a general attack on the wannabe xtremers on this forum. Everytime something interesting comes out, instead of looking at functionality, all these random losers start going off how it's soooooo ugly. WTF does looks have to do with anything? This ain't Xtreme Barbie Makeover. It's XtremeSystems.

Yeah keep whining...
Again, it's a matter of taste. I don't like Apple either, but that doesn't make me act like a child against people who do.
This isn't being tough, it is being immature.