Mac Mini....
Someone at the Mac Users LJ community was asking what people thought of the current Mac Mini with Superdrive. Some of them said things like, "My friend told me that it's only good for light web surfing and word processing and it can't even handle streaming video". That's simply untrue.... I've had the older Mac Mini since 2005 and it can do those things and more. I've even beaten what was considered the latest games of these past couple of years on it albeit on low settings thanks to its ATI Radeon GPU. The new Mac Mini with the Core 2 Duo may not be able to play the latest games but it can play all the videos including HD that you can throw at it... as well as do graphics work and all other general computing tasks that you'd want to do.
I had to say something in defense of the Mac Mini although it may also be true that if you are having to buy peripherals and a monitor with it that an iMac especially a refurbished one might be a better choice. But I get the feeling that the person doesn't care too much about games and so either computer may suit her just fine.
Here's the thing... even though the Mac Mini pretty much is just an entry level computer (especially now that it's on integrated graphics) it's still a better value than the MacBook Air which features a slower CPU, Slower smaller iPod hard drive, and less of everything else. Now, before anyone yells at me I understand there is a small market out there for "ultraportable" laptops that tend to sacrifice features and power for portability.. but I'm just thinking about the real world for those who can't afford such stuff. Also when I'm out and about I know I can live without an optical drive and the other things its missing but it still stands for me that you are paying more for less.
For example if I put 1,7000+ dollars (with accessories) into one of those that would have been money that I could have sunk into building a good gaming PC or even getting an iMac or something. Heck, someone put a list of parts from newegg that shows you can put together a pretty decent gaming PC for around 700 dollars so that would be the path that makes sense for me personally.
But for someone who needs a simple little computer that can do most tasks a regular person needs to do on a daily basis a new Core 2 Duo Mac Mini fits the bill. Heck I'm still pretty much happy with the older G4 Mac Mini for those tasks and for older games... and I'm probably going to keep it for as long as it works as a spare computer even when I get me a new one.
I had to say something in defense of the Mac Mini although it may also be true that if you are having to buy peripherals and a monitor with it that an iMac especially a refurbished one might be a better choice. But I get the feeling that the person doesn't care too much about games and so either computer may suit her just fine.
Here's the thing... even though the Mac Mini pretty much is just an entry level computer (especially now that it's on integrated graphics) it's still a better value than the MacBook Air which features a slower CPU, Slower smaller iPod hard drive, and less of everything else. Now, before anyone yells at me I understand there is a small market out there for "ultraportable" laptops that tend to sacrifice features and power for portability.. but I'm just thinking about the real world for those who can't afford such stuff. Also when I'm out and about I know I can live without an optical drive and the other things its missing but it still stands for me that you are paying more for less.
For example if I put 1,7000+ dollars (with accessories) into one of those that would have been money that I could have sunk into building a good gaming PC or even getting an iMac or something. Heck, someone put a list of parts from newegg that shows you can put together a pretty decent gaming PC for around 700 dollars so that would be the path that makes sense for me personally.
But for someone who needs a simple little computer that can do most tasks a regular person needs to do on a daily basis a new Core 2 Duo Mac Mini fits the bill. Heck I'm still pretty much happy with the older G4 Mac Mini for those tasks and for older games... and I'm probably going to keep it for as long as it works as a spare computer even when I get me a new one.