Mac Mini refresh soon...

Archer75

Supreme [H]ardness
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Looks like the Best Buy and Amazon supply of Mini's is drying up. Possibly a refresh coming soon? I hope so.
 
I really need a new desktop for home. (The iMac is at my office) I would buy one in a second if they got the quad core i7s from the MBP update.
 
I think the mini makes sense around $500. At $700+tax, an iMac makes way more sense.
 
I can build one for less off of Newegg... You know what the bigger perk is though? The fact that I can run a more secure OS with more functionality on it: Linux.
 
I can build one for less off of Newegg... You know what the bigger perk is though? The fact that I can run a more secure OS with more functionality on it: Linux.

Out of curiosity, and for science, I would like to see you do this. Going from the Mini-ITX cases on Newegg, I see nothing even remotely close to as small as the Mac Mini. I kind of doubt you could do this. You should be able to on the other points tho (cpu power definitely, the Mac Minis are weak).
 
I'm going to suggest you look not at the case section but at the mini/booksize subsection of Newegg's barebones computer selection. Several C2D systems by AOpen that are actually a hair lower total volume than the Mac Mini, even without getting into the Atom machines and the like. Not at all difficult to construct a more powerful machine of the same size, for less, all via NE. Though at that point you can go into looks, quality of the hardware, and so on. But a pretty paint job don't make it go faster :D
 
I can build one for less off of Newegg... You know what the bigger perk is though? The fact that I can run a more secure OS with more functionality on it: Linux.

Why can't you run Linux on a Mac mini? It works fine for me.

I love everyone's answer to Apple prices. "I can build one for less on Newegg". Since Apple is clearly not competing with the home-assembly market, why not point out that assembling your own on Newegg is also cheaper than HP, Dell, and any other PC manufacturer?

So again, where can you BUY a computer with similar specs, as small, and with similar power requirements? With a warranty from a reliable vendor, and not thrown together yourself?

I know there is value in assembling my own, since that's how I paid my rent in college, assembling systems for other people. But now that I have a real job and real responsibilities, I don't have as much time to screw around with assemblies that might not work right out of the box. I need something that is going to just work every time. Whether it's an HP, Dell, or my own choice, Apple. It's worth the money to me, spending the money on a system that I know will work, rather than saving a few bucks on the parts (and paying myself nothing for labor...my hourly rate is expensive). Just because I know how to do something doesn't mean it's always the way to go. The "I can do it myself for less" seems to only apply to argue against Apple's prices.
 
I'm going to suggest you look not at the case section but at the mini/booksize subsection of Newegg's barebones computer selection. Several C2D systems by AOpen that are actually a hair lower total volume than the Mac Mini, even without getting into the Atom machines and the like. Not at all difficult to construct a more powerful machine of the same size, for less, all via NE. Though at that point you can go into looks, quality of the hardware, and so on. But a pretty paint job don't make it go faster :D

I took a look through that link, and seemed to find $300 cases with no processor, no hard drive, and no memory. Some have Atom processors, but those aren't comparable to the Core2Duo processors. Am I missing something? You might save a few bucks over the new $700 mini, but over the old mini, you'd probably have less computer for more money if you built your own.
 
There are several mini-sized machines on the market. Unfortunately, they all use Atom processors, utilize slower GPUs and still somehow manage to consume more power than the mini at idle and typically not much less at load. I'm unaware of any machine that directly competes with the mini at any price point.

Naturally you can build a PC for the same specs for less. But it won't be as small as the mini nor will it have the same power profile, and it's unlikely it will be as quiet.
 
Totally love my mom's Mac Mini, so don't take this as hate. But what does size matter for a desktop computer? I mean outside of having some giant behemoth like an 800D where the room has to be designed around it.

I'd personally love for Apple to make the mini a bit larger. Hell, raise the size so that it's two Mini's on top of each other and you could probably fit some really nice stuff in there. It's still be attractively small, if that really matters to people. If Apple can cram all that nice stuff into such a small space, imagine if it were only slightly larger.

I could have seen it when it was more of a TV thing, but with Apple TV doesn't the "Mini for the TV" market become really small?
 
I took a look through that link, and seemed to find $300 cases with no processor, no hard drive, and no memory. Some have Atom processors, but those aren't comparable to the Core2Duo processors. Am I missing something? You might save a few bucks over the new $700 mini, but over the old mini, you'd probably have less computer for more money if you built your own.


First, I specifically said I wasn't including the Atom-based machines. Second, I posted in response to this:

Out of curiosity, and for science, I would like to see you do this. Going from the Mini-ITX cases on Newegg, I see nothing even remotely close to as small as the Mac Mini. I kind of doubt you could do this.

Point was, yes you can, not that it's a great idea. Personally, I've been lusting after the Mac Minis for years, but they just haven't been enough machine for the money, for me.
 
You would think they wold be coming out with a refresh around June right??
 
The argument that you can build a similar computer via newegg to any number of Apple machines is as old as the internet itself (or so it seems).

I am willing to concede that you may pay a slight premium for Mac products, but to me it's worth it. I have a MacMini Server and love it and think it was well worth the $800 (refurb) that I paid for it (w/ OSX Server).

The cases on Newegg (I don't think) look nearly as good as the MacMini and for me, the way the product looks is important.
 
I know it will cost more, but I can barely justify even $600 for a mini. I paid $500 for my last one from Apple's refurb section. I probably won't be getting a new SB mini any time soon after launch. :(

No other *tiny* SFF system comes close to the mini in specs or price. It was a joke a couple of years ago when MSI and others were selling Celeron barebones for about the same price as a Mini, and full Celeron systems for a couple hundred more than a Core 2 Duo Mini. Most of those have thankfully died.

You can build a bigger, more powerful system easily for the same price or less though. My shoebox-sized mini ITX HTPC has a Core i5 661 (4 threads, 3.33GHz + 3.6GHz turbo), 4GB DDR3, 2TB HDD, BD/DVD burner, GT 240 DDR5. Including a Win 7 license, total cost was $550. Best part: I have no reason to ever *replace* it since all the parts are standard and interchangeable, so it can easily be upgraded (I plan on upgrading to SB later this year or IB next year). ;) I'm sure it could run OS X, but I don't want to bother and it's not necessary. I already have 2 real Macs.
 
You would think they wold be coming out with a refresh around June right??

My guess is April. With an announcement perhaps as early as next week. Shipping late April or early May.

That's my guess based on what i've been reading.
 
My guess is April. With an announcement perhaps as early as next week. Shipping late April or early May.

That's my guess based on what i've been reading.

If they refresh the mini i might have a new home machine
 
It was like December/January when I was considering a Mac Mini for HTCP purposes. But then I knew it would've been more of an impulse buy instead of a real need (currently got a Patriot Box streaming from NAS to TV and working real well). Plus it was already half way to the next iteration and Apple products don't really taper off in price until the next version. IMO it makes more sense to buy the latest version at release or near it. Otherwise if you purchase the current version midway or closer to the next release, then you just end up drooling over the newer version.

So I convinced myself to wait.. Here we are now, I say about 1 to 2 months away from the next version.

Now then, if they drop the price of the old version to like 40% off MSRP, then I say that's a reasonable buy for some to consider.
 
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