You wouldn’t buy a Mac mini for its speed. A 1.25GHz processor is almost quaint by today’s standards -- kind of like zeppelins.
You wouldn’t buy a Mac mini for its speed. A 1.25GHz processor is almost quaint by today’s standards -– kind of like zeppelins, or tyres that need to be vulcanised.
You would buy a Mac mini because it’s extremely cool, and because it does actually have some functions besides making home movies to bore/shock your family.
It’s incredibly small. It’s so small that even the likes of Shuttle could learn a thing or two about ‘small form factor’ from the mini.
It’s not designed to be opened by normal hands, but deviant hands, wielding a sharpened putty knife (that is Apple’s officially recommended tool) can get the lid off in a jiffy. Not surprisingly though, once inside, there’s not a hell of a lot you can do, although there is a website showing how a touch of solder can give you around a 10% overclock.
While Apple intended the diminutive system to appeal to disenfranchised Windows users, the Mac mini is actually carving a niche as more of a digital appliance than a PC proper. You can use it headless as a file server, an Internet gateway, or a streaming media player – although you’ll want the $119 wireless upgrade for these. You can also make it the hub of a home media centre, although its lack of I/O and video in relegate it to a supplementary role. You could even slap one in your car, but again, it’ll take some fiddling.
Or, if you’re really bold, you could use it as a home PC, and have fun with the comprehensive iLife ’05 suite. Don’t worry, we won’t judge.
Issue: 133 | February, 2012