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Product: Apple MC239LL/A Amazon Price: Too low to display Availability: In Stock |
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First of all my credentials, I have been writing Mac software since 1992. I’ve had on my various desks a Mac Plus, Performa 605, PowerBook 100, several iBooks, PowerBook G4s, MacBook, PowerMacs 7600, 8100, G3, G4 and G5, a couple recent generation iMacs and a previous generation Mac Mini. I have seen Macs come and go, and I just love this little desktop. It is exactly what I need for compiling a large desktop application using Apple’s development tools. What I need is a reasonably fast processor, Firewire, 4GB of RAM and multiple monitor support. I do not need a huge box filled with disks. I do not need some super fast GPU. I do not need PCI cards. If I did, then yeah, a Mac Pro would be sitting under my desk sucking up the Watts.
My company has also provided me with a monstrous, fully loaded, Dell whose case could hold upwards of 30 Mac Mini’s. In the one processor intensive task I do–doing a full rebuild of a large C++ application–the Xenon processor and desktop hard drives in the Dell can complete the task in 6 minutes while the Core 2 Duo processor and laptop drives in the Mini can do the task in 13 minutes. If I were doing that task many times a day (as opposed to several times a week) then I would need to move up to a high end iMac or Mac Pro; but I don’t and I can live with the more typical single change, compile, link time of 14 seconds on the Mini versus a very erratic 6 seconds on the Dell (for whatever reason Visual Studio on the PC will sometimes take over a minute to do this).
Why is this Mac Mini a better value then the MC238LL/A at the lower price? Because it adds more RAM, a larger hard drive, and a slightly faster CPU, and I don’t have to pop it open to max it out. All three things together make it worth the extra dough. If you are just going to use it for a home theatre PC, as many people do, then added expense is probably not worth it and you should go with the lesser model.
Why would you choose this over a current generation iMac? The iMacs are great machines, and can be ordered as quite the powerhouses with i5 or i7 processors, and with desktop level graphics engines, but they might be overkill and in the long run it may not make sense to be ordering machines where you can’t reuse the previous machine’s monitor. If you have a monitor already, the Mini will be several hundred dollars cheaper. Also, if the monitor has multiple inputs, the Mini bought today can be retired as a home server in a couple years with the Mini of the future stacked upon it sharing the same monitor. While the newest iMacs do allow there use as an external Display Port monitor, its still a bit inflexible tying the computer to the display. Having said this, I like the iMac too, and if you need a monitor and have the room, it may be the way to go.
Why is this Mac Mini much better than previous Mac Minis? The Mini has had several value adding changes over the last couple years: going from PowerPC to Intel, adding multiple monitor support, adding FireWire 800 support, and getting a decent GPU in the NVidia 9400M. This is a real computer. Not some dinky Ion laptop. It can do computationally intensive things, like in my case compiling hundreds of thousands of lines of C++ code. And yet it is tiny, and quiet.
So, yeah, I like this box.
Anyway, installation could hardly be simpler. Pop it out of the box, plug in a keyboard and mouse. It comes with a mini-DVI to DVI adaptor which will connect to any modern monitor, and you can get a mini-Display Port adaptor separately to add multiple monitor support. Power it up and you will soon be computing. It’s nice, fast and quiet. Plenty of USB ports (5). Add up whatever peripherals you need: speakers, external hard drives (look at getting drives with Firewire 800, they are much faster and reliable than USB 2.0).
My wife has an older Mac Mini which she runs Windows Vista in Boot Camp mode and has done so without problem for over a year. I would think this Mini would be even better as a Windows 7 box with the much improved graphics chips allowing for better use of the Aero interface.
The previous dual-display-support Mac mini was introduced on 3/3/09. It’s been just half year and it is updated already. Considering that the previous model are essentially identical (2.0GHz) and the 2.25GHz ‘custom made’ model was a $200 option, this is a nice upgrade. With the previous version, the value was in the entry-level model ($599), because the $799 model packs in useless 1GB x 2 and 320GB hard drive, which is practically worthless nowadays, it made sense to buy the entry model and put in the RAM and hard drive.
Now the differences are:
160GB vs 320GB
2GB (1GB x 2) vs 4GB (2GB x 2)
processor is 2.53 vs. 2.25GHz
160GB is all over my floor anyway, so it’s valued at $0.
320GB should be valued at $60
2GB (1GB x 2) = $0, because 1GB modules are all over the floor and worthless.
4GB (2GB x 2) = $80 and on the rise.
When the actual price difference of $200 and the value difference of $140 tossed into the washer, $60 come out of the wash.
This means the 2.53GHz vs 2.25GHz difference is valued at $60. As the added speed is translated into productivity, this $60 difference is well worth it.