Forums | MacLife

lieven wrote:

So if the Apple TV would support external storage devices, it would be enough for you?

Doesn't the AppleTV need a computer to stream the videos anyway?

And I'll be using the mini for web browsing also.  Basic mindless entertainment center.

ScifiterX wrote:

It streams from computer but has it's own storage drive it can also play from.

Right, but you still need the computer to get them on there, right?

I think most of the complaints about Apple in general is a lack of options.  I hope a consumer Mac appears one day, but I don't see why the mini can't still exist (I also know the answer why not is Apple's profit margins).

The mac mini has it's place, I really don't see it getting discontinued. It's not intended for the power user or Pro's. It was designed to create switchers, use your existing monitor, keyboard and mouse.

The original G4 1.25 mini was our first mac, my wife and I had been contemplating getting a mac for a few years but never really made the jump as we had a pretty large investment in our pc software and accessories. We happened to be in the mall the day the mini was released and at $500 bucks we said what the heck. My wife fell in love with iLife right off the bat. That mini has now gone to my parent's who use it simply for email, web surfing and video iChat to see their new grand daughter. We have since purchased 2 more mac's, a 20" imac for my self and a new intel mini for my wife.

My parents will never upgrade their computer, when I gave them the mini they were using a windows 95 PC with a 200Mhz Pentium & 32 MB of ram! And my wife will just buy a new mini when this one wont fit her needs any longer. The mini does every thing my wife wants with power to spare. Besides Ram we really never upgrade our machines any way we, just buy new ones.

I like to think about my computers the same way I think about my car, Do I really need something with 500 hp?  I'm not racing nor am I needing to tow around heavy loads so why on earth would I buy that type of vehicle? We buy a nice car, drive it till it starts getting old and tired and then we sell it and buy a new one. I don't upgrade my car why do I "need" to be able to upgrade my computer?

Yep - the form factor is the problem.  It is too expensive to produce and therefore to buy (for what you get).

I suspect that Apple is worried if they increase the size, up the performance (by using desktop components) and make the price really competitive, then they risk the premium iMac market.

I don't know what the answer is.  I use a Mac Pro even though it is well beyond my needs.  A proper consumer desktop would rock - but it must risk taking sales from the iMac line.

jetson wrote:

The mini is perfect for many people. 

Carry on.

Absolutely. There is certainly a niche for SFF computers.

That's what I thought cuz a couple of years ago when I was going thru one of my occasional "smurf Apple" periods I was considering building a PC and the advice I got at the time was that AMD was cheaper and faster and particularly faster for doing graphics.
If I were going to do a home brew today I would choose Intel but next year who knows what the better choice might be.

So the top of the line will be a 30" iMac??

Yowza!

No, the top would be a 24". There just won't be a 17" anymore. 17" is outdated. Demoted to laptop only status. Anyone with a 17" monitor anymore should be laughed at and mocked.

I keed of course, but still, it's how I see things progressing. 20" is very popular and awesome. So of course it should be low end. Hell, they might even bump the resolution to more accurately match how the 17" displays on the MacBook Pro's were bumped to a 20" resolution and the 15"'s were bumped to 17" resolution.

Jasoco has spoken. My word is my bond. And all that jazz.

rickag wrote:

I will disappointed if Apple discontinues the Mac mini.  For its' intended market, it seemed to be a great little computer.  My only criticism, at this time, with the current models, would be addressed with a Core 2 Duo and upgraded integrated graphics.  I really thought the original G4 models hit the mark extremely well.

I read an article way back when it was rumored that AMD was buying ATI and it talked about Intel integrating 3D instructions in to the x86 pipeline and that it could possibly make current 3D cards look like the 2D cards of 5 years ago.........


This would be sweet indeed well if  ole Stevie decides his  user base was worthy enough to rate high end graphics without spending $2500+

BearsFan34 wrote:

PackersFan34 wrote:

**BLASPHEMY!!!!**

I'd rather be forced to use a Windows box for the rest of my life than have anything to do with the puke & green.

For the person who wants more than a 250GB drive inside a mini for home entertainment use...good lord man! How much stuff do you have? I guess if you really wanted to rip every single DVD in the highest quality and had HD content, perhaps one would need more...but sheesh. I can't imagine spending all the time necessary to rip a DVD library just to have them on a HDD...seems just as easy to pop a DVD in & go. Plus, external drives hooked up to a mini are your friend.

I have 100GB of music alone, then 52 GB of ripped-to h.264 DVDs (via handbrake), and I'm still working on ripping my entire selection. 250 would be enough a year or two though.

I am going to get a mac mini for a media center of sorts (mostly music though). It'll be hooked up to a tv and stereo and will run music straight off it, and in addition it will be hooked up to the wireless network so everyone's laptops in the house can access music without having it on their hard drives. Hopefully it will be in charge of an Airport Express too.

As a media center, it takes care of the job very well. It's nearly perfect I suppose.

AND the coolest part is Apple and 3rd party developers are milking the form factor to no avail! I'll be stacking my Airport Extreme on top of my mini and will probably have a USB hub and maybe the Lacie mini hard drive. They all are in that small form factor now! Too bad my Western Digital external doesn't fit in well...