Yes indeed I have a new toy. Mac mini be thy name. I’ve opined for years that Apple needs a killer “iCheap” to really even attempt to take a bite out of Microsoft’s monster-share of the pie and while the ill-fated cube (aka iKleenex) couldn’t do it I think this little lovely has a decent shot. What the Mac mini is of course is the long hyped “headless” iMac- an Apple with no keyboard, video, or mouse. Lack of accessories cuts the price but leaves nothing to be desired, especially when it comes to a form-factor to drool over, my hand spread easily covers the whole unit. (And wipes off the drool.)

What is really going to be a kick is watching the after-market wheels spin like crazy on this one, the mini is destined to be the in-car computer of choice far into the foreseeable future, and soon there will be more devices to stack on or over the mini that I’m sure it’ll start to get silly.

So Why’d the Wish Buy?

First of course the price was right, though after I added all my upgrades and bought a gig of RAM to stick in the mini it ceased being a “budget” PC by any means. It’s still nine yards short of a G5′s 1st down price, and I can’t wait for the G5 PowerBook. With my old laptop struggling of late it was time for an upgrade. The best part is that with the gig of RAM added this sandwich sized unit isn’t a slouch- I’ve got 12 applications open right now and am streaming audio and video over the LAN- no hiccups at all- the only thing not mini is my geeky grin. When I decide to upgrade the best decision will be figuring out how to use the mini next- Car? PVR? Server? Giant martini coaster?

The only knock for me is a minor one- though it wasn’t as hard to open as I thought it would be, (who thought I could be happy to wield a putty knife?) it was a hell of a time getting lil’ Humpty back together. The unit wasn’t made to be user-serviceable, I ask why the hell not? I’m not going to the store to have someone install my RAM. I’d be so ashamed! Seriously I’d rather void my warranty and beat my computer to bits than turn it over to a hired pocket-protector.

mini Only in Name

In short it’s a Mac made for the masses that has done nothing but please this discerning computer user to the (IBM powerpc) core.

Already it’s not a mini to me- it’s just a question of why every other computer is so damn big.