New (?) Mini mac pics

[bloodline]

Holley wrote:
It looks like the hardware is just about exactly what the new MicroA1s should be - if OS4 was made available for it it would be a dream come true.  I have my A3000 for messing around on, getting one of these would just be for serious work ... it's so tempting!

ps. I've always wanted a slot-loading CD drive, I still think my car CD player is neat :-D

Well, I gues we'll just have to plop AROS on there and show 'em how it's done :-D

[HopperJF]

MarkTime wrote:


Just as iTunes is relevant because it runs on Windows, and 98% of all quicktime downloads are done by windows users, according to apple.

Quicktime is shipped with OS X that could well be why..

[HopperJF]

Holley wrote:
It looks like the hardware is just about exactly what the new MicroA1s should be - if OS4 was made available for it it would be a dream come true.  I have my A3000 for messing around on, getting one of these would just be for serious work ... it's so tempting!

ps. I've always wanted a slot-loading CD drive, I still think my car CD player is neat :-D

The new iMac G5 also has a slot loading drive, and it is mounted on the side of the machine, much like the wedge Amigas had their disk drives :-)

[Dan]

Floid wrote:
You've hit on the reason there's no TV out; Apple's in the TV (Studio Display) business now.  Why should they take pains to be compatible with the competition -- both at the physical layer and in content?

Studio Display a TV? Really, most tvs is still CRTs around here. Only real geeks and rich snobs go for lcd and plasma.
But you could sell a cheap projector to Svensson. :-)

[HopperJF]

What?
There IS TV out!!
 There will be a cable available separetly.

[danamania]

http://www.macnews.de/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=16&page=1 has a few photos of the machine in-the-flesh, to peek at. It's cables galore there, which is something I'm not used to seeing on a mac .

However - further along in the gallery are photos of the logic board. Judging by the size of the case (6" by 6") it looks like it's right in between mini-itx and nano-itx in size.

The photos don't show all of the interior however, just the motherboard. I'd like to see how the HD fits in, the heatsinks, the bluetooth/airport slots. I know they'd be mounted a little above the motherboard on a framework somehow - the geek in me wants to see it all .

(the non-geek in me who just likes to use a computer like Wayne has been saying, is just happy with this eMac... for now

dana

[Hammer]

But does it "Just Work"? Have you tried it?

With an UPnP capable 4 port ADSL NAT router and 4 UPnP capable PCs. Refer to http://www.upnp.org/
UPNP initiative has been with us since the middle of 1999.

Also refer to;
1. http://presslink.dlink.com/pr/?prid=151
2. Purpose for Intel's Centrino PR.

[Hammer]

Many Windows users are looking for greener pastures and Mac OS X is a delight. Many just want to hook thier relatives up with something that won't require so many tech support calls. I've been checking many PC Tech boards for reaction on this. The response is often "no more recommending Dell".

MacOS X has its fare share of *issues* i.e. refer to http://www.macfixitforums.com/

[Dan]

@HopperJF
Sure, it was just that somebody thought the Apple monitors was TVs. Not at that price :crazy:

 

Hammer wrote:
MacOS X has its fare share of *issues* i.e. refer to http://www.macfixitforums.com/

So does most things, heck even my TI-86 graphing calculator had one(1.0 ROM).

[HopperJF]

Hammer wrote:

Many Windows users are looking for greener pastures and Mac OS X is a delight. Many just want to hook thier relatives up with something that won't require so many tech support calls. I've been checking many PC Tech boards for reaction on this. The response is often "no more recommending Dell".

MacOS X has its fare share of *issues* i.e. refer to http://www.macfixitforums.com/

We never denied that Hammer, but why not approach the computer with an open mind rather than a "defend x86, destroy Mac" attitude?

[Dan]

Wayne wrote:
Besides, both the AmigaOne and Pegasos are just as non-expandable where the CPU is concerned.  You can't plop a  higher speed CPU into either without modifying it.  There's no indication anywhere that the CPU in the mac mini ISN'T socketed, since there are two different ones, $100 apart.

 
It be just like the Cube, but you might have to remove the DVD to fit a dual-cpu accelerator:-D

That leaves the video card support the ONLY part of the Mac Mini that's really debatable.

Nothing wrong with the video, I say the so-dimm(I assume?) is the worst part. 1GB is *#£$€&€# expensive. I guess Apple realized that getting lots of RAM is you run newer OSes on outdated machines. This won´t run OSX Puma or OSX Lynx or whatever.

Not sure that matters either, because if they wanted to, Apple COULD do upgrade plans as needed later.
Wayne

But thye won´t, thats the whole point, switch to Mac and then upgrade to a faster, bigger more expensive machine the next time. That´s why they didn´t put two regular RAM-slots on. Never underestimate Jobs loathing of the users( see the Newton-thing).

[Argo]

Why wouldn't a Crusoe type thing with a GPU work?

[the_leander]

It's a great little chip, I have had one in my PC for about a year now, and have yet to find ANY game that really hurts it (admittedly I've not got Doom 3 or Half Life 2, but I suspect that a slightly lower frame rate and medium detail settings would suffice). Halo? No problems, smooth as silk at 1024x768 with all the trimmings. Medal of Honour, again 1024x768 with all the trimmings it kicks out a consistant, smooth output that defies much of the grumbling about this choice of gpu.

Admittedly my 9200 has 256mb of its own ram, but the way many people have slagged off the 9200, you'd think they were talking about an S3-Virge with an axe wound or something!

This system, with 512Mb of ram will fly playing all but the most recent big name games if my own experiences with similarly powerful systems in the x86 world are anything to go by. I can see this being a great portable BattleField 1942 gaming rig :-D

Hopefully if the Insurance company pay out what they should, the missus will be getting one of these for her birthday :-D

[Waccoon]

Despite it's apparently limited expandability INSIDE THE BOX, the Linux geeks interested in running PPC-based Linux would run YDL on the Mac Mini before they'd go out of their way to spend MUCH more on pretty much an identically specced motherboard.

I'm curious about this.  My impression is that a platform is made by its software, so what's the point of buying a Mac Mini and putting on PPC Linux, instead of buying one of those other MiniITX systems and putting on x86 Linux?  It's the same thing, just a different CPU -- and maybe an attractive case.

I don't see the Mac Mini as a cheap computer, I see it as a cheap Mac.  The hardware itself is basicly a laptop without a screen, keyboard, and touchpad.

Dan:  Studio Display a TV? Really, most tvs is still CRTs around here. Only real geeks and rich snobs go for lcd and plasma.

Still, you're hard pressed to find CRTs in stores these days.  People like the idea of trading bulky size for inferior picture quality and wonky colors.  :-)

I worked in a photo store, and nearly flipped when my boss started replacing all the monitors with LCDs.  Color accuracy is impossible!!!

Danamania:  It's cables galore there, which is something I'm not used to seeing on a mac

Whoa...  even my PC is cleaner than that because I've got all my input devices plugged into a hub under my monitor.

HopperJF:  "defend x86, destroy Mac"

Yeah, that ticks me off, too.  It's not x86 vs Mac, it's Microsoft vs Mac!  Almost everybody screws this up, and it's why Amiga has restricted themselves to "Anti-x86" hardware even after the announcement of the architecture-independent "DE."

Dan:  There's no indication anywhere that the CPU in the mac mini ISN'T socketed.

I think the internal photos show a BGA chip as the CPU.  My guess is that the two CPU choices are pin-compatible and irreplaceable.

Dan:  1GB is *#£$€&€# expensive.

What else is new?  Apple makes money on hardware, not software.  $65 for a wired keyboard and mouse?

the_leander:  (admittedly I've not got Doom 3 or Half Life 2, but I suspect that a slightly lower frame rate and medium detail settings would suffice).

Interesting how medium detail will work, and not low.  That's fine for the moms-and-pops Wayne mentioned.  :-)

the_leander:  This system, with 512Mb of ram will fly playing all but the most recent big name games if my own experiences with similarly powerful systems in the x86 world are anything to go by.

Wow.  512MB in a mom-and-pop machine.  Who knew Macs were so efficient with memory?  ;-)

[adolescent]

Wayne wrote:
There's no indication anywhere that the CPU in the mac mini ISN'T socketed, since there are two different ones, $100 apart.

The pics I've seen show the CPU directly mounted on the board.  They just make two motherboards.  It's much more cost effective, reliable, and space concience this way.

[Waccoon]

Adolescent:  The pics I've seen show the CPU directly mounted on the board. They just make two motherboards. It's much more cost effective, reliable, and space concience this way.

That makes more marketting sense.  Why make a budget machine upgradable?

Now, an iMac without expansion slots is less forgiveable.