New (?) Mini mac pics

[minator]

My point is, you can get a much nicer "value" pc at that price.

You can probably get a faster PC if you build it yourself but other big brands just offer Celerons sometimes at *higher* prices.  Some of the PCs I looked at were actually lower specced.

The PCs had graphics so exciting they completely failed to list them (i.e. probably built-in Intel stuff which make even low end ATI or Nvidia kit look like stellar performers).

However the Mac includes OS X and iLife 05.  Adding a software bundle of that grade to the PC will put it's price well above the Mac.  It's not a high end machine but it's very good for it's price, even compared to PCs.

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As for expandability, generally in the past you needed expandability to add things like audio, video, network cards etc.  This is all built in now so unless you have some particular need for a special device you'll find USB or Firewire mean it's expandable enough for most people's needs.

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What I find quite amazing is that this machine is priced *below* what the A500 was at at the height of it's popularity.

[minator]

Mini ITX motherboard,
Mac Mini motherboard..
Nearly the same dimensions nearly the same cpu speed, one intel one G4.

Not quite, the VIA CPUs are very weak compared to, well, everything.  At the same clock speed the G4 will kick it's ass.

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Something you could set the record straight for me on is just how much RAM does OS X like to have so the OS isn't paging to the hard drive all of the time..

256MB should do fine providing you're not into heavy multi tasking.
My machine is currently using 309MB and thats running Safari (8 tabs open), iTunes, mail, SETI, 2 finder windows, Activity monitor & a desktop pager.

OS X is not Windows XP...

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Cheap HP machines:

I compared prices at an online shop and some of the machines were HP - complete with Celerons.

Levono had a Celeron with 256MB, XP Pro, CD-ROM (not DVD) and "Intel graphics" for £20 more.


I wonder if some companies have suddenly put some machines on offer because they know people will be comparing prices?

[minator]

Can't wait to try UAE on it, hope the Mac port is up to par with the winblows version.

There's JIT so not yet.  This could speed development up a bit though as the port may get more interest.

I assume they didn't put two regular slots on because this is the new integrated Freescale wunderchip, and the pin count/loading characteristics don't allow it with ease. (Anyone know if I'm right?)

No, it's a 7447A (same bus speed, cache size), The "wunderchip" isn't out for some time yet.  The next Freescale chip due is the 7448 which should turn up in iBooks / PowerBooks if they still haven't got the G5 cool enough yet.