June 19, 2005

I have a confession to make.  I’ve always wanted one, maybe even secretly desired one.  Professional curiosity, the coolness factor, the desire to work with something different, I’m not sure what it was exactly, probably a bit of all of them all, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the cost of adopting a new platform.

I develop software for a living, but the development environment I use only works on a Wintel box, The occasional graphics or web development I do for my clients doesn’t need Mac compatibility, so I use Windows versions of all the Adobe and Macromedia software I use, so really why would I need one?  And for that matter, would a Mac be better than what I have?

All of that changed earlier this year, as probably every Mac enthusiast and quite a few Wintel geeks can attest to, when Apple brought out the Mini Mac, a tiny self-contained Mac that, with the addition of a standard VGA or DVI monitor and a USB mouse and keyboard, you’d have a complete system.  Ok, you’d really need to get a couple cheap speakers, too, because the built-in one just isn’t good enough, but that’s only if you needed sound and hey, how much does a pair of speakers cost anyway?

While looking through the Apple website at the various configuration options, I noticed that the local Apple Store in Pasadena had the Mini’s in stock, so being the impulsive person, I am I immediately went down there that Sunday afternoon in search of the Mini Mac I’d been reading about.

In case you’ve never been there, the local Apple Store is a marvelous place, brightly lit, bustling with people that have an air of hip-ness to them, unlike the computer section of the local Best Buy, Comp USA, or generic office supply superstore.

“If I start shopping here, I may have to go on a diet and begin shopping at the Armani Exchange” I thought to myself.  “Thankfully I’ve got a goatee.  Maybe I should start wearing my earrings again?”

Over against the wall, attached to one of the biggest monitors I’ve seen -- so it was only a 23 inch, it looked huge -- was my prize, one of, if not the smallest complete desktop computer I’ve looked at. 

“I’ve got to get out more,” I thought, “at least stop going to Best Buy.” 

The Mini Mac I wanted was $599, with an upgraded hard drive and processor, but wasn’t in stock.  They had one for $848 or so with upgraded memory, processor, hard drive, writeable DVD Rom, Bluetooth and Airport Extreme wireless, but that was more than I was prepared to spend, so after a painful 5 minutes of indecisiveness, I opted for the base model, priced at $499.   For another $75 or so I picked up the iWork suite because Pages, a Desktop Publishing/Word Processor, looked interesting in recent reviews I’d read.

A quick trip to OfficeMax for a KVM switch and I was ready to roll.

I’ve had many computers, some home built, some store bought, and this was by far the easiest installation I’ve ever had.  It was so simple I can’t even remember what exactly transpired.  But a short time after I plugged it in, I was playing with my first Mac, exploring that apps included with it, surfing the net with Safari, somewhat lost, but completely satisfied.

For the low price of $499, you get a complete Mac system that’s perfect for a Windows user’s entry into the Mac universe.  This would also be a great computer for a students, being a little too underpowered to play the current generation of computer games to become a distraction from their schoolwork.  The Mini Mac includes the iLife suite (iDVD for DVD creation, iMovie HD for video editing, and Garageband which is an awesome program for the aspiring musician), iCal (an excellent calendar program), Appleworks (a complete entry level office suite like Microsoft Works, possibly better but I haven’t spent enough time with either one to make a good comparison), some trial software like Microsoft Office for the Mac, Mail, their email program, Apple’s web browser Safari, truly everything you would need for basic productivity.  It looked good hooked up to my Dell 1905FP 19 inch LCD monitor through the included VGA dongle, and had no problem working with my wireless Microsoft Mouse and my Microsoft Natural keyboard.

After a few days of playing with it, I was hooked.  If I could do my software development on a Mac, I’d relegate my Pentium 4 3.0 GHz workstation to gaming duties only.  The Mini Mac was more fun, more interesting, and, dare I say, more useful than my recently purchased Dell Inspiron 6000 Laptop.  So inspiring was it that over the next couple months I purchased many Mac related additions, including a 24 inch widescreen monitor and the Adobe CS2 suite.  I’m hooked, and so is my family.  If the Mini Mac wasn’t unavailable in my home office, someone would be using it all the time.  In a later column I’ll discuss the Mac’s usability, some of the applications, additions I’ve added on the Mini, how the family uses it, and Garageband – which may be in itself worth the price of admission I paid to the Mac universe.

By John Conrad
Mr. Conrad is a writer based in Southern California

 

More information

Mac mini Get a Mac for Less The modular design of Mac mini lets you upgrade your current system to the elegance, simplicity and reliability of Macintosh. If you already own a monitor, keyboard and mouse, you can get up and running in minutes. Or choose any combination of new devices to meet your individual situation. And yes, Mac mini will take advantage of your two-button USB mouse with scroll-wheel and your favorite USB keyboard. Just plug them in. It Just Works Manage your music for iPod or organize and share your digital pictures with ease. Connect your digital camcorder to Mac mini and start editing your masterpiece. Or plug in your electric guitar or keyboard and make music. How? With iLife, a suite of easy-to-use applications ready to turn your life into a digital wonderland. And Mac OS X makes it effortless you won't have to install extra drivers when you add hardware to your system. Mac mini also offers all the software that you need to finally enjoy the Internet hassle-free including email, chat and a web browser that blocks popup ads. You also get a DVD player, calendar software, an address book, faxing and a way to download your contacts to your cell phone or iPod. You can balance your check book with Quicken 2005. And when you want to take a break, play the 3D games Nanosaur 2 and Marble Blast Gold. Inexpensive, But Never Cheap All that, and not an inch of wasted space. Apple engineers designed this small wonder from the ground up to deliver the most Mac for the least dinero. Inside its petite 2-inch tall, 6.5-inch square anodized aluminum enclosure, Mac mini houses a 1.25 or 1.42GHz G4 processor, 40 or 80GB hard drive, a slot-loading CD-R/DVD-ROM optical drive, 256MB DDR SDRAM and ATI Radeon 9200 graphics chip with 32MB dedicated DDR SDRAM all whisper-quiet. Connect your digital devices, such as cameras, iPod, printer, camcorder or keyboard to the Mac mini over USB 2.0 or FireWire. Built-in 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet and a 56K v.92 fax modem give you access to broadband or dial-up connections to the Internet. A headphone/audio line-out jack lets you listen to stereo sound. Rearrange the Furniture, Anytime Believe it or not, all this technology weighs just 2.9 pounds. Imagine a desktop computer you can easily move from your study to the kitchen on a whim. Mac mini won't break your back when you want to shuffle things around. Note: This model does not include a keyboard and mouse.   Power Mac G5 Minitower The Power Mac G5 opens up a wealth of computing opportunities: Graphic designers can manipulate Adobe Photoshop images for print, web, and animation almost two times faster than on the fastest PC. Video producers can edit, add effects, and composite multiple streams of DV, SD, and HD content in real time. Musicians and audio producers can process an unprecedented number of audio tracks, all with complex filters and digital effects. Scientists can execute high-precision math on extremely large 64-bit numbers and return results faster than ever. Artists, game developers, architects, and researchers can model and render complex 3D visualizations at remarkable speeds. This model features one optical drive: a DVD-R SuperDrive Create a DVD-R at a maximum 8X Write speed Play a DVD at a maximum 10X Read speed Create a CD-Rom at a maximum 24X Write speed Create a CD-RW at a maximum 10X Rewrite speed Play a CD-Rom at a maximum 32X Read speed Note: Since this model has 2 processors, there is a 900MHz frontside bus for each processor.