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You won't want to use your Windows computer after you've tried the Mac mini.
 technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

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Mac in a box: A $499 way for Windows users to escape from spyware, viruses and misery


March 9, 2005


By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2005, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2005, The Post-Standard

   I'm glad to be back. A lot has been happening in the ever-expanding world of Apple computers, and it's good to be covering one of my favorite topics again.
   And it's good to feel good, too. I discovered I had cancer of the prostate late last year, and nearly all my attention - and much of my wife's time - since then have concentrated on getting rid of the cancer and becoming healthy again. I had a radical prostatectomy (the surgeon's word for taking out my entire prostate gland) and spent many weeks recovering. I feel fine, and my strength is returning nicely. Best of all, two tests since the surgery showed no signs of recurring cancer.
   Enough about me. Apple's biggest surprise in the last few months is the Mac mini, so let's talk about Apple and about its tiny new computer.
   The Mac mini is a full Macintosh G4 computer - sold without a monitor, keyboard or mouse - despite being the size of a stack of three CD boxes. The entire computer is 6.6 inches square and 2 inches high. Everything a normal G4 Macintosh has is in the Mac mini also. (G4 is the name of the central processing unit used for previous-generation, soccer-ball iMacs and for Mac desktop models until the faster G5 chip was put into service.)
   The Mac mini comes in two basic versions - one with a 1.25 GHz processor and the other with a 1.42 GHz processor. Either one will handle 1 GB of memory. Upgrading memory at the time of purchase is a good idea; the mini comes standard with only 256 MB of memory, which is fine for Web browsing and e-mail but not enough for much else. (Apple usually sells its computers without enough RAM, so be sure to upgrade the memory.)
   The 1.25 GHz mini has a 40 GB hard drive and costs $499. The 1.42 GHz model has an 80 GB drive and costs $100 more.
   The mini has both USB 2 and FireWire ports, includes a built-in Ethernet port (for both 10- and 100-megabit speeds), a built-in 56k modem, an audio output (and headphone) jack and a connector for both normal and digital (DVI) monitors. It comes standard with a DVD playback drive that can burn CDs (which Apple calls a Combo drive). You can substitute a SuperDrive, which burns both CDs and DVDs, for $100 more.
   The mini comes with OS X (pronounced ten - it's a Roman numeral) as its operating system, just as all other Macintosh models do. It's more advanced than the current version of Windows, and, as OS X users know well, is unaffected by Windows viruses and spyware. So far, it doesn't even have any viruses or spyware of its own.
   Apple's superb iLife suite of photo, audio and video programs comes with the Mac mini. The best software in the suite surely must be iPhoto and iTunes; each of them qualifies as the best example of good program design in its own category. You also get iMovie, which makes video editing painless and fun while keeping it as professional as possible; and iDVD, which works with iMovie to give you a way to make DVDs of your videos without opening a manual or looking in a help menu.
   A cool feature: iDVD works with iPhoto to make "Ken Burns" pan-and-scan slide shows on DVD of your own pictures without the need to prepare each picture in advance. (In other words, you can have the software do all the "Ken Burns" stuff for you. It's incredible.)
   You also get GarageBand, an outstanding audio-recording and editing program. If GarageBand were sold on its own by a company other than Apple, it probably would cost $299 - more than half the cost of the entire Mac mini with all the software included.
   Apple figures most people buying a Mac mini will have a Windows PC around the house and probably won't want to use the Windows computer after they've tried the mini. (I agree.) The mini, like all other current Macs, can use any Windows monitor, keyboard and mouse.
   Even if you want to keep using that Windows PC - for Windows games, maybe - you can find PC keyboards and mice for only a few dollars. For the best possible display, use a really good Windows monitor or get a flat-panel LCD display.
   But don't forget that ultra-cheap LCD monitors sometimes skimp on the DVI connection and as a result work only as analog monitors. Don't get that kind of monitor for a mini.