My Mac mini experience - Thoughts on the Mac mini
Now that the Mac mini has found a place within the PC Doc HQ, it's time for me to post some of my thoughts on the hardware side of this Mac.
The Mac mini is a pretty impressive bit of kit really. The idea that a PC can be crammed into a box not much bigger than a DVD drive is pretty amazing. For
If you have your own peripherals then the Mac mini is the quickest, easiest, and cheapest way onto the Mac hardware ladder. Which leads me to my first point about the Mac mini. I've noticed something strange about the system. That is, the more non-Apple peripherals you attach to the Mac mini, the less it feels like a Mac. For example, onto the one we've got I've attached a Microsoft keyboard and mouse, an old 19-inch LCD panel, and some cheap and cheerful speakers (which, for about $5, are actually pretty good). It now doesn't look very Mac at all. I guess people wanting the total Mac look wouldn't bother with the Mac mini and go for an iMac instead. Personally, I'm not all that bothered by what peripherals are connected to the system as long as they work, and the Microsoft keyboard and mouse do work very well, there's even decent Mac drivers available from Microsoft for them.
The Mac mini is a lot more robust that I'd expected it o be. There's a fair weight to the package which makes sure that it's not easy to pull or sweep off the desk accidentally. Given the environment it has to live in here, those are all plus points. The Mac mini is also whisper quiet, in fact, whisper quiet makes it sound a lot louder than it actually is. I can barely tell if it's on. Despite the near silent nature of the package, cooling doesn't seem to be a problem at all. I've had the system on for hours and there's no real rise in temperature of the casing.
The attention that Apple pay to the accessories is also out of this world. The remote that Apple supplies with systems is a work of art (I'll overlook the fact that the one I got doesn't seem to work - I must get that replaced), and the system is supplied with the most beautifully crafted DVI-to-VGA convertor that I've yet to see. Usually these are cheap and nasty and hard to screw into place, but the thumb wheels on the one designed by Apple makes is simple to fit. No screwdrivers needed, no breaking fingernails. Brilliant.
The Mac is also simple. You have a box with a the minimum number of wires going into it, one switch and a tiny light to tell you that it's working. That's it. To someone who's spend well over a decade (and coming close to two decades) around PCs, I'm amazed by the fact that there's no maniacally flashing hard disk light and no reset button. The Mac mini is the one button experience. It doesn't get much better than that.
OK, are there any downsides? I have to admit that I'm not thrilled by the power supply and the power cord connector on the Mac mini. The power supply is huge, nearly as big as the Mac mini itself. I guess it has to be as big as it is but I still can't get over how big it is. When planning a space for your Mac mini, you need to plan for the outrageous power supply. Then there's the power connector on the Mac mini itself. Am I alone in thinking that this is far too loose and falls out of the back far too easily? The connector doesn't seem to be anywhere near as good as the MagSafe connector that's present on the MacBooks. This is a small point but what's the point of having a stable OS when the power cord comes out of the back of the system (which has happened to me a few times now). I'm going to re-route the cable so there's less weight on the connector and see if that helps.
Minor niggles aside, my Mac mini experience so far has been a very pleasant one.
Thoughts? I'm especially keen to hear from other Mac users about their thoughts and feelings about the Mac hardware.