New Mac mini / Air is up

Really tempted to get myself a Mac Mini.

How do they compare to a similarly priced Windows based PC?

Taking into account the HE discount, monitor and apple keyboard/mouse, therefore an extra £200...
 
Really tempted to get myself a Mac Mini.

How do they compare to a similarly priced Windows based PC?

Taking into account the HE discount, monitor and apple keyboard/mouse, therefore an extra £200...

Which mini?
The more expensive one with the GPU, looking at similarly spec'd laptops, should be able to play 'most' games at 720p resolutions on medium graphics settings with 40-70 FPS which is pretty impressive from a tiny white box.

Otherwise .. its quick enough, you'r basically paying for access to the OS imo.
 
If only the Air had a super drive :( would love to take it to uni, but I guess ill just have to go with the macbook pro, maybe.
 
I would probably get the base spec Mini rather than the upgraded one. I have no real need for a high end graphics card as I use a console for gaming.

As much as I love Apple products, I can't quite figure out if the Mini is an absolute waste of money. On its own with HE its not that expensive, but add in an apple keyboard, mouse, monitor and external dvd drive, its not exactly cheap.

In a nut shell, is it worth it?
 
I'm tempted to replace my bulky htpc with the higher spec mini. Anyone know how the specs of that one would compare to a core i3-530 with 4870gfx for gaming and htpc stuff (assuming i'll be able to stick Windows 7 on as well?)
 
I am so out of date with computer spec, sure Sandybridge is better, but the clock speed seems a lot lower than the previous core 2 duo?

Core 2 Duo < Nehalem < Sandybridge

There's a 15-20% increase in performance across each of those platforms at the same clock speeds.

So a 2.4Ghz Sandybridge processor should be around 24% faster than a 2.4Ghz Core2Duo (roughly of course)
 
How do they compare to a similarly priced Windows based PC?

They don't. They're laptop parts in a small form factor.

The dual core 2.3GHz is probably the i5-2410M. The 2.5GHz the i5-2520M. The 2.7 the i7-2620M. The 2.0GHz quad core is probably the i7-2630QM or i7-2635QM.

In a nut shell, is it worth it?

I don't think so personally. I would rather get the base spec iMac. But I suppose it depends on what you want. But as you say, once you factor in the Mac Mini, the keyboard, mouse (or trackpad) and a screen you're getting to the price of a base spec iMac anyway. But it comes with a proper desktop processor as opposed to, what I'm assuming judging by the specs, are mobile processors in the Mac Mini.
 
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So can anyone tell me about the chances of swapping out my recently purchased Mac Mini (bought 18th June). Paid £612 and noiw the new one is out with far better spec and is cheaper at £529. Not happy :(
 
So can anyone tell me about the chances of swapping out my recently purchased Mac Mini (bought 18th June). Paid £612 and noiw the new one is out with far better spec and is cheaper at £529. Not happy :(

But it has a super drive11!11!1oneone

Get it on Ebay quick, bet you make the majority if your money back whilst everyones up in arms that the disk drive has gone.
 
Gonna go up to the Glasgow Store at lunch time for a wee look... God dammit I can't afford one right now, but I am seriously tempted on a 13inch Macbook Air!
I currently drive a van into work but will need to start getting the train fairly soon. This would be two days out of my day spent on the train and as I'm doing a part time hons degree, I could really do with a small laptop for doing work on during this time.
 
I'm tempted to replace my bulky htpc with the higher spec mini. Anyone know how the specs of that one would compare to a core i3-530 with 4870gfx for gaming and htpc stuff (assuming i'll be able to stick Windows 7 on as well?)

CPU on mini is better, but even the upgraded gfx is a lot worse.

I've been looking at a mini to replace my huge htpc, but no blu-ray drive (an no software even for an external BR drive) has stopped me.

I think apples HTPC solution is AppleTV which imo is difficient in may ways.
 
Right I'm ordering a MBA 11" with 128gb SSD, i7, 4GB ram on HE, anything else to consider? It will be replacing my 2007 MB with 1.8ghz, 2gb ram so should see a nice increase in performance.
 
CPU on mini is better, but even the upgraded gfx is a lot worse.

I've been looking at a mini to replace my huge htpc, but no blu-ray drive (an no software even for an external BR drive) has stopped me.

I think apples HTPC solution is AppleTV which imo is difficient in may ways.

No software to play blu ray on mac???

Well there goes my idea of getting one.
 
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