Apple announces $499 Macintosh

AppleInsider ^ | January 11, 2005

[HAL9000]

Preliminary info from MacWorld Expo -

Jobs introduces Mac mini. New member of Mac family including a slot-load Combo optical drive, FireWire, ethernet, USB 2.o, both DVI/VGA output. It plays DVDs, burn CDs, and is very quiet and tiny. Its height is half the size of an iPod mini. Jobs calls it "BYODKM" -- Bring Your Own Display, Keyboard, Mouse. Will come in two models: 1.25GHz 256MB/40GB for $499. A second model with a 1.4GHz, more memory and larger hard drive will sell for $599. Mac mini will ship on January 22. Ships in a box smaller than the regular iPod box.

[dfwgator]

Dell also include free worms, viruses and spyware.

Only if you're stupid enough to click on email attachments from people you don't know, or are too dumb to download ZoneAlarm for free.

[HAL9000]

I've never had a problem in the 20 years I've been a Windows user.

Right. Windows 85 was a great operating system.

[BigSkyFreeper]

You betcha.

[BigSkyFreeper]

That crazy Bill Gates, .... he doesn't want to make a compatible product.

You make it sound like that's a criminal act. It's not.

[JenB]

I'm building myself a new box and I can probably get double the performance of this Mac toaster for half the price.

Building a machine is the way to go if you have any computer know-how whatsoever. I put the money where I want it, cheap out other places, and design it to be upgradable for the next five or so years. Plus if something breaks, I can fix it - can you get into this Mac and upgrade the memory if you want? Add a new generic hard drive in six months?

[avg_freeper]

"only ones you may run into trouble with are products from Microsoft. "

I exclusively use Microsoft mice on my mac. They make the best mice for my money and work perfect on macs. I also have USB-overdrive, an excellent software package that makes peripherals more useful.

[Bulwark]

Foe same price you get a Dell with 512MB Dual Channel DDR SDRAM at 400MHz, 40GB3 Ultra ATA/100 7200RPM Hard Drive and most importantly a 17 in (16 in viewable,.27dp) E773c CRT Monitor!

Right, right. And the Dell also sounds like a harrier and is about the size of a a few vcr's stacked together and turned on their end.

I've never owned an apple, but this is a very interesting computer and quite probably will be my first Mac.

[Bulwark]

I've never had a problem in the 20 years I've been a Windows user. Apple can make a computer that looks like a little red apple and I won't buy it.

Your powers of time travel are astounding and frightening. Windows 1.0 wasn't released until late 1985, so somehow you've managed to go back in time to be a windows user for the last 20 years. Just amazing.

[BigSkyFreeper]

My initial point stands.

[KwasiOwusu]

"Right, right. And the Dell also sounds like a harrier and is about the size of a a few vcr's stacked together and turned on their end"


The Dell is pleasantly quite and mellow sounding actually.
As for the size, like I pointed out in my earlier post, I have a toaster in the kitchen already, why should I want a computer that looks like a toaster (or the size of a toaster or whatever) in the living room too?
Plus I have plenty of room anyway.
Plus the Dell is quite small as well, and far better value for money.
Apple is out.

[Bulwark]

Plus the Dell is quite small as well, and far better value for money. Apple is out. Please provide a link to this dell?

[Bulwark]

My initial point stands.

Your initial point that made no sense and was inaccurate? Sure, okay, that stands.

[KwasiOwusu]

"I've never owned an apple, but this is a very interesting computer and quite probably will be my first Mac"

Won't be mine.
Its still pricey as as compared to a Dell :)

[BigSkyFreeper]

Not inaccurate when you think about it. If you want an accurate assessment, my days of computing go back 26 years.

[KwasiOwusu]

"Please provide a link to this dell?"

Go to the Dell site and look.
You may even buy one today.
The prices are so good.

[Bulwark]

Not inaccurate when you think about it. If you want an accurate assessment, my days of computing go back 26 years.

You called yourself a windows user for the last 20 years. Given that you probably, at earliest, started using Windows in the 3.0 days, you're about 12 years off.

As an side, I actually suffered thru Windows back in the 2.0 days. Be glad you didn't.

[Bulwark]

Go to the Dell site and look. You may even buy one today. The prices are so good.

I found it. Let's check it out, shall we? 48x CD-ROM drive. The apple has a DVD/CD-RW. So the dell loses.
A celeron processor. The Dell loses by default.
Integrated Intel Graphic chipset. That's a joke right? The dell loses.

Sigh, cheap crap is still crap.

[BigSkyFreeper]

You called yourself a windows user for the last 20 years. Given that you probably, at earliest, started using Windows in the 3.0 days, you're about 12 years off.

How would you know? I was using a Personal Computer long before Windows even existed.

As an side, I actually suffered thru Windows back in the 2.0 days. Be glad you didn't.

As an aside, I actually don't give a damn.

[Bulwark]

How would you know? I was using a Personal Computer long before Windows even existed.

Because I can do simple math based on release dates.

How would you know? I was using a Personal Computer long before Windows even existed.

Woo. We can play this all day long if you want, but I'm pretty sure that I have you beat as far as "using personal computers before Windows goes".

[BigSkyFreeper]

Because I can do simple math based on release dates.

Bravo.

Woo. We can play this all day long if you want, but I'm pretty sure that I have you beat as far as "using personal computers before Windows goes".

I don't play games with snots who think they're better than everyone else.