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.

[Born Conservative]

I just built my first computer 2 weeks ago, and in the future, I will no longer be buying already-assembled computers. It's really not that hard to do, plus you can watch for the Newegg.com daily specials and pick up some good deals.

[KwasiOwusu]

"Sure, faster processor, but it still has only a cd-rom drive"

The Dell has faster processor at double the speed of the Apple, the Dell had double the RAM of the Apple and the coup de grace, the Dell has a monitor, the Apple does not.

Dell wins easily.

[ZinGirl]

[Born Conservative]

For an additional $169, it goes up to a 160 GB hard drive.

For an additional $115.05 (including shipping), you can buy a Maxtor 200 gig hard drive (IDE Ultra ATA 133) from Newegg.com (of course, you would have to install it yourself, but you can put it in as a second hard drive and still use the original).

[RayChuang88]

Most people already have a monitor, mouse and keyboard that will plug into the Mac, so it's probably not necessary to buy those things.

In the case (pun not intended) of the mouse pointer and monitor for the Mac Mini, this should not be a problem since 1) most Microsoft and Logitech mice come with USB connectors, which plug into a small PS/2 adapter for PC-compatible machines, and 2) VGA/DVI connectors are common on most monitors out there. However, finding a USB to PS/2 keyboard adapter is quite something, else, though.

I do think that Apple may offer a 120 GB version of the Mac Mini by the end of this year as the new 120 GB hard drive from Toshiba intended for the iPod becomes widely available.

By the way, because most printers have pretty much ditched parallel port connections in favor of USB connections, these printers will also with with the Mac Mini, too.

[HAL9000]

CBS Marketwatch - Video of new Mac introduction

[JenB]

Absolutely! Why pay an extra 100 or 200 bucks to get someone else to build a machine, when you can put it together yourself?

The machine I'm putting together is designed to be upgradeable. I've got four memory slots, and I'll start with 256 in two of those slots, then upgrade as I have money. I'm waiting for a good deal on a hard drive and dvd-burner. Common sense and a tiny bit of computer knowledge is all you need.

[HAL9000]

More video - Bill Gates demos new Microsoft products at the Consumer Electronics Show

[ShadowAce]

Dell wins easily.

It depends on your needs, Kwasi.

[Swordmaker]

Mini Mac Ping! Apple announces new Macintosh computer...

If you want to be on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.

[minus_273]

but your dell will get spyware, viruses and crash regularly.

[skip_intro]

From that picture, it looks like it's sticking its tongue out at me.

[minus_273]

"can you get this Mac and upgrade the memory if you want?"
yes standaard DDR ram upto 1Gig

[Boss_Jim_Gettys]

I still cannot get OS X to run on my Dell at work. iLife won't install either.

[spetznaz]

Do you work for MSFT? I am not trying to start anything, just asking an honest question. I have followed some of your prior threads and they all seem to be amazingly pro-MSFT.

Not that there is anything with that, or for working for MSFT (or a satellite) for that matter, I'm just curious.

[spetznaz]

LOL. Good one.

[minus_273]

tigers coming out in the next few months

[Swordmaker]

Right. So they're target audience is the Mac community, and not IBM-compatible PC owners like myself who have to go out and buy the necessary components to actually use the thing.

You got a USB keyboard? How about a USB Mouse? They'll work.

[antiRepublicrat]

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!

Price: Same, but the Dell is currently on a $50 rebate. Verdict: Dell wins, for right now.

Processor: That's a Celeron. Celerons are way slower than Pentium 4s at the same clock speed. But due to pure GHz, the Celery may, just may, have a slight performance edge on the Mac, whose G4 processor actually does more work per clock cycle than the Celery. And in this market, we're not really looking for pure speed anyway. Verdict: Dell wins, barely.

RAM: 256MB vs. 512MB, but this is a current promotion for Dell. Verdict, Dell wins, for right now.

Hard Drive: Same for both. Verdict: Tie.

Video: Slow Intel chipset on the Dell that they only rate for 2D gaming vs. the ATI Radeon 9200 on the Mac. Verdict: Mac wins easily.

Optical drive: CD for the Dell vs. DVD combo drive for the Mac. Verdict: Mac wins easily.

Connectors: Mac adds DVI and Firewire, expanding your monitor and connectivity options (especially if you have a DV camera). Verdict: Mac wins if you need these, otherwise Tie.

Operating system: Windows XP Home is no match for OS X. Verdict: Mac wins easily.

Software: Mac comes with more useful bundled software. Verdict: Mac wins, but only if you need this.

Quality: Dell's low-end sytems are notoriously bad quality. Mac desktops are notoriously good quality. Verdict: Mac wins.

Form factor: Mac takes up far less deskspace and uses less energy. Verdict: Mac wins if you're running out of deskspace, otherwise, Tie.

Monitor/Keyboard: Dell comes with a monitor worth about $150 and keyboard/mouse worth almost nothing, Mac none. Verdict: Dell wins easily, if you need that stuff.

Total verdict: I see the Mac edging ahead, but it depends on what you want, as both have their strengths and weaknesses and play to different consumers. But the important thing is that Apple is now viably in this market.

[antiRepublicrat]

Right. So they're target audience is the Mac community,

I believe their target is the millions of iPod owners who would love to get a Mac to expand the great experience they've had with their iPod, but they can't afford $1,200+ for an iMac.