I'm looking for a new low-end home desktop.
I've got a new HP laptop which, right now, I use pretty much all of the time (save for at work).
I'm thinking of a Mac Mini. Anyone have any experience with the suckers?
Is a Mac Mini@ $600ish better than a low-end Dell at $500 or so?
Monitors, etc, aren't really a problem. I have a few hundred sitting around.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie.Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
What are the primary uses to which you put your computer?
How satisfied are you with your HP Laptop?
If you like having a laptop, you might want to consider an iBook. It's a nice little machine.
If you have problems with viruses and spyware that slow down your machine to a crawl, and you find yourself spending almost as much time fighting them than using your computer, you should seriously consider a Mac, since it does not have those problems.
The Mac Mini is a fine machine. As long as you're not doing heavy computations such as producing special effects for your new Star Wars knockoff, speed will be fine. (If you are, you want a new Quad G5 for $3,299 and a 30" Apple Cinema Display for $2,499. Trust me on this one.)
You should buy the keyboard because life's a little confusing in the Mac world without having the keys labelled the same way. It's just $29, big deal. Any mouse will work. You might enjoy Apple's Mighty Mouse because it's pretty and has some special features, but it's purely optional.
I'd recommend at least a 1024x768 display which is generally going to be a 17" CRT or a 15" LCD. MacOS will make great use of higher display resolution, so if you have something bigger and shinier, use it. Apple's monitors are a bit over the top, with the cheapest one about $ 800. It's 1600x1000 so it will beat anything you probably have effortlessly, but I can see you not wanting to spend the extra bucks.
You will have to purchase Office again, if you need it, at $150 for the Student/Teacher edition.
If you need custom Windows software for your company, you probably need to hold on to your PC to run it. However, almost all web sites will work fine, so if your company is using a web site for administration, it will work unless those clowns say it's only for IE/Windows.
If you buy a lot of software and use it, make sure there are Mac equivalents for all of it. Your local Apple retail store, if you have one, can help.
If you like high-quality stuff - that is, if your idea of a car is a BMW and not a Camry, you're likely to really love the Mac. If you don't care, you'll probably wonder what all the fuss is about, other than fewer viruses and spyware.
Hope that helps.
D