[happymac]

I think the pooh-bahs at Apple are smart enough to know what they are doing, too. They are aiming at not only the switchers but folks who want desktop portability/don't want or need a laptop.

[d00d]

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All they did was take the guts of an eMac and put it in a shoe box, then deducted the price of a monitor, mouse and KB........and it amazed the masses.

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Chopping $300 at the same time. I guess if you ignore that, it's nothing special at all. And you might as well also forget people that want an LCD that they can reuse when they get a new computer. Being able to recycle those old peripherals will save money over time. Think about it:
Assuming computer replacement every 3 years (most computer users replace every 2):
eMac plan:
year 1 $799
year 4 $799
year 7 $799
Mac mini:
year 1 $499 + monitor, keyboard, mouse $300 (and we can assume LCD)
year 4 $499
year 7 $499
It adds up quick. One can also get a better quality monitor and spread the cost out over several machines. But hey, I guess saving money isn't for everyone.

[d00d]

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You wouldn't consider buying a 2 liter container of OJ for $1.50 if you could get 4 liters of the same juice for $2.00 from the same store.

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That's just you. I worked in a supermarket. People do things like that all the time. They don't check the unit cost.

[d00d]

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How many people pay $1.29 for a 600 ml bottle of Coke when you can get a 2 litre bottle for $.99 (sorry for the metric folks, I am in Canada :-))

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Bingo! It's really quite astounding to see when you work in a grocery store. And BTW, we get soda in 2 liter bottles in the states (but have 12 oz small bottles oddly enough).

[Philip Michaels]

Agreed, MrKnowitall your post has been edited. Please keep all future posts civil or they will be deleted.

[d00d]

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Try directing your "notation" to the ones WHO started the "personal insults" huh?

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For reference, I don't care who started. I wanted everyone to stop.

[Philip Michaels]

Both posts have been edited.

[happymac]

In Europe they sell the equivalent of 5 oz bottles; the price conversion made them about $3/bottle! Most people are not very savvy when it comes to unit pricing-they want what they want.

[d00d]

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Both posts have been edited.

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Thanks! /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Duke_Thomas]

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Whatever the case, my point there was that I predicted the iPod mini would tank based on my reasoning above,

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So did I at the time, actually. I still wouldn't buy one for myself.

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my take is that the iPod mini purchasers are swayed by 'cool'. They are most certainly not motivated by value in any real sense.

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Meh. The explanation "they're irrational" is usually wrong. It's a sure sign of a lazy mind: you could explain anything that way.
The explanation is actually quite simple, and doesn't rely on the "irrational" copout. Consider an owner of a 4GB iPod mini. Suppose Apple comes up to this person and says, "For $50, I'll increase the volume and weight of your music player by 56%, but I'll add 16 GB to the storage capacity." What if he's quite happy with 4 GB, and doesn't need that extra 16 GB? He'd have to be an idiot to make that trade.

[damaclees]

As the Mac Mini is obviously made from the iBook components, i was wondering if it would be possible to change the graphics card to one such as the 128mb in the power books.
As the Mac Mini has only a 32mb card it makes it a little under speced 4 many graphic needs.
Does anybody know if and how you could change the graphics card within an ibook or powerbook?
Because if it works in one of these it should be intirely possible 2 put a better card in the mini.

[bigh]

Mac Envy (and other PC users), welcome to the Mac! I'm surprised that nobody here has taken the time to answer your questions (indeed, they've even managed to insult you already), but you'll have to forgive the hardcore Mac fans. A Macworld unveiling is a little like the opening scene in "2001: A Space Oddysey" Something new is revealed, and the tribe begins dancing, chanting, and beating their chests. Some sit there and just shake their heads. A few pick up bones and start smashing things...
Let me try to answer your questions as best as I can. I'm a dual-platform user from way back, and currently run a Mac together with 3 home-built dual-Athlon machines (render farm), all networked together and run with a Belkin KVM unit.
First off, I've been happy with the Belkin KVM switch. If you use your PC keyboard, it may actually make the transition easier for you, since the Control key will actually be the same key as the Command key on the Mac (the Command key is equivalent to the Control key, but on a Mac keyboard is located where the Alt key is - the switch can be confusing to new Mac users). The Belkin unit will also switch the audio, which is nice.
Getting pictures back and forth is no problem, and can be done several ways. You can run a simple Ethernet crossover cable (the wires are reversed on each end) or you could use an Ethernet hub/switch (another $70 or so). The biggest hassle is setting it up, and the hassle part is primarily on the Windows side. It's too involved to get into here, but it involves creating a Workgroup and making sure sharing is activated. After setting it up, it's quite a simple routine, and quite speedy. Another alternative is to use the media card as a "sneakernet." All flash media I've tried seems to mount without a hitch on both platforms, right out of the box. That may be due to the fact that a Mac can read any PC volume, and the flash cards are probably PC format. If you get a USB2 or FireWire flash reader ($30), you can use the card to go back and forth. Might be a good emergency measure.
All generic 2D-still file formats (.jpg, .tif, .bmp, etc.) should work fine between the platforms. Most software-specific formats (.psd, .ai, .doc, etc.) will work fine if you have copies of the software for both platforms. Movie formats are a bit more complex, due to the number of codecs, but if you stick with Quicktime you should be okay. From what I read about the new iLife suite, you should be able to create a DVD and then save it as a disk image. You would probably have to mount that disk image on your Mac, then copy the files over to your PC DVD program. Can't guarantee it would work... the safest bet is to get the DVD burner on the Mac, if DVDs are a big part of your goal.
You could also buy it without the DVD burner, try to get something working, and if it fails buy an external FireWire DVD burner. One advantage of this is that you could keep the burner updated. For example, when that Blu-ray DVD burner becomes a reality, you can pick one up and pop it into the FireWire case - voila' - instant upgrade. Likewise, you can add storage through inexpensive external FireWire drives. FireWire can be daisy-chained, so you can have several drives attached. Of course, the stack of drives will end up taking up more space than your computer, but you could keep them out of sight. Bottom line - FireWire is great for expanding drive capabilities.
If you want mobility at a low price, I'd get an iBook or a PowerBook. As you mention, it's just too cumbersome to drag all those components araound. Of course, I've done it from time to time when there's no alternative, and this unit would make it much easier. One reason to go with a setup like this instead of a laptop - color accuracy. Laptop screens just aren't accurate... even the best ones (contrast and brightness just aren't there, let alone detail in the dark tones).
I would recommend buying the 1.42GHz model with the larger drive. I would also recommend getting at least 1GB of RAM - 2 would even be better, but the cost is considerable, since it has to be a single chip. Finally, I wouldn't buy anything until a month has gone by, and you've read actual reader reports and reviews. Check out slashdot.com, tidbits.com, xlr8yourmac.com, dealmac.com (forums) and this site for news on problems. For example, it would be important for me to be able to put my own RAM in. I wouldn't buy a box for which I couldn't do this simple thing.
As for power, I've been using my 1.4GHZ Mac G4 for professional media creation for years now, including Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, and others, and it's been fast enough that I don't see an immediate need for an upgrade (I've been waiting for 3GHz... hmmm... two years now?). My machine is an upgraded Sawtooth, so I imagine this one is faster due to bus speeds, etc. The graphics will be near-useless for games, but fine for media creation (with the exception of Motion, perhaps). I've been using a Radeon 8500, which I believe is roughly equal to the 9200.
A G5 tower should be at least 3x faster than this unit, but that's another creature altogether.
Finally, get a good book to start out on the right path. Moderm Macs come with very little documentation (mostly just an electronic Help file). I recommend the Missing Manual series by David Pogue, but there are other good ones. After some initial confusion, I think you'll find Mac OS X to be very similar in structure to Windows - the logic is easily transferred, although there are small little differences. After getting comfortable on the Mac, you'll most likely begin using it as your main machine, and enjoying things like the lack of viruses and spyware. But the PC will always have it's place, and I think it's a great plan to have both on your desktop. This new machine should make it easy.
But wait for those reviews!
All the Best.

[jmincey]

I think the Mini has potential and will fill a certain niche. This has been thoroughly discussed in this thread. But the promise of a truly low-cost Macintosh has not been met at this time; and by adding the Mini to its product line Apple is NOT lowering its prices.
Why do I say this?
Suppose you go to the supermarket and place $150 of groceries in your cart. Then in the checkout line you complain to the cashier about the high prices, whereupon the cashier promptly removes one third of your groceries from the cart and charges you the "reduced" price of $100. Would you consider that a good deal?
This is what Apple has done with the Mini. The price is lower but what you get for the money is correspondingly lower as well. Thus there is no real price reduction here but instead just an expansion of the Apple product line to include a different kind of product for a different kind of customer. And this is a GOOD thing. But it's not a price reduction in the least.

[bigh]

jmincey, you have a valid point as usual. But Apple has always made it known that they have no plans to compete on price, so why would you expect them to? Ever since his return to Apple, Steve Jobs has stated that they plan to "innovate their way" back to significance, and not enter the price wars that have claimed so many victims and choked innovation. They know the price game is a loser for them.
How about this analogy: You've always wanted to eat at the four-star retaurant in town, but have never been able to justify paying so much when Appleby's offers food for so much less. Then the restaurant begins a policy of lunch-time specials, where you get a limited choice of dishes and smaller portions. It's not their best food, but it gets you in the door and allows you to enjoy their service and atmosphere. It gives them a chance to show you what they're all about.
Will you become a regular? If the food and atmoshpere really are special, then perhaps you will see it as a good value. If money is more important to you, then perhaps not. If money is everything to you, then probably not. If you find that the food and atmosphere actually add something to your daily life, then you might even start ordering their custom dishes from their high-priced menu.
But they'll never compete with Appleby's on price.