Reviews on Mac mini

Brian Czarski writes a review on Apple's new Mac mini comparing it to a home built computer in the same price range($500 with Linux or $700 with WinXP).

So how does it add up? The Mac Mini is a machine I might buy if it had a better video card and more/faster RAM. 256MB of RAM for OS X is just too little out of the box and 32MB of video is a real disappointment for anyone who was looking for a small form factor gamer of the PPC flavor. At least it isn't shared video RAM. The cool factor just isn't enough to push the purchase or make me advise the purchase to newbie users unless they were really set on Apple or had some knowledge of their product line.

 

Dan Frakes writes about some of the recent comparisons on the Mac mini and makes some valid points.

To be clear, I don’t advocate a Mac for everyone. As much as I’d like to, there are people whose needs would be better served by getting a Windows PC (although their numbers are shrinking every day). And even though the Mac mini is a stripped down Mac, there are going to be some people who don’t need the extra functionality even the Mac mini has over the cheapest Dell; these people may be satisfied with the even-further-stripped-down Dell for a bit less money. But for everyone else, the Mac platform deserves a serious look, not half-baked “comparisons” that aren’t, well, comparable.

I'm serious considering a Mac mini since I already use a KVM switch with three computers at home.

-Chris

Update
Walter Mossberg, tech columnist for the WSJ, posted his review on the Mac mini.  He recommends bumping the Mac mini's ram up to 512 MB and adding a USB hub.