If you’re a regular visitor to this blog, you’ll have noticed my recent articles about downgrading from a Mac Pro to a Mac mini, my first impressions about the Mac mini, and my first week with the Mac mini. So now, one month after getting the Mac mini, it’s time to sum up my experiences, and, perhaps, explain why this is probably the best Mac your money can buy.
I started writing this article with the best of intentions, but I realized, after I wrote the first paragraph that there’s not much I can add to my one-week review. The switch has been, for the most part, seamless. I miss my fast CD drive, for ripping music (though I’ve only bought one box set – 14 CDs of Schubert piano music – since I got the mini). The graphics card is visibly inferior: the display “stutters” a bit at certain times, such as invoking Exposé, Dashboard, or viewing my four spaces. However, given the work I do, that’s just an aesthetic weakness. I’ve hooked up two external hard disks, so the actual capacity of the internal disk is not an issue (and the FireWire 800 transfer is fast enough). Having less RAM only affects when I run Windows, which is not very often.
So, to sum up, I wonder why I didn’t get a Mac mini before? I could have saved half the cost of the Mac Pro (though I did get a good price for it selling it used), and had a computer that takes up less space, makes less noise, and gives off less heat. If Apple keeps the Mac mini up to date, this will be my Mac of choice in the future, both for me and, probably, my wife who currently has a 2+ year old white 17″ iMac, and will need an upgrade soon. I’d strongly recommend the Mac mini to all Mac users: unless you have special needs (especially concerning RAM), it’ll probably do everything you want.