Apple's Mac mini - Tempting PC Users Everywhere
by Anand Lal Shimpi on January 25, 2005 7:39 AM EST- Posted in
- Mac
iLife '05
The Mac mini ships with the latest version of Apple's iLife application suite on DVD-ROM (it is a relief to actually have applications come on DVD; thankfully, it's always easier to turn a smaller ship). The application suite is nothing short of massive, at just under 4GB for iPhoto 5, iMovie HD, iDVD 5, GarageBand 2 and iTunes 4.7. Now, iTunes is free and is available for download outside of the iLife '05 package, but it is included on the DVD just to make sure that all OS X users have a copy installed, which is nothing to complain about.
The relative sizes of the individual applications are as follows:
iPhoto 5 - 163MB
iMovie HD - 63MB
iDVD 5 - 1.46GB
GarageBand 2 - 63MB
iTunes 4.7 - 30MB
As you can see, the individual applications themselves aren't terribly big; however, it's all of the extras that come with the applications that really drive up the total install size. Apple has been touting iLife as the "suite of tightly integrated applications that continues to lead the digital media revolution" - think of them as the digital media version of Microsoft Office. Instead of creating documents and presentations, you're recording music and making DVDs.
The first several months of my Mac experience didn't really involve any of the iLife applications with the exception of iTunes - the rest simply didn't entice me. But with the latest update of iLife, it was time to give all of the applications a try to see what all the hype was about. Unfortunately, due to the length of this article, I've restricted comments on iLife '05 to brief statements about all of the applications, with a longer focus on the one application that I've had the most experience with lately - iPhoto 5.
The application suite does take a pretty long time to install on the Mac mini, thanks to its 2.5" hard drive. On a G5 system, the suite doesn't take nearly as long, but it's still longer than any other individual application that I'd ever installed on the G5, including things like Photoshop CS or even Microsoft Office 2004. On the Mac mini, all of the applications run perfectly fine assuming you heeded my warnings about using less than 512MB of memory. The projects in iMovie HD do appreciate more memory and importing video does get faster with faster CPUs, especially when comparing the mini to something like a G5, but you can use all of the applications in iLife '05 with the mini.
I won't talk much about iTunes, since it's a freely available download and it's been around long enough that there's not much value that I can add to the discussion out there already on it. And regrettably, I'm not much of a talented musician, so GarageBand 2 isn't something that I'm qualified to comment on; although, the more musically-inclined friends of mine seem to be rather impressed with it.
iMovie HD is an application that I have played around with a little bit, but one that I fully plan on using more as soon as more time frees up. Before AnandTech, I was heavily into Video Editing, so there is a bit of a personal attraction to iMovie HD. From my limited experience with it, iMovie HD already seems infinitely easier to use (especially to the first-time video editor) than the professional packages, yet isn't dumbed down like most of the free or equally cheap video editing software solutions out there. The actual process of editing is extremely painless. Although, I am afraid that it makes implementing the Ken Burns Effect a little too easy, and I'm worried that far too many first-time editors armed with iMovie HD will produce movies with an overkill of the effect. On the Mac mini, importing movies takes a significant amount of time. The shorter clips aren't a big deal, but the longer, 30+ minute clips might require a trip elsewhere to heat up a pop tart or two (or ten) to pass the time.
iDVD 5 works along side iMovie HD quite well as it is a nice, equally easy-to-use, DVD authoring application. My experience with iDVD 5 was even more limited than iMovie HD (I figured that I should master creating content before trying to burn it), but from what I've see, you can actually get some pretty professional looking results extremely quickly out of iDVD 5. The main thing here is that it is extremely easy to use and has a number of very professional looking, non-cheesy themes that you can choose from for title screens and menus.
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bob661 - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link
#126Graphics card swap hardly agonizing but Joe $499 User won't know how or care to do that, I agree. I am still wondering how a PDA can be useful for me but since I can't think of a reason to get one I am obviously not the market for those.
Chuckles - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link
#120:1: Given that a 3.5" is about a third the size of the computer, what do you think?
2: Do you think Joe Luser is willing to spend the time and agony upgrading his graphics card?
3: If the past is any indication, no, its got about 4, maybe 5 years of "official" OS support.
4: Does your PDA have the ability to serve as your HD backup, play music for 8 hours, and still fit in your pocket? Capability is a matter of perspective. The PDA I have does exactly what I need it to, my iPod does different things.
Concord - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link
Oh, yes! Dying - strong word but its true and bestdescribes situation. Macs represent now less than 1 percent of the market. Of course we do our best to keep them alive. We vote for personal computer's diversity :)). But frankly speaking this miniMac is so badly constructed (I have at least 10 reasons for this claim) so I see at this moment only one reason to buy. Your girlfrend would say - Oh, its so cute! Maybe this reason is strong enough to buy it. But I will give you strong consumer advice (it was in 1st post) - wait for a couple of month and you will buy it on eBay for 200 US, of course if you will not change your mind.
bob661 - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link
#123People will still jump on these because the $499 buyer doesn't know about how much system or video memory they'll need. Like someone else said, the $499 market only cares about price and name.
Dualboy24 - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link
#121 "A pitiful attempt of the dying platform."- People have been saying its a dying platform since the early to mid 90s. Perhaps even earlier. But that hasnt stopped tens of millions of people worldwide from buying their products.
I am sure that everyone would agree that they would love standard 512MB RAM and 64MB or 128MB video memory. If apple were to offer this a large amount more people would jump on these Mac minis. Perhaps a good rule is to hold off a few months. Until the buying rush is done with and apple tries to start a new rush by offering more advanced features. I dont know if they could get in a 9600 or higher video card with heat reequirements though. But the 9200 should do fine for the OS and the higher res work with more video memory.
bob661 - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link
#71Shuttle is making gaming machines. They need to be able to fit a 6800 or X800 in them. Also, they use full size hard drives and DVD/CD drives.
Concord - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link
A pitiful attempt of the dying platform.There are no reasons to buy it. Stylish? This soap box? I am dying laughing! Try to have your own look on things. Apple is trying to make an impression that it does so much good for us poor users and for only 499 US we are among choosen.
Ha-ha buy and enjoy - You are different! That's all you can get.
peachee - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link
It uses 2.5" HD. Does that mean 3.5" HD upgrades won't fit?Is the graphics card upgradeable?
Will it take 1 - 2 years before Apple completely abondons this computer when a new OS update comes out?
When people realize that a PDA is cheaper and more capable than an IPOD, will MS have to bail out Apple again?
Cygni - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link
"figure out the case and internal hardware components to use such as those you suggest be used for an alternate base Wintel"Thats true, the shuttle will take considerably more setup time and prior knowledge. That does not lessen the bang/buck of the hardware, in my eyes, and i think thats what Anand is speaking of.
"when it comes to downtime, system maintenance,"
I am typing this on my G4 Powerbook, and i think this is an unfair comment. I have K6-2 machines running WXP that havent rebooted in months. I also have friends and coworkers with Macs that consistantly freeze (especially when opening a 3rd party program). In all honesty, if you have any type of downtime problems with ANY modern system, something is wrong. There doesnt seem to be any measurable difference to me... they are both quite solid.
"I'd bet my daily income, that if you would install a good AV SW, many ,even tens of, viruses would be found."
I havent installed an AV program since Windows 3.1, and i have never had any problems with viruses. I run HouseCall every couple of months, and its never found anything. Honestly, how do people get these viruses? I use P2P programs all the time, i open and install community made programs all the time... never gotten a thing. And i have yet to recieve any type of virus from all these amazing holes in XP where viruses just fly through the internet at your computer. If you DONT click anything on the screen on a shady site, you will never have any problems... doesnt matter what browser you use. If you drop all the security levels and click yes to everything, whose fault is that?
msva124 - Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - link
I don't care what the PC costs, I already have plenty of PCs. I want to buy a Mac. First of all, I will need 512MB RAM ($75 extra). Second, I want to get a keyboard with apple keys so that I can get used to the new shortcuts ($30). It should also have a USB hub, or I will need to get one seperate ($15). Third, I need wireless, unless I never want to use the internet($79). Fourth, I need a two button usb mouse with scroll wheel ($20). Finally, the cheapest 15" LCD with good reviews on Amazon is the AG Neovo F-415 ($215 with shipping). That comes to $933. A similarly configured Emac is $953. And the lowest cost Ibook upgraded to 512MB is $1074.Why would I not want to upgrade to the Ibook and get full portability?