minimac

Like I said, I really want one. They look great, and I have been looking to buy a recent mac to test SPi-V development on. Plus, they look great!

But Apple made one crucial error. Contrary to a long-standing tradition, Steve's keynote presentation was not broadcasted live. By the time the presentation was available on the Apple.com website, I had already seen all new stuff that had been presented, including the mini mac. No need to watch the presentation...

So, you see, I have not watched Steve's keynote presentation, and as such I am not under the influence of what is commonly known as Steve Jobs' reality distortion field. This means apple gave me the chance to see beyond the mini mac perfection and notice some flaws.

For SPi-V, the 32 Mb graphics card is a bit on the conservative side; I would have preferred a 64 Mb card. But it will (have to) do...

What I really don't like (but fully understand) is how Apple is after my money. I actually like how they are not selling a keyboard and mouse as standard. Those are accessories, and the idea is you may want to share them with an existing PC.

The minimac comes in two versions, one starts at $499, the other is 20% faster, has twice the harddisk capacity and is $100 more expensive. You can take the cheap version, and add the bigger harddrive as a build-to-order option for an additional $50. But you cannot take the faster version and change the harddrive back to the smaller version as safe $50... Come to think of it, I want one without a harddrive, I'll fit one myself!

The other thing is memory. Both models come with 256 Mb standard, which is just too little. But - officially - the memory cannot be retrofitted. You have buy the memory at apple (at a premium price), and let them install it. 'Nothing a screwdriver and some dilligence cannot fix' you might think, but guess again! Count the snap fits on this baby, they really don't want you to open up the device for yourself!

But I still want one.
Update: I ordered one.