Roundup: Three Mini PCs

[Guest]

This latest roundup will show you which mini PCs are the right choice, whether its a multimedia gateway or a secondary computer you seek.

Roundup: Three Mini PCs : Read more

 

[thehun101]

It might have been worth mentioning the current limitations playing flash video (Hulu) on the atom system, even the ion. Flash is currently rendered by the CPU and does not play smoothly in full screen at HD resolutions on atom systems. This may not matter to some people, but it's one of the only things keeping me from using an ion system as a HTPC.

Adobe is supposedly working on offloading some flash processing to the GPU, but it is not clear when (or if) that will happen.

 

[jv_acabal]

I think it's best if these mini's are used on the most basic usage. No games, no hi-resolution videos, no heavy processing.

 

[erichlund]

Digital Versus seems to think anything MAC is the best thing since sliced bread. It seems to me that if you are comparing a MAC with its non-Atom processor (they don't happen to mention what it has, but at 2GHz, we know it's not an Atom), then why don't they compare it to the mini I helped a friend buy. She does email and word processing, and little more. But this little Dell machine from Best Buy had a Core 2 processor, and would run circles around either of these Atom machines. Also, it came with a wireless keyboard / mouse, and a 22" wide panel monitor.

 

[CaptainRon]

I agree with "erichlund". Every Apple product seems to come out with a 5 star rating, yet the cons listed for the Apple product would seem to make it impossible to justify giving it a 5 star rating. At the very least the cons for the other products seem to be no worse than the cons for the Apple product. While I realize it is "chic" to lust after Apple products, part of the credibility of a review/comparison relies on objective ratings. Arbitrarily giving every Apple product a 5 star rating does nothing for the credibility of this article. When considering the price, lack of accessible ram upgrading, poor cpu performance, how is the Mac-Mini worthy of a 5 star rating?

 

[Guest]

Anyone know where you can find the Acer Aspire Revo from a reputable dealer? They were suppose to be out a while back.

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

It'll be good to have a few more Core 2 Duo machines added to the mix when the article gets updated. I'd also be interested in having a "value" section added. Such a section should consider what you get for your money and also the potential resale value.

P.S. CaptainRon, while I'm not saying a 5 star rating is right or not for the mini, the RAM, hard drive and optical drive are easily upgradable, the cpu performance is (at least in my opinion) fine for such a small form factor and the price isn't nearly as bad when you factor in the resale value. Since they update them so irregularly, their second hand prices stay a lot higher than other machines.

 

[nukemaster]

Well at 2x the price, that mac mini better be have a bit more.

Apple Mac mini, 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, SuperDrive NO KEYBOARD/MOUSE - $849.00
Acer Aspire Revo - $400
Acer EEEEEEE - $380

All prices in Canadian dollars.

At least get systems in the same price
hell even a Acer Veriton(business machine) is not too big for most users while packing more power then those Atom systems(core2 or a64 X2)

 

[ebattleon]

You could buy a decent laptop for the price of the apple machine, and get better performance. But i guess some are willing to pay more for looks than anything else.

 

[Guest]

I would very much like to see the AOpen MP-45 mini-PC family added to this review: http/usa.aopen.com/Products.aspx?id=74
Granted AOpen sells it as DIY mini-PC, though you can get a preconfigured system from http/lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/myaopen/MP45.html

 

[fancarolina]

Seems to me the Dell Studio Hybrid should have been covered. It's closest thing to a Mac Mini out there. Oh yea and it's at least avaliable to buy in the US.

Does anyone know where to buy that Acer Aspire Revo in the US?

 

[socrates047]

For the EeeBOX the lack of "keyboard mouse screen" is a very stupid thing to B!@%& about since this is standard throughout all products

 

[CaptainRon]

Spanky Deluxe, while you can upgrade the Mac Mini, my point was simply that for a 5 star product the ACCESSIBILITY to perform a simple ram upgrade was poor. While resale value is higher on any Apple product due to the "brand tax" associated with Apple products, the high price should invalidate the Mac Mini from a 5 star rating if one is using resale value as a factor. Simply put, you can almost buy two non-Apple mini's for the price of a single Apple mini, that really has nothing more going for it than appearance and size. Again if one is talking value, ie: bang for your buck, the Mac Mini isn't a 5 star product.

Also, I have no problem with the CPU performance of the product, my problem is with the rating it was given. It's touted as an a decent office computer and I'm sure it handles these functions fine, but the vast majority of office workstations are Windows based (for better or worse), which you can get for CHEAPER.

My argument is not with Apple, it's with the review. Apple products are generally above average quality items, but in this case the Mac Mini isn't discernibly better than the other minis which were rated at less than 5 stars. Again, no problem with Apple, but the objectivity of the ratings of this article should be brought in to question.

Rock and roll.

 

[Guest]

A major con of the Apple device is the limited amount of Apps available for it. The Apple App Store is tiny compared to the Windows App Store.

Also you have to work with the Mac Os which seems to be aimed at children.