Apple Mac Mini user reviews (2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 160GB, Fall 2009)

Pros Small compact and powerful for size. I can run windows through parallels 5 with ease.

Cons The do it yourself upgrades can be tricky. Very small space to work with, and you have to be extremely careful when upgrading memory or Hard Drive.

Summary If your starting out into the MAC world, this is a great choice. Big things come in small packages describes this Mac Mini. I am running OS X, Windows 7, and Ubuntu on this mini with ease. It has a nice processor, and video output, and the speed is very good even when multi-tasking. I am very please with it's perform, and with MAC.

Pros Compact, Snow Leopard, Quick, Style, Wireless N...

Cons Accessibility to perform upgrades.

Summary The fall 2009 Mac Mini base model sports a small bump in HD space and CPU speed from its predecessor, I bought this computer for my daughter and she loves using it to surf the web and play educational games (she's 6). When I use it, I find it to be quite peppy, and is a great system to use for general purposes and some light gaming (or heavy gaming on light settings). The ability to upgrade to 8 (yes 8! gigs of ram is wonderful, and a 7200 rpm HD upgrade helps with access speeds. The only real problem I have is DIY upgrades.... You have to be very careful when prying the unit open and removing hardware to access the Ram slots or replace the HD. The computer will still be under Apple warranty however Apple will not cover damage caused by you or failures of any non-apple installed or 3rd party hardware.

That being said, I recommend this system to anyone starting out in the Mac world, or if you want a nice addition to your home that can also serve as a multimedia hub! Greta job Apple.

Pros Performance with my dual Dell 24" monitors is more than adequate for my photo and video editing with Firewire 800 RAIDs and 4gb of RAM. This new Mac Mini has everything I need.

Cons It is so small that customers who visit may not get the awe of a big box of mostly fresh air and flashing lights enclosing the electronics.

Summary Mini owners benefit from changing Macs without changing monitors like with an iMac. Someday a company will make a lot of money converting old iMacs to simple monitors since the iMac monitor will far out last the CPU and other quickly outdated components. With this model Apple has bestowed the WiFi N, Firewire 800 and Nvideo card with dual monitor support. Now the lesser cost version comes with SuperDrive DVD writer as well so I believe it is the best Mac for the money unless you must use your Mac on your lap.

Pros Lowest cost way to OS X, easy setup, low power consumption, quiet, built-in "N" WiFi Bluetooth and IR. Great as a server.

Cons As always with Apple, cost. Internal sound is lacking, unlike the new iMacs. Not so great as ones desktop computer.

Summary I was using an old iMac for an entertainment system in front of a treadmill. It died and repair cost was greater than buying a Mac Mini so the choice was obvious. I run it from my old Apple remote and connected an old monitor and keyboard+display I had.

I've been playing with remote desktop on this system and it runs fast. I'm considering buying the server version of the Mini ($1000 for Mini with 1TB on 2 HDs, 4GB RAM, and Snow Leopard Server) to replace my existing big box Windows server machine and also replacing my long-in-the-tooth Windows XP box running as an entertainment server in the living room. I can actually see myself buying three more of these in the next year or two.

The only thing I don't see using a Mini for is a desktop computer! By the time you add the monitor, keyboard, and mouse you might as well buy an iMac and get the extra performance. But for little server systems, I don't think the Minis can be beat!

Updated on Mar 2, 2010

A month has passed and I've just ordered the Mac Mini Server. Once I get it and have it up and running I'll review that as well.