Apple Mac Mini (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 320GB, Winter 2009)

Pros: It's small, energy-efficient and, very important to me, silent when in use. It's fast enough for every-day tasks and will serve as a decent entertainment center in the living room, too. Dual-display support is very appreciated.

Cons: The higher-end model should be more distinct and feature a 2.4 ghz processor. I also don't get it why Apple doesn't use 500gb harddrives - they are on the market for a while and reliable, too. And again I miss an easy-to-upgrade-design.

Summary: All in all a good machine for every-day tasks and home entertainment. I know the old mini as well as the performance of the current macbook so there shouldn't be any surprise. Which is a bit disappointing - I'd loved to get a higher-end vesion with specs similar to the pro macbooks.

Still the author's comparison to a Gateway mini-tower isn't that useful. It's bigger, eats up more energy, it's (I guess) louder, and the built-in 8gb of RAM are not well-supported by the installed Vista operating system.