Mine would be on a little more of a budget, so I was thinking:
buy a i-or-XWhateverit'sgoingtobecalled, pull out the internal HD and replace it with a 400GB one, then have a second 400GB connected via FireWire for nightly backups.

If it had internal space for a second HD, or facility to pull out the optical drive, I'd fit the second HD internally (clutter is a Bad Thing).

I really, really, really, really, really hope the headless iMac rumors are true. I have been wanting Apple to make one of these for quite some time. Right now I sit in my hotel room speculating and in less than 12 hours I'll be standing in line for the keynote. Ahhhhhhh, the anticipation.

Anway, I have already been amazed at the amount of Mac geeks wandering the streets. Everyone is a really friendly group. We'll all know the truth tomorrow.;)

Sigh...but it's still flat. What happened to Apple's early work on ergonomics? I wish you could still get the adjustable spread/tilt design they had so many years ago. Seems odd that only MS has really figured out how bad it is to type on a straight/flat keyboard.

Mac Mini
 

Pic:
Mac Mini

Apple introduces Mac mini. New member of Mac family Slot-load Combo optical drive. Play DVDs, burn CDs. Queit. Tiny, FireWire, ethernet, USB 2.o, both DVI/VGA output. Very tine. Height is half the size of an iPod mini. BYODKM. Bring Your Own Display, Keyboard, Mouse. Firs tone is $499: 1.25GHz 256MB/40GB More memory and larger hard drive for $599. Will ship on January 22. Ships in a box smaller than the regular iPod box.

From MacNN live coverage.

Update: Apple site now up.

well I have to admit it looks better than I was expecting.

guess now would be a good time to give some last kudos to the iHome photochop. I thought it was real. Mac Mini does sound better than iHome though. That kind of sounds like someone saying they're home in broken english.

Wow, never expected it to be that small.

My first thought is that this is a notebook replacement for many people. I have lots of clients who use a notebook simply so they can carry data back and forth between home and office. They could just plop this in a briefcase instead, at lower cost, and smaller size/weight.

If that is all they do, maybe the iPod Shuffle is all they need.
You get 1 GB of storage space for your files at $149 - and you can listen to some songs (if you can spare the space for them) on the way to the office!

Happy Cameranerd? I am...
 

I saw it, I bought one. But what I bought was for video work, so I tricked it out with 1 gig of memory and a superdrive. 1.42 ghz model with 80MB drive. Total price? $1,000. I had to throw in JamPack 4--awesome!! This is going to replace my 800mhz G4 iMac--which is STILL a GREAT Mac.

Rob now has a posting on the main MacOSXHints page with links to QuickTime clips and a slide show he's taken so far today at the keynote.

Especially interesting was this picture of him holding the Mac mini. :cool:

Hey all,

I am considering getting a mini mac to replace my aging iMac G3. I'm keen on DV editing and have been itching to get my hands on Garage Band so I can add "orginal" music to my iMovie projects.

Mac mini hits the right price point, and the G4 processor seem snappy enough for my needs, but how about getting audio in to the machine? It seems to only have audio out. My guess is audio in would need to come through a USB device off some sort...Is this assumption correct?

Also a question for all you guys that better understand tech specs: You think Mac mini is powerfull enough for DV editing and GarageBand audio stuff? Would I be better off just putting up the cash for an iMac G5??

Thanks a lot,
Fernando

Well, its specs are kinda like a PowerBook G4, and people do a lot of audio and video on those.

Kinda sorta...The G4 PowerBook has audio in/out and twice the video memory. The iBooks is closer in specs. An interesting bit about the iBook is that it mentions that audio in is supported through the use of external USB devices, which is omitted from the Mac mini specs. Hmmm.

Sorry about being such a stickler. I just don't want any surprises later own.

Thanks for the input.

Fernando

Whoopeee!!!

I was very happy they finally did it. However, I was surprised by the size... I was expecting much much larger. I had the chance to play with one at the show and I think it will be a hot seller... way to go Apple.

Then a regular USB drive would work.

What I find is that people want to take their applications as-is between places and not worry about moving data files or dealing with file locations. Me included. I hate having two computers; the PB is my only computer (I have others to tinker or serve, but the PB is the one I use to work on). I just want to go home, unsleep my machine, and be where I left off.

We've got a Windows 2003 mini cube as a home server (still much bigger than this). This could replace that nicely, plus maybe become part of the entertainment system. I don't know if it's powerful enough to deal with HDTV playback though.

If you want to wait 10 seconds for an effect to render rather than 40 seconds, buy the G5. (estimate) I have been doing audio, GarageBand, and FinalCut Pro DV stuff, all on a G4 iMac at 800Mhz. Keep your system clean, use an external firewire drive and you are set.