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Apple Mac mini MB138LL/A (1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 1 GB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, Combo Drive)
From Apple Computer
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #36 in Personal Computers
- Brand: Apple
- Model: MB138LL/A
- Dimensions: 12.60" h x 5.60" w x 6.50" l, 6.20 pounds
- CPU: Intel Core Duo 1.83 GHz
- Memory: 1000MB DDR2 SDRAM
- Hard Disk: 80GB
- Processors: 2
Features
- 1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 667 MHz system bus
- 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM (expandable to 2 GB), 80 GB SATA hard drive, and slot-loading slot-loading Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
- One FireWire 400 port (8 watts); four USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps); DVI output; VGA output (using included adapter); S-video and composite video output
- Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit), built-in AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi (802.11g)3; built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate) module
- Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard, iLife '08, and Front Row software included
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Product Description
A great choice for home computing tasks and creating a digital media hub, Apple's Mac mini desktop PC combines design simplicity with powerful computing resources. Nicely compact at just 6.5 inches square and 2 inches high, the Mac mini offers an affordable avenue to dual-core processing power via the 1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and Apple's latest suite of digital media applications--iLife '08. It also comes with the Apple Remote and Front Row media display software, which enables you to easily play your music, enjoy photo slideshows, and watch DVDs, iMovies, music videos and television shows from across the room.
 Inside its 2-inch-tall, 6.5-inch-square anodized aluminum enclosure, the Mac mini houses the fast Intel Core 2 Duo processor. |
Preinstalled with iLife '08
Every Mac mini includes iLife '08, the latest version of Apple's award-winning suite of digital media applications, with major upgrades to iPhoto, iDVD, iWeb, and GarageBand and a completely reinvented iMovie. iPhoto '08 now automatically organizes photo libraries into Events that let you more easily manage your growing photo collections, and iMovie '08 can import video from the latest AVCHD, HDV and DV camcorders, as well as from digital cameras, and displays your entire video library whether it's stored on internal or external drives. Both iPhoto and iMovie integrate seamlessly with the new .Mac Web Gallery, Apple's new service for .Mac members to instantly create and host websites for their photos and videos.
 The pre-installed iLife '08 software suite includes a completely redesigned iMovie, which makes it even easier to share your videos on the Internet. |
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
The Intel Core 2 Duo T5600 processor has a 1.83 GHz processor speed, fast 667 MHz front-side bus (FSB), and large 2 MB L2 cache. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system's performance. The FSB carries data between the CPU and RAM, and a faster front-side bus will deliver better overall performance.)
The Intel Core 2 Duo's 128-bit SSE3 vector engine handles 128-bit computations in a single clock cycle, accelerating data manipulation by simultaneously applying a single instruction to multiple data. And its two execution cores are designed to share resources and conserve power, helping it to achieve higher levels of performance since it uses fewer watts.
Wired and Wireless Connectivity
 The small form of the Mac mini features several ports for a variety of different devices. |
Graphics and Video
The Mac mini has a DVI video output that supports digital resolutions up to 1920 by 1200 pixels and is compatible with the 20-inch Apple Cinema Display and 23-inch Apple Cinema HD Display. It also supports coherent digital displays up to 154 MHz, and non-coherent digital displays up to 135 MHz. Using the included VGA video adapter, you can connect to analog displays at a resolution up to 1920 by 1080 pixels. Video is powered by the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950, which uses Intel Dynamic Video Memory Technology (DVMT) and provides up to 64 MB of shared video memory.
Other Features
- 1 GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-5300) on two SO-DIMM with a 2 GB maximum capacity
- Slot-loading Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW): reads DVDs at up to 8x speed, writes CD-R discs at up to 24x speed, writes CD-RW discs at up to 16x speed, and reads CDs at up to 24x speed
- Built-in speaker
- Meets ENERGY STAR requirements with maximum continuous power of 110 watts
Included Software
Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard operating system (includes Spotlight, Dashboard, Mail, iChat AV, Safari, Address Book, QuickTime, iCal, DVD Player, Xcode Developer Tools); iLife '08 (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iWeb, GarageBand); Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac Test Drive; iWork (30-day trial); and Front Row
What's in the Box
Mac mini, Apple Remote, power cord, install/restore DVDs, printed and electronic documentation
Customer Reviews
Solid computer for basic needs
I have the 1.66mhz core duo version. It came with 512mb of ram, which I upgraded to 2gb. Doing your own ram upgrade is somewhat of a nightmare, even for someone familiar with the insides of a pc. The mini is not made like a pc, or like a notebook, and is really not designed to be opened by the user. If you want to upgrade your ram from the current 1gb standard, you are probably better off letting a pro do it. Same for the hard drive. There's a video on how its done at macsales.com.
Overall I am happy with this computer. It runs Leopard just fine, boots quickly, and has no difficulty with basic computer software: safari or firefox, iphoto, itunes, open office, etc.
I've tried to use vmware fusion to run xp simultaneously, and it works, but even with 2gb of ram the system performance takes a hit. Alternatively, running xp via bootcamp works well. xp is speedy and has no hardware compatibility issues. It's a hassle to have to reboot into xp and then reboot again back to OSX, but I only use xp once in awhile. If you need to constantly use windows programs, consider the imac or a more powerful mini which should have the power necessary to run virtualization software smoothly.
Don't be fooled by the mini's size. Even though it is very small, and pretty darn cute, it has to be placed on your desk, whereas a standard pc tower is best placed under the desk. Therefore, as small as it is, the mini takes up more desk space than an under-desk pc. All the cables that normally create a mess on the floor attached to a pc tower (monitor, printer, network, mouse, keyboard, ipod, camera, external hard drive, etc.) are going to be on your desk, rather than under it. I pushed the mini as far to the back of my desk as possible so the cables flop behind the desktop and hang down. Doing so eliminates cable clutter on my desk, but means it's a little inconvenient to use the optical drive and the power button (which is on the rear panel).
The mini has built in bluetooth and wi-fi so you might want to consider wireless options to reduce the # of cables.
This isn't really a criticism, but the sound via a standard mini-plug is about as mediocre as you'd get from built-in motherboard sound on a PC. (I haven't used the mini's optical sound option). If you use your computer to listen to music you might want to consider an external sound card, since you can't put a dedicated sound card inside the mini. I have a creative labs xmod, which is a usb device and sounds great.
I've given the mini 4 stars as it's the least expensive way to enjoy OSX, and for basic needs does a great job. It's extremely quiet and stays cool. I subtracted a star in view of the power button placement, and difficulty upgrading the ram and hard drive.
The little engine that could
The Mac mini may be one of the most misunderstood pieces of technology around. People assume that, because of the size, it lacks any kind of pizazz. But a Mac mini is the sports car of the computer world: a huge amount of horsepower, but easy to park. You can hook it up to any kind of VGA monitor, hook it up to any kind of USB keyboard or mouse, add in a FireWire drive or three, and this little box the size of five CD jewel boxes turns into a powerful, full-featured Apache Web server, or file server, or media server (my personal use), or Frankenmac (for conducting bizarre experiments in Unix scripting or other alarming things). The mini takes up *less* room than a laptop, but can do everything the big boys do, including run Windows, if you insist. And you get WiFi and Bluetooth, too.
top product-mac mini
I recommend this model of the mini as it has a bigger harddrive and dvd burner superdrive. So far it has been rock solid and works flawlessly. If you have your own monitor,keyboard,mouse, this is the ticket. I love my new mac mini.
| List Price: | $599.00 |
| Price: | $595.00 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details |
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