Ars reviews the Mac Mini Core Solo, and concludes: "Because this machine maintains the same great form factor and adds a ton of new, standard features in addition to having substantially better performance with only a price increase of $100 on each model, I'm giving the Mac Mini Solo a score of 8. The integrated graphics issue is an issue to be sure, but the impacted population is so small and the cure so easily fixed, that I don't feel that knocking the score down any further is warranted. From nearly all other perspectives, this is a great entry level machine with a great footprint and the ability to utilize peripherals most people already have." On a related note, the new Mini's processor is upgradable.
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Member since:2005-07-06
You are a part of that group of 'capable of DIY' but not really interested group.
In my case .Mac pays for itself in that it's easy, and with the family pack sub, it's easy enough for my kids and wife to use, they aren't willing to learn the fine art of FTP and WebDav. Option Shift I is too easy. The other benefits here are in things like Backup 3, which they use, and of course the iLife integration which is dead simple to use, and suits the needs of the quick dump the photos and video to the web for family in other states needs.
None of this isn't doable with other free alternatives, but the doing requires more knowledge and work, which requires more time. Thats the core reason for that add-ons.
About DRM, to each their own, while I'm not thrilled about it, I recognize that I enjoy music, and the RIAA isn't going away. It's a legalized mafia, it exists only to benefit the record labels, it hurts consumers and it hurts artists both about equally. It's not like commercial music right now is all that great, and American Idol is only making it worse. I also subbed to eMusic for a year or so before iTunes got rolling. The content was great for those who have tastes off the beaten path, but the catalog was always limited to what the labels felt they could afford to lose or indie content, and I don't see anyone solving those problems.
Is it a shame? yes, but do I see my abstaining from using DRM'd music helping ? no, the RIAA will just blame lost revenue on pirates and justify more draconian measures. I'd rather vote with the service that has reasonable DRM requirements, which at the moment iTunes does (though the RIAA would love to change that, after all ripping a CD is no longer 'fair-use' either in their latest legal wrangling).
On the quality, I'd say that the Sony Viaio remains close, and the Panasonic Toughbooks remain the most durable legwarmers on the market. Fujitsu also builds nice products, all of these product have a common thread though, none are 'bargain' machines, and in most cases are more, and some cases, significantly more expensive than the Apple offerings. The iBook you mention might be the single most well suited to general consumer use built to date. My original iBook G3 (dual USB / 600mhz) is now nearly 5 years old, and is on it's fourth full-time user, have passed from me to my wife, to my then 10 year old daughter and now to my son who is just now 9. The only hardware failure was the battery, which was replaced about 12 months ago.
Member since:
2005-09-21
Interesting. I recently purchased a 12in iBook and love it. The thing is that I don't see any added value in purchasing .mac or any of the other add ons. I have a pop email address, online file folder, and gmail. So the .mac email address, 1 gig of online storage, etc... don't provide any value to me. I purchased apple care, and that was overpriced for what it provides. I did however buy an iPod Nano, the 1 gig version, but I refuse to buy DRM'ed music so iTunes is out.
All in all though, from a usage, price to feature, build quality, and every other comparison I think the iBook is probably the best laptop on the market.