Product Reviews

Rangers vs Celtic. Mods vs Rockers. Penelope Pitstop vs The Hooded Claw. History is littered with examples of simmering conflict. And few rivals seem more implacable than the two tribes of the computing world: Windows users and Mac heads. So what in the world is Computer Buyer magazine, an enclave previously thought of as exclusively PC-oriented, doing reviewing a Macintosh computer?

In short, because we know that everyone's different. Not everyone wants a computer they can upgrade with the latest whizzbang graphics when they appear, or one with potential to add extra expansion cards or a new processor. Some people just want a computer that does what it needs to, and as unobtrusively as possible. And that's just what Apple has tried to come up with in its Mac mini.

It's a common complaint among PC users - and a source of pride among Apple devotees - that when it comes to style, Mac users have the last laugh. Apple's iPod has stormed ahead of rivals to replace Walkman as a word synonymous with portable music players. Why? Quality design and good looks. Likewise, next to the average grey, boxy PC, Apple Macs are simply stunning. This is a by-product of the fact that Macs are designed by a single company, whereas PCs are assembled from standardised parts by a plethora of small system builders. But there has previously been a downside to the Mac: spec for spec, Apples were more expensive.

Not any more. In its most basic guise, Apple's Mac mini costs just £339 including VAT. You should note, however, that this price is for the system box only. You'll need to add a keyboard, mouse and monitor to that, for which you'll need to budget at least an extra two hundred quid. A fully-rounded spec like the one we've reviewed here costs nearly £200 more than the basic model, so you're looking at over £700 for a system that's truly comparable with a PC.

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE SPECS

So what do you get for the money? The Mac mini is quite something. It's all housed in a box just 165mm square - only a little wider than a CD. At 1.4kg, it's also fairly light for a computer - though weighty enough to prevent it being dragged around the desk by attached cables. This doesn't mean Apple has held back on the hardware inside, though. Our review model contained a PowerPC G4 processor running at 1.4GHz, a combo CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive, 512MB RAM, an 80GB hard disk and built-in wireless connections in the form of AirPort Extreme (Apple's name for 802.11b/g wireless networking) and Bluetooth. Although cheaper configurations have less memory, 512MB RAM is the minimum you should consider to get decent performance from the Mac operating system, MacOS X.

Externally, the Mac mini is nothing short of stunning. Its beauty comes from its simplicity. There is no over-designed fascia or fancy grilles, and the antennas for the wireless components are tucked discreetly inside. The machined aluminium casing oozes class, and the whole package feels reassuringly solid.

Round the back is a modest complement of connectors. By comparison with most PCs, two USB 2 ports is pretty meagre - though you can team it up with a Macintosh keyboard, which will add an extra two. Getting a 'proper' Mac keyboard is the best idea in any case - in testing, we found that although many of the function buttons of a Windows keyboard could be used to perform Mac-specific functions such as Shutdown or volume control, keys were laid out differently. Windows users may also be confused by having to use Windows+C instead of Ctrl+C and so on, for everyday shortcuts such as copy. If you do buy a Mac keyboard, you'll still need to get used to a change in shortcuts - in most cases, the Apple key replaces Ctrl.

A FireWire port allows you to connect digital video cameras, as well as some iPod models - it's something often omitted from budget PCs. There are further sockets for a 56K modem, wired networking and headphones. Monitor output comes from a DVI connector, enabling you to hook it up to a TFT flat panel that has a suitable digital input. Because this particular socket is a DVI-I ('integrated) connection, it can carry an analogue signal as well, so you can attach an analogue flat panel or old-fashioned

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CRT screen with the use of a special adapter.

The Apple's built-in 32MB ATI Radeon 9200 graphics manage a maximum resolution of 1,920x1,200 using either analogue or digital output, enabling you to use as big a monitor as you like. With only 32MB of graphics memory, the Mac mini is really not designed for playing games - so we haven't rated it using a Macintosh simulation of our Doom 3 games test. But for everyday 2D applications the graphics are fine.

MAKE THE BREAK FROM WINDOWS

For anyone used to Windows, the biggest shift will be the operating system, MacOS X. This shares the main ideas behind Windows XP - a desktop full of icons and windows. In the case of OS X, however, the Start menu and taskbar are replaced by the 'Dock' - a strip of icons used to launch applications and toggle between the files you have open. One notable benefit of MacOS X is that it's more secure - where Windows has been the subject of countless security alerts over the past year, Apple has alerted users to just two. Because MacOS X is built around a system called Unix, changing system settings requires you to enter a username and password to gain temporary access to the hard disk's root directory.

If you have one or more Windows PCs, the Mac mini can communicate with them. Just click the relevant option in System Preferences. USB Flash memory drives formatted using the Windows FAT filing system also work.

SOFTWARE BUNDLE

One thing that can make or break a computer bundle is the software that comes with it. And in this respect, Windows users lose out. Microsoft has been prohibited from bundling all sorts of useful applications and extra widgets. Competitors say that if it did, the software giant would squeeze them out of the market, leading to less choice for consumers. The European Commission, as well as the US Government, agree. Apple is subject to no such restrictions, so bundles all sorts of handy applications and features. Pop a DVD movie disc into the mini, and the Mac mini launches its DVD Player application. Do the same thing with a standard installation of Windows XP, and Media Player will inform you that you need to shell out for some extra third-party DVD decoding software. The Mac mini comes with iLife, a bundle which consists of iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, plus GarageBand, a music-making program. A PC equivalent of this would cost a packet. You also get the AppleWorks business suite (containing a word processor, spreadsheet, database, presentations and both vector and bitmap drawing programs).

What you don't get is any real ability to upgrade. Getting into the Mac mini requires you to run a flat blade around the edge of the base - a tricky business. Once inside, the only thing that can be readily upgraded is the memory. There's only one slot, so if you have 256MB RAM and decide you later need 512MB, you'll need to chuck out the existing memory module and install another. Or rather, get an Apple service centre to do it for you - Apple doesn't officially sanction users opening up the box.

If you also opt for a cheaper model without wireless networking or Bluetooth, you'll need an Apple engineer to fit them for you. In theory, you could upgrade the 2.5in notebook-style hard disk, but you'll need to find one that fits the snug space it occupies. In short, you'd better make sure what you want before you buy it.

That said, you shouldn't need to upgrade the system for everyday tasks. Because Apple Macintosh computers use processors that understand a very different set of instructions, it's impossible to run the same benchmark tests we use to assess PC performance.

The difference in design also means that Apple Mac processors are more powerful than PC chips of the same clock speed. Hence, the Mac mini's 1.4GHz chip managed everyday performance roughly equivalent to that of a PC with a 2.5GHz processor. Moving the mouse, opening files and programs, and surfing the web were all perfectly smooth.

The only slight reservation we had was the noise of the cooling fan. Admittedly, this only kicks in if the system working hard, but if mixing music using GarageBand, you'll certainly hear it. The combo drive also proved fairly noisy.

BUYING DECISIONS

If style matters to you more than either upgradability or performance, the decision to buy a Mac mini is practically a no-brainer. Even if you're not obsessed with looks, the inclusion of nearly every bit of software you need to get going makes this machine a real bargain - the only thing that might put you off is the need to plug in hardware such as a TV tuner as an external device. If you were thinking of buying a computer for surfing, typing or burning CDs, this is the first Macintosh we've seen that's a real alternative to a PC.