Product Reviews

The charm that endeared the Mac mini to us on its introduction hasn't diminished almost two years on. At only 16.5cm along each side, it's genuinely tiny. The first time we saw it - and even now after prolonged exposure - we couldn't quite comprehend that so much Apple goodness was stuffed so elegantly into such a small box. And try telling someone that the lunchbox-style retail packaging contains a computer at least as fast as most consumer PCs and they'll laugh in your face.

Now the feat seems even more impressive. Since the Mac mini's launch, Apple has moved from G4 to Intel processors - initially Core Solo in the entry-level configuration, now Core Duo in both - and after a price hike to £449 following the adoption of Intel, the cheapest model in the range has dropped down to £399, still a little higher than the jaw-dropping £339 of the first, 1.25GHz G4 model.

Apple took a lot of flak when it switched the Mac minis to Intel because it simultaneously adopted the same GMA 950 graphics hardware currently found in the MacBooks and entry-level iMac. For many potential customers, this was actually an upgrade, as this integrated graphics system was powerful enough to show Core Image effects such as the Dashboard ripple around newly placed Widgets, whereas the dedicated ATI Radeon 9200 graphics card couldn't. Still, this is no gamer's machine: you're forced to drop quality, resolution or frame rates to levels most of us would judge unacceptable with modern 3D games.

For most of us, though, this is by-the-by. The sheer cuteness of the mini belies its power and the price tag is all the more impressive considering the list of features it boasts. Both mini models now include AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2, and they also conceal an infrared receiver in the optical drive slot so they can accept instructions from the Apple Remote to control Front Row, Apple's media centre software.

As such, it's a cracking machine to buy for your living room, where it can connect to your TV (using DVI if your telly supports it, or with an optional DVI-to-S-Video/Composite adaptor) and serve movies, music and photos - locally and from shared machines on the same network - and play DVDs. The wireless technology makes it easy to pull media from other computers or servers, or, if you have a suitably large, high-resolution

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TV, use a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse to surf the web from your sofa.

Like all Macs, the mini comes with Mac OS X 10.4 and iLife '06, which is a bundle of software that shouldn't be underestimated. As well as the rock-solid operating system, which includes a fantastic email client, easy-to-use video conferencing software and the ability to play DVDs out of the box, you get iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD and GarageBand, all of which are best-of-breed applications, and make managing and editing your media a real breeze. You also get iWeb, although it's somewhat limited.

As with the MacBooks and the entry-level iBook, the shared graphics system robs you of around 80MB of system Ram. Even so, for light to medium use, the default 512MB fitted in each Mac should prove sufficient for most users who are likely to buy the Mac mini. Again, Ram chips should be fitted in pairs and the savings made by shopping with third parties are considerable, but the Mac mini is the least accessible computer in Apple's current range. In truth, it just takes a putty knife and a little chutzpah to open up the case to expose the Ram, hard disk and optical drive, but it's the one Mac we'd caution against tackling if you're not all that confident.

However, for all the Mac mini's good points, the aggressive pricing of the iMac following the introduction of the high-end, 24in model has started to erode its appeal. Don't get us wrong: it's a fantastic little machine and very sweet, but for only £150 more than the high-end Mac mini, you could buy the entry-level iMac. For the extra cash, you get twice the hard disk capacity (although you lose the ability to burn DVDs), plus a keyboard, mouse and 17in widescreen display. Best of all, you get bumped up to the more advanced Core 2 Duo processors. Unlike the others in the iMac range, you're stuck with same integrated graphics system as the Mac mini, but this is no hardship if you're upselling from the mini.

Unless you actually want to be able to burn DVDs, the entry-level Mac mini is fine. The difference in raw processor performance between the two models isn't immense, and you can use the £130 saved from plumping for the high-end model for upgrading the Ram or hard disk.

The performances of both models are sufficient for everything up to middleweight creative work, although they're obviously not ideally suited to video encoding. If your needs are more ambitious or you simply want to play games, buying a Mac mini is false economy and your expansion abilities are limited to external peripherals. In these cases, an iMac (excepting the entry-level model) or a Mac Pro should be sitting at the top of your shopping list.

For everyone else, whether you're looking to upgrade, say, a Power Mac G3, bring media together in the living room or scale up a company's IT provision, the Mac mini is a powerful, easy way to get on the Intel-powered Mac ladder.