A lot of fuss has been made today over the release of the new Mac Mini. A general hardware upgrade has taken place – and normally after such announcements I would be one of the first to whip out my credit card and order one. I would that is, apart from one small detail.
The price.
I know the general downturn in the value of the pound will not have helped, but the cheapest entry level Mac Mini is now a staggering £499. This is too much in my opinion for an entry level mac, with no monitor or keyboard/mouse.
The main market for these Macs I believe, has been for using them as media Centre PCs, and running Front Row, or more recently Boxee. A lot of the hardware upgrades are simply not needed for that particular job. The old model does the job admirably for over £100 less. Also factor in the fact that not even the Apple Remote is included!
The old verions are no longer available from the Apple Store of course, so I would recommend you scour eBay or even keep an eye on the refurbishment section of the Apple store, just in case any turn up!
