Otaku Gadgets

Much of Apple’s success as a manufacturer of avant-garde electronic appliances and gadgets depends on its Macintosh series of personal computers. Over the years The Macintosh based laptops and all-in-one iMacs have got a number of revamps. Apple also introduced Mac Mini, a very portable Macintosh system without any display, mouse and keyboard a few years back. However, the Mac Mini series has not received as many numbers of upgrades as its more expensive desktop and laptop counterparts. Apple gave the Mac Mini series a much needed upgrade along with the iMac and MacBook series recently.

The current Mac Mini lineup named as Late 2009 edition retains the same price as its predecessor and offers modest improvements in the hardware department. The physical dimension of the device remains the same. Even the connectivity options and ports are identical. The integrated Nvidia GeForce 9400M graphics chip can now share up to 256 MB of memory. The entry level $599 model sports an Intel C2D CPU running at 2.26 GHz. But the $799 model uses slightly more powerful CPU that runs at 2.53 GHz. Both the models use fast SATA hard drive and Apple’s SuperDrive.

Both the Mac Mini models are sold with a copy of Snow Leopard, Apple’s latest OS and iLife 09 suite. The Mac Mini series is focused more towards size and mobility than performance. The new Minis are no exception. With improved hardware they outperform their predecessors but cannot match the stellar performance of MacBook Pro or the latest iMacs. Still, they are quite suitable for regular work and media playback. To sum it up, the latest Mac Minis may not motivate an existing Mac user to upgrade. But for those who are considering a switchover to Mac, the new Mac Mini series is tempting.