Mac Mini Alternative?
By David Ponce
If you absolutely, positively do not want to purchase a Mac Mini, but are still jonesing for a small form factor PC, perhaps the Japanese Mini PC will do the trick. Of course, this is no Mac Mini, and the differences abound. Let’s count the ways:
1) This thing’s ugly.
2) It’s got no optical drive.
3) It runs on Pentium M, up to M780.
4) Older tech: ATA and DDR333 SDRAM.
5) But… it IS smaller than Mac Mini: 67.1 cu. in. for the MiniPC vs. 84.5 cu. in. for the Mac Mini.
What about price? Well, it’s hard to tell. There’s a Japanese website, and this is what I’m getting: there seems to be a Core Duo version as well, though that’ll fetch as much as 150,000 Yen (or $1,325 after conversion). The Pentium M version described here may cost as little as $591.
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