Mac mini is big enough to blow a full size PC away

Time for me to upgrade my fixed workstation. The previous P4 2.6GHz is still running smooth , thanks to various upgrades it received over time. This time I’m making a bigger step, changing not only the hardware but also the platform, moving to the totally new universe (for me) of the Mac.

The unit I recently acquired, is an entry level Macintosh, namely a Mac Mini, having the following specs:

  • Manufacturer: Apple
  • Model: MC816LL/A
  • Operating System: Mac OS X Lion
  • Graphics: Radeon HD 6630M with 256MB GDDR5
  • CPU: Intel Core i5 2nd Gen “Sandy Bridge” 2520M @ 2.50 GHz
  • RAM: 4GB DDR3 1333 MHz
  • HDD1: 640 GB SATA 5400 RPM
  • Built-in speaker
  • Connectivity:

  • Ethernet: Gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000 Mbps
  • Wireless: Wireless-N 802.11 b/g/n
  • Bluetooth: Built-in Bluetooth 4.0
  • The Ports cover everything I need:

  • Thunderbolt port (up to 10 Gbps)
  • FireWire 800 port (up to 800 Mbps)
  • Four USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps)
  • HDMI port
  • SDXC card slot
  • Gigabit Ethernet port
  • Audio in/out
  • More details here.

    Having just little time to try it so far, I already like it a lot, because it is so silent, so compact and small sized, and brings in some serious computing power that is a huge upgrade over what I’ve used before. Not my pic, but here is a size comparison:

    As my monitor doesn’t have a HDMI port, I’m using an adapter, made by RocketFish:

    You can see the complete specs here, but you can find it cheaper on Ebay.

    For input, I’ll be using a Bluetooth keyboard and a Bluetooth mouse, to take advantage of the Bluetooth connectivity, save some USB ports and get rid of cables.

    My plan is to have it run a virtual machine , or Boot Camp, for my previous Windows apps. The power consumption is also a lot lower than my midi-tower PC, so all in one, I’m really excited about this change. Will report back later when I learn more on the software, and the usability.

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