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Apple Mac Mini (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo)

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As for iLife '08, we like some elements of it--iPhoto and iMovie's editing capabilities, and GarageBand overall--but we don't like the integration with .Mac that requires you to spend more money on an account for various features. It's also hard to criticize, since it's free with all new Macs. iLife '08 in particular arguably closes the gap in price compared to the HP and Dell systems, assuming you don't already own more fully featured Windows software and that you're interested in the various applications it has to offer.

And as always, one of the gotchas with Apple systems is its support. Yup, it has Genius Bars, which are convenient if you happen to live near one. And the year of parts and labor coverage is what we expect for a mainstream computer. We also find Apple's online support useful, although there's no chat option available. All that is great, but our bigger hang-up remains the limited telephone support availability. Ninety days of coverage is too short, especially for a mainstream system such as this one.

Find out more about how we test desktop systems.

System configurations:

Apple Mac Mini (2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo)
Apple OS X; 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo; 1GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 64MB (shared) Intel GMA 950 integrated graphics chip; 120GB 5,400rpm Hitachi hard drive

Dell Inspiron 531
Windows Vista Home Premium; 2.6GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+; 2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 256MB Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT graphics card; 250GB 7,200 rpm Western Digital hard drive

Dell Inspiron 531S
Windows Vista Home Premium; 2.3GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+; 2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 64MB (shared) Nvidia GeForce 6150SE integrated graphics chip; 250GB 7,200 rpm Western Digital hard drive

eMachines T5230
Windows Vista Home Premium; 2.3GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400; 1GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 128MB (shared) Nvidia GeForce 6150SE graphics chip; 250GB 7,200 rpm Western Digital hard drive

Velocity Micro Vector GX Campus Edition
Windows Vista Home Premium; Intel Core 2 Duo 6320 overclocked to 3.0GHz; 2GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 256MB Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT graphics card; 320GB 7,200rpm Hitachi hard drive.

See more CNET content tagged:: Apple Intel Mac Mini,; Intel Core 2 Duo,; Velocity Micro,; HP Pavilion SlimLine,; Apple Macintosh

User reviews

Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 27 reviews
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Showing 3 of 27 user reviewsSee all 27 user reviews
4.5 stars

15 out of 20 people found this review helpful

"Not exactly a fair comparrison, is it?"

by plamasney on August 29, 2007

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4.0 stars

8 out of 8 people found this review helpful

"Don't Judge A PC By Its Cover"

by More Beer on August 29, 2007

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4.5 stars

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful

"Works great, no problems"

by desertragweed on August 29, 2007

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See all 27 user reviews Write review

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Apple Mac Mini (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo)

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