Ars reviews the 2011 Mac mini as an HTPC By Ryan Pau The Mac mini (lowercase, please) has served as the entry-level option in Apple's Mac lineup since its introduction in 2005. The system's modest energy footprint and impressively compact form factor have always been compelling, but mediocre hardware specs and lack of expandability have detracted from its value.
The new Mac mini, which was launched alongside the release of Mac OS X Lion in July, improves the formula and buries some of the unfortunate trade-offs that had to be made in previous models. In particular, the inclusion of a Sandy Bridge CPU (instead of the antiquated Core 2 Duo) significantly increases the mini's competitiveness. In this review, we will measure the performance and energy footprint of a mid-range Mac mini configuration, then take a close look at its strengths and weaknesses as a Home Theater PC (HTPC). ... http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2011/08/ars-reviews-the-2011-mac-mini.ars _______________________________________________ Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
