Manufacturer's Description

Apple Mac mini MB138LL/A Desktop

The Mac mini with 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo CPU from Apple gives you all the power of a Macintosh computer in a small, compact desktop computer. It is powered by a 1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and is loaded with 1 GB of RAM, an 80 GB SATA hard drive and Apple's slot-loading Combo Drive, a 24x CD burner that also reads DVD discs.The computer ships with Apple's popular iLife '08 software suite which includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD, iWeb and GarageBand. Also included is Apple's innovative Front Row application, which allows you to connect your computer to a home entertainment center for use as a media player. A remote control is even included to let you more easily control Front Row.

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Product Specifications for

Apple Mac mini MB138LL/A Desktop

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Most recent User Reviews for

Apple Mac mini MB138LL/A Desktop

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  Reviewed by: Falcon165O

  05-17-08

  Duration of ownership:

  Strengths: Fast, Mac OSX System

  Weaknesses:Hard to upgrade RAM

  Overall Evaluation: I think this is one of the best purchases I have ever made. I also upgraded it myself from 1024mb ddr2 to 2x1024mb ddr2 and I think it was a little difficult, not for myself but for someone who isn't as good with computers.Minus than that this computer runs very well, minus than games due to a slower Graphics Card, but is very fast when upgraded to 2gb of ram.

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  Reviewed by: mavx14

  04-08-08

  Duration of ownership:

  Strengths: Small size, low power consumption.

  Weaknesses:Expensive, not easily upgradable. No DVD burner, only 1gb of ram. No eject button.

  Overall Evaluation: Although expensive, this little box is amazing (from a pure hardware perspective). Based on my calculations, I expect to pay only about $5 max per month to keep this powered on 24/7 where as my regular server would be 4-5x that amount. The specs are decent, although the ram really needs to be upgraded to 2gb for it to run smoothly. The hard drive is 80gb and spins at 5400rpm, which is somewhat slow. But considering the entire system is built using parts meant to be in a laptop, this isn't so bad as its on par with laptop performance.

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  Reviewed by: blackcapten

  02-27-08

  Duration of ownership: 2 Months

  Strengths: Inexpensive for an Apple system, can run MAC OS and Windows, great for HTPC

  Weaknesses:No DVD burner; No Esata; relatively small hard drive; not easily upgradeable

  Overall Evaluation: I picked this up over the holiday season and am using it as my first "official" HTPC. I used an old XBOX before and it was good, but now I feel I can do much more. Started using the MAC OS, but switched over to Windows since it handled the video files a little better (for now). I like that there's a lot of various technology in this little box. You got bluetooth, wifi, standard network jack, several USB, a firewire port, digital audio output, DVI. Of course newer generation things are omitted, which I guess is a way of cutting corners for price (no esata, no faster firewire). I wish it was easier to upgrade this thing, particularly the hard drive and memory (from what I've read, it's hard to do). Apple should have included a DVD burner, at this point DVD-R drives are everywhere. It's also a bit silly that you can't easily upgrade the memory. With most other computers/laptops that is just a basic thing. Overall, I like the machine. It serves its purpose for me. I'm using an external hard drive for now, and it works just fine.

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  Reviewed by: nelson714

  12-17-07

  Duration of ownership:

  Strengths: nice and compact

  Weaknesses:it's a pain to upgrade the ram, no 802.11n

  Overall Evaluation: I have to say that I am quite impressed by this little Intel Mac Mini computer. It's very quick with the duo 2 core processor and does most routine computing tasks with ease. Front Row with the included remote is very cool, Overall I would recommend the Mac Mini for casual computer users.

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  Reviewed by: DisabledTrucker

  10-04-07

  Duration of ownership:

  Strengths: Small form factor, decent speed, Mac OS X, etc

  Weaknesses:Intel graphics, 5400rpm 160GB HDD is largest you can get, doesn't do wireless "n" but claims it can, no firewire 800 or 5.1 analog audio, optical audio requires an adapter that isn't included, etc.

  Overall Evaluation: In the latest MacWorld magazine they advertise this particular unit to have iSight, but it doesn't come with it! Apple says on it's website that it can do wireless "n" but it can't, (in the developer section of the site,) without an after-market upgrade to it, Intel G-900 graphics when there is much better available as single chip solutions, memory is limited to 2GB max, it doesn't have firewire 800 capability or eSATA. (For Steve Jobs to have touted that they only use "top of the line parts" for their equipment, this unit falls way short of that goal.) Sure for $600 what do you expect, well me, I expect better than the graphics on it, a larger hard drive, not voiding the warranty if I want to upgrade it, a faster hard drive, wireless "n" capability, (even the Apple TV at $300 has this,) and at least 5.1 analog audio. (You can only use a 2 channel speaker set, unless you find an optical adapter and a 5.1 setup that uses it.)All in all though this is a decent computer for those who don't need/want the horsepower that even a better on-board graphics chip will provide or doesn't want to listen to 5.1 audio through their already owned speaker setup. Mac OS X runs perfectly fine on it though and 2GHz with 2GB of memory, (though it only comes with 1GB,) is plenty fast enough for todays applications, if you're not into gaming or video encoding. It's decent enough to use for programming in XCode with, for most things. The lack of firewire 800 or even eSata is an outrage in this day in age, but you get 4 USB 2.0 ports in their place and DVI out.It even comes with iLife '08 which is a plus if your not expecting to use it for anything other than iPhoto or Garageband. Don't expect much out of iMovie unless your interested in producing YouTube videos, otherwise it's a total waste of an application, grab iMovie '06 HD from their site instead. iWeb is still linked too much to their .Mac services which makes it all but useful for anyone that doesn't use .Mac. It does however come with a remote and their front end, Front Row, which is a small plus, along with it's tiny footprint, which allows this thing to be mounted/placed just about anywhere. You can even run Windows in bootcamp, if you so have the need, on it. Gigabit ethernet and Bluetooth 2.0 EDR is also a bonus, (just don't expect all the features of Bluetooth to be available like in many other Apple products, this is more of an O/S limitation though.) If you already have your own keyboard/mouse and monitor, especially if it's a previous version of the bluetooth keyboard/mouse, then this is an ideal unit for you. If you can live with the lackluster features of it, such as the graphics with shared memory instead of dedicated memory. You can also hide this away in your car/rv if you so choose and use it there as well, which is another plus for this unit.Storage space is slow and limited, but can be easily expanded with additional USB HDD's for upgrades, which isn't the best solution, but without Firewire-800/eSata capability it's about the best your gonna get.

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