I'm considering replacing my ageing desktop (specs in My System) with something much smaller. I like the idea of something from mini-itx.com, particularly if it's small and fanless, but I'm attracted to the buying simplicity and OSX-ness of the mac mini. I've seen a mini in use before and liked it, just not sure if my usb keyboard and wireless Logitech mouse would work with it.
Either system would also need to connect to my Freecom router/fileserver. I'd like to keep to budget of £500 approx, I can get the following system from Apple with education discount for £567.
mac mini 1.66GHz
1GB DDR 667
120 GB SATA drive
Iwork 06 - not sure what this includes
nano-itx EPIA N mobo
Travla C156 case
1GB DDR 400
Panasonic slot load CDRW (
Seagate Momentus 120GB SATA drive
£581
For £595 I can get the 1.83GHz mac mini with the superdrive (is this DVD RW?) but with an 80GB drive - not likely to be a problem if I don't use it for games.
On balance the mac mini seems like a good choice. I could even make something back by flogging the old PC bits. I'd still appreciate some input (please avoid the mac/pc debate though!).