Simplicity and price are key for Mac Mini

Apple's tiny new Mac Mini will convert even price-conscious PC users, writes Karlin Lillington.

Perhaps the biggest hurdle Apple will face when trying to tempt Windows users to the Mac Mini - the diminutive frontline soldier in Apple's gamble to broaden its home computer user base - is disbelief.

It is just so small - not much larger than a sandwich-box - and arrives in a container slightly larger than the average builder's lunchpail.

How can a real computer be so tiny? Does it really work like a full-size computer? What does it come with? What can I get for the same price from Dell? Why would I buy a computer without a monitor, keyboard or mouse?

Those are some questions I got from people who viewed my loaner Mini after the review computer arrived to my home and came out of its weeny box.

My verdict: the mighty Mini is an excellent little machine in its own technical right, but add to that its space-saving size, portability, low cost (from €519 including VAT) and - if it matters to you - a beautiful design and wow factor, and you have one fabulous little package.

Setup was the usual Apple simplicity. Open box, remove Mini with one hand, set on table. Carry down hulking heavy five-year-old Dell Trinitron monitor from my Dell desktop PC, use the supplied connector, and the monitor was ready to go.

Add keyboard and mouse, turn on, and I had Mac's OSX operating system springing to life on my Dell monitor seconds later.

The Mini is so small that it can perch on top of my humongous Dell box, making it easy to switch between the two machines by moving the peripherals from box to box. Easy peasy.

I was running the higher-end Mini model - with an 80GB rather than 40 gigabyte hard drive - and it had an extra 256MB of RAM (at 512 megabytes, double the shipping standard of 256 megs). This model also had the wireless technology Bluetooth, and an Airport Extreme wireless card, both extra.

The former meant that I could use Apple's sleek wireless keyboard and mouse, both recognised by the Mini after a few moments.

But the little box also worked perfectly with my one-year-old Microsoft keyboard and Microsoft's Philippe Starck mouse.

This is, of course, the point of the Mini - it makes moving from a Windows machine to a Mac very, very simple, and because most people's keyboards, mice and monitors outlast their central processing units (CPUs), anyone with a PC probably doesn't need the extra bits (or want to pay for them).

It's a stunningly simple rethink, as was Apple CEO Steve Job's decision not to ship computers with floppy drives any more - when is the last time you used a floppy disk?

Along with being visually unobtrusive, the Mini, like Macs in general, makes very little noise.

This will probably come as a revelation to many PC users, whose machines hum noisily from the fans needed to cool down their components.

Yes, you can pay a bit more and get a full PC from one of the PC-makers. But that isn't the point. Compare specs and you'll find that the Mini probably comes out ahead in chip speed, has better graphics capabilities on its Radeon chip, definitely is smaller and better-looking, and - this is key - comes with Apple's excellent iLife suite of film editing, DVD-creation, photo and music management and music-making software. Not hacked-down versions, but the complete suite.

An equivalent package of applications for the PC could quickly notch up a couple hundred more euro.

So what's not to like? Well, the tinny, teeny speaker in the Mini, to start. You'd want to add speakers if you wanted to use the Mini to play your digital music collection, and that would use up one of your two USB ports - so maybe you'd want to buy a multiple-port hub.

Then many people would prefer extra RAM to the standard 256 megs.

Wireless will be extra, too, as will a Superdrive that will let you burn the DVDs you design with your iLife software.

But for someone looking to replace an ageing PC, or anyone who wants to try a Mac without a big cost outlay, or who has a Mac already and wants a second computer, this is a brilliant little box at a brilliant price.

For less than a top-of-the-line iPod, the Mini promises to pull many Windows users - especially those already enamoured of cool things in small packages, like the iPod - into the Mac camp.