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MEDIA CENTER PC NEWSJanuary 31st 2005 Will The Mac Mini Drive Down The Size Of Your PC?
Apple have managed to appeal to both the computer novice who wants a cheap machine, the Windows sceptic who wants to toy with OSX, the iPod user who needs a central base station to run iTunes and the Media Center enthusiast who wants a small, shiny centrepiece to their home theatre setup. Although we have previously reported on the Mac Mini’s shortcomings as a media center replacement (unless you spend as much again on extra hardware anyway), there’s no denying that the size of the thing is amazing. If you have a stack of CDs or DVDs next to your Mac Mini they will likely dwarf it. Apple have redefined ‘small’. But it’s not all doom and gloom for the Windows PC market. In fact many manufacturers are hailing the arrival of the Mac Mini as a boost to their future prospects. Those manufacturers are the producers of SFF (Small Form Factor) PCs. SFF PCs have been around since Shuttle launched its first model, the PC-SV24 four years ago. Although there is no definition of a small PC, they are generally cube-like in shape, roughly twice the size of the Mac Mini. Most are sold as barebones systems, containing the case, the motherboard and the PSU – what else gets squeezed in is up to the user. This is still not technology for the faint-hearted and most SFF PCs are sold to experienced PC builders. This is expected to change. The success of the Mac Mini is forcing the major manufacturers to look again at SFF. If a company like Apple with only a 2% share of the overall personal computer market can sell that many Mac Mini’s, think how many Dell, or HP, or even Shuttle themselves could sell if they produced a fully-featured, pre-setup SFF PC. Expect to see SFF creeping steadily into the mainstream in 2005. This can only be good for media center PC enthusiasts, used to paying over the odds to get a smaller, sexier case. Apple have shown that small does not have to mean expensive and its competitors will have to realise that if they hope to fight off the charge of the Mac Mini. |
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