Today was Steve Job's Keynote at MacWorld SF and as widely predicted he announced a new, small, cheap Mac called the Mac mini. At $499 it is the cheapest Mac ever and at 6.5x6.5x2 it is probably the smallest. Contrary to some of the rumors before MacWorld, the Mac mini is not a media center computer out of the box. It has the iLife suite, but it can't act like a DVR out of the box.
What is interesting about the Mac mini is how close it is to a Media Center computer. Add a DVD burner (which is an option) and a TV tuner and it is a Media Center. Add a Bluetooth adapter and a wireless keyboard and mouse, and you are ready to go. Elgato Systems makes the EyeTV 200DVR add-on for the Mac for $279. The Mac mini properly equipped will only cost $947 for a total cost of just under $1200. That is a very affordable computer, especially compared to a similar Windows Media Center equipped computer from HP for just about $1100.
So maybe Apple is getting close to having it's own media center-ish computer, or maybe they will continue to just let you do it yourself.
Posted by Noah Brimhall at January 11, 2005 12:13 PM