Manage updates with the Download AppApple Mac Mini (2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 160GB, Fall 2009)
Manufacturer: Apple Part number: MC238LL/A
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- The lower-cost Mac Mini offers respectable budget performance and Apple's usual compelling design, but a puny hard drive and a lack of HDMI hurt this system's value and overall potential. It's actually more versatile next to its budget-priced Windows competition than the higher-end Mac Mini, but this entry-level Mac is still best left to Apple loyalists.
Read more
Where to buy
| store | customer rating | inventory | tax & shipping | price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memory4Less.com | Not yet rated | In stock | Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price | as of 05/22/2013 Refurbished |
CNET editors' review
Apple Mac Mini (2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 160GB, Fall 2009) price range: $761.19
- Reviewed by: Rich Brown
- Reviewed on: 01/20/2010
- Released on: 10/20/2009
The good: Best design among budget desktops; decent performance for its price; best performance-per-watt on the market.
The bad: 160GB hard drive too small at this price; no HDMI port.
The bottom line: The lower-cost Mac Mini offers respectable budget performance and Apple's usual compelling design, but a puny hard drive and a lack of HDMI hurt this system's value and overall potential. It's actually more versatile next to its budget-priced Windows competition than the higher-end Mac Mini, but this entry-level Mac is still best left to Apple loyalists.
User reviews
-
-
The Mac Is Great
by Jbit2 on January 23, 2010
Pros: Compact, uses little energy, CAN be hooked up through HDMI and on one cord, Microsoft Office available as well as OpenOffice.org , a virus free choice
Cons: Limited gaming software for the MAC, but this has been the case forever.
Summary: I bought an HDMI adapter from Radio Shack, hooked it to the enclosed adapter and and using my HDMI 22" TV, Vizio for my monitor. NO two cords. The CNET ...
Summary: I bought an HDMI adapter from Radio Shack, hooked it to the enclosed adapter and and using my HDMI 22" TV, Vizio for my monitor. NO two cords. The CNET report seems a bit PC biased.
The picture is perfect through HDMI. It has been error free for me and I really enjoy the ability to just log on and go to work.
No worries with virus attacks or buying and upgrading to the newest virus protection. The MAC OS Snow Leopard is a version of Unix and quite safe and gives the owner peace of mind. Something you never get with a PC.
As far as card readers go, I use the one on my printer without any problems. Insert the card and the MAC Mini reads it. No worries.
I have no regrets leaving the PC world and think others should do the same.
JB2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
-
It's great
by hab57 on June 24, 2010
Pros: Small compact and powerful for size. I can run windows through parallels 5 with ease.
Cons: The do it yourself upgrades can be tricky. Very small space to work with, and you have to be extremely careful when upgrading memory or Hard Drive.
Summary: If your starting out into the MAC world, this is a great choice. Big things come in small packages describes this Mac Mini. I am running OS X, Windows 7, ...
Summary: If your starting out into the MAC world, this is a great choice. Big things come in small packages describes this Mac Mini. I am running OS X, Windows 7, and Ubuntu on this mini with ease. It has a nice processor, and video output, and the speed is very good even when multi-tasking. I am very please with it's perform, and with MAC.
-
Perfect for children...Convenient for adults!
by dicebier on February 15, 2010
Pros: Compact, Snow Leopard, Quick, Style, Wireless N...
Cons: Accessibility to perform upgrades.
Summary: The fall 2009 Mac Mini base model sports a small bump in HD space and CPU speed from its predecessor, I bought this computer for my daughter and she loves ...
Summary: The fall 2009 Mac Mini base model sports a small bump in HD space and CPU speed from its predecessor, I bought this computer for my daughter and she loves using it to surf the web and play educational games (she's 6). When I use it, I find it to be quite peppy, and is a great system to use for general purposes and some light gaming (or heavy gaming on light settings). The ability to upgrade to 8 (yes 8! gigs of ram is wonderful, and a 7200 rpm HD upgrade helps with access speeds. The only real problem I have is DIY upgrades.... You have to be very careful when prying the unit open and removing hardware to access the Ram slots or replace the HD. The computer will still be under Apple warranty however Apple will not cover damage caused by you or failures of any non-apple installed or 3rd party hardware.
That being said, I recommend this system to anyone starting out in the Mac world, or if you want a nice addition to your home that can also serve as a multimedia hub! Greta job Apple. -
The best of the best
by JimTurney on February 4, 2010
Pros: Performance with my dual Dell 24" monitors is more than adequate for my photo and video editing with Firewire 800 RAIDs and 4gb of RAM. This new Mac Mini has everything I need.
Cons: It is so small that customers who visit may not get the awe of a big box of mostly fresh air and flashing lights enclosing the electronics.
Summary: Mini owners benefit from changing Macs without changing monitors like with an iMac. Someday a company will make a lot of money converting old iMacs to simple monitors since the ...
Summary: Mini owners benefit from changing Macs without changing monitors like with an iMac. Someday a company will make a lot of money converting old iMacs to simple monitors since the iMac monitor will far out last the CPU and other quickly outdated components. With this model Apple has bestowed the WiFi N, Firewire 800 and Nvideo card with dual monitor support. Now the lesser cost version comes with SuperDrive DVD writer as well so I believe it is the best Mac for the money unless you must use your Mac on your lap.
-
Entry level Mac still has plenty of punch
by talmy on February 2, 2010
Pros: Lowest cost way to OS X, easy setup, low power consumption, quiet, built-in "N" WiFi Bluetooth and IR. Great as a server.
Cons: As always with Apple, cost. Internal sound is lacking, unlike the new iMacs. Not so great as ones desktop computer.
Summary: I was using an old iMac for an entertainment system in front of a treadmill. It died and repair cost was greater than buying a Mac Mini so the choice ...
Summary: I was using an old iMac for an entertainment system in front of a treadmill. It died and repair cost was greater than buying a Mac Mini so the choice was obvious. I run it from my old Apple remote and connected an old monitor and keyboard+display I had.
A month has passed and I've just ordered the Mac Mini Server. Once I get it and have it up and running I'll review that as well.
I've been playing with remote desktop on this system and it runs fast. I'm considering buying the server version of the Mini ($1000 for Mini with 1TB on 2 HDs, 4GB RAM, and Snow Leopard Server) to replace my existing big box Windows server machine and also replacing my long-in-the-tooth Windows XP box running as an entertainment server in the living room. I can actually see myself buying three more of these in the next year or two.
The only thing I don't see using a Mini for is a desktop computer! By the time you add the monitor, keyboard, and mouse you might as well buy an iMac and get the extra performance. But for little server systems, I don't think the Minis can be beat!
Updated on Mar 2, 2010 -
Killer Design-- Lacks Some Punch
by reeltime on January 23, 2010
Pros: Connectivity, Reasonably Fast, Great Design, Flexible in Application, Energy Efficient.
Cons: Poor graphic card performance, should ship with 4GB standard, Love to see an SSD option.
Summary: So you're not going to find a prettier PC. I mean-- it's Apple-- these guys know design better than anyone.
I bought one for use as a home ...Summary: So you're not going to find a prettier PC. I mean-- it's Apple-- these guys know design better than anyone.
I bought one for use as a home commander for an Insteon controller. And for that application, it's an ideal machine. It's also a great solution for a server. Reasonably fast for the price, it's a real desktop alternative. It also "sips" power instead of guzzling like a full desktop. Nice because in my application, since it is on most of the time. If you were looking for a machine to do word processing-- look no further. It's ideal. For email? Perfect.
But this machine really suffers in the graphics department. Slow and slower. Anything needing a significant redraw bogs the system down. Complex web pages, flash animation, anything involving a lot of graphic card work slows the system down significantly.
Apple needs to stop the practice of raping people over RAM. 4 gigs should be the standard at this point.
I would also like to see an SSD option. I know-- what? It's slow! But think about it-- for a home server-- you'd have a quieter unit with no moving parts to break. Kind of compelling, to my mind.
Anyhow-- I've not been disappointed by the purchase. It's doing what I ask. But thank goodness I'm not editing Photoshop files-- I'd have to bring a lunch and a dinner to the session! -
Slow 2006- 2007 tech from Apple. I don't recommend.
by jz33040 on January 24, 2010
Pros: cheaper than other macs, but actually it's not much of a pro. The thought comes to mind that the drive could be formatted and you could put windows 7 on it which would make it a useful pc for most professional tasks and it would be great for games
Cons: However, Core 2 duo is 3 year old slow technology. I've found PC's already that are cheaper and more powerful. You could even hackintosh those. But not much point when you could put win 7 on it and be free to enjoy something better.
Summary: Some may not like the notion of formatting a mac-mini and putting windows on it or that I've said it's not fast. But I'm being honest. It'...
Summary: Some may not like the notion of formatting a mac-mini and putting windows on it or that I've said it's not fast. But I'm being honest. It's an under powered, door-stop. Sure, if you are relatively inexperienced with computers and watch "I'm a mac" commercials, then you won't know that you are paying double for a computer that is 1/2 the power of what you can get. You see, in PC land, there are many choices. You can buy a pc that is far slower and more lousy than a mac. OR, if you shop around, you can get one that is also more powerful than a mac for about $800.
Ok, for those non-believers. My CineBench score on my new PC is 18,500. The mac mini is 5400. I paid $800 for my computer. The mac mini is about $600. DO THE MATH. Remember what I said before. In PC land it's all in where you shop and what you buy. OF course you can find cheapie piece of junk PC's that aren't fast. But you can also find more powerful ones that are better than macs for 1/2 the money of a mac. And yes, my system is rock solid and stable and I'm loving windows 7. And yes, I've used osx leopard many, many times. I know my stuff.
That's right. you can. I have an i7 based pc that runs circles around a typical $1600 imac in video rendering, something macs should be good at. And it only cost me $800. It has a 1.5TB HD and ddr3 mem and a great graphics card too that is faster than macs. Running windows 7, it is VERY solid and stable all the way, day after day with no problems. It was already faster than macs, but I decided to use it's easy OC feature to bring it up to 3.8Ghz. It's now faster than a $2500 mac pro. I think the big deal is that if it crashed all the time and was hard to use, I'd get a mac. Because
that's what the ImAMac ads promote. (Not that I believe the hype). But again, I have no problems. I showed this to a friend with a mac and he was impressed and shocked at how fast it was. Then I hackintoshed it to load osx for fun and showed him a mac twice as fast as his and he was sick, LOL. But I didn't see any use in keeping the osx leopard on it. Not that it isn't nice, but it gets in my way of productivity for some of the software titles it won't run. And I don't like having to use bootcamp etc. Not much point if you get one just to load windows all the time.
But seriously, I can not recommend the Apple Mac Mini to anyone. It's seriously over priced and under powered. Even if you are an apple lover, it's just a cheap fix. A $2500 mac pro would be more like it. BUT, again, I can have the same power in the PC I have for $800. The only exception would be if someone insists on osx, then they would have a cute web browser running safari by using the mini. But even that crashed on me in my testing. I'd rather use internet explorer 8.0. It's very solid. And no. I'm not a troll. I'm serious. If you are considering a mac, know EXACTLY why you are doing it. Don't just get one because of the dumb commercials. I have a recording studio and do video, and everything works great. I know every one tells you that mac is for doing video, but that is another pack of lies. Many of the companies that create the software run on mac, were already creating it for pc.
Updated on Jan 24, 20100 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Apple
- Part number: MC238LL/A
- Description: If you already have it, chances are you can use it with Mac mini. Plug in your own display, keyboard, and mouse. Turn it on. And just like that, everything works together. You can even swap peripherals with another desktop computer. That's one of the great things about Mac mini. You can mix and match it with just about anything. Mac mini makes things happen. It can connect to any digital display right out of the box. Mac mini comes with Mini DisplayPort output, so it's ready to connect to the Apple LED Cinema Display or a third-party display you already have. You can even connect two displays to see more of your photos, movies, and files. Mac mini gives you ports galore: four USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire 800 port, so you can plug in your keyboard, mouse, iPod, iPhone, iPad, digital camera, DV camcorder, external hard drive, printer, and just about any other device you use.
General
- Desktop type Small-form-factor PC
- Packaged Quantity 1
- Type Personal computer
- Product Form Factor Desktop slimline
- Built-in Devices Antenna,
Speaker Processor / Chipset
- Type Intel Core 2 Duo 2.26 GHz
- Number of Cores Dual-Core
- 64-bit Computing Yes
- CPU Qty 1
- Max CPU Qty 1
- Front Side Bus 1066 MHz
Cache Memory
- Installed Size L2 cache - 3 MB
- Cache Per Processor 3 MB
RAM
- Installed Size 2 GB / 4 GB (max)
- Technology DDR3 SDRAM
- Memory Speed 1066 MHz
- Memory Specification Compliance PC3-8500
- Configuration Features 2 x 1 GB
Environmental Parameters
- Environmental standards EPEAT Gold ,
EPA Energy Star - Min Operating Temperature 50 °F
- Max Operating Temperature 95 °F
- Humidity Range Operating 5 - 95%
Hard Drive
- Type HDD
- Capacity 1 x 160 GB
- Interface Type Serial ATA-300 Serial ATA
- Spindle Speed 5400 rpm
Storage Controller
- Type 1 x Serial ATA - Integrated
- Controller Interface Type Serial ATA-300
Storage Controller (2nd)
- Type None
Hard Drive (3rd)
- Type None
Optical Storage
- Type DVD±RW (±R DL)
- Read Speed 24x (CD) / 8x (DVD)
- Write Speed 24x (CD) / 8x (DVD±R) / 6x (DVD±R DL)
- Rewrite Speed 24x (CD) / 6x (DVD-RW) / 8x (DVD+RW)
Floppy Drive
- Type None
Optical Storage (2nd)
- Type None
Storage Removable
- Type None
Monitor
- Monitor Type none.
Graphics Controller
- Graphics Processor / Vendor NVIDIA GeForce 9400M Shared video memory (UMA)
- Video Memory 256 MB
- Max Allocated RAM Size 256 MB
- Video Interfaces DisplayPort,
DVI Audio Output
- Type Integrated
- Sound Output Mode Stereo
- Speaker(s) 1 x Mixed channel
Audio Input
- Type None
Telecom
- Modem None
Networking
- Type Integrated
- Wireless LAN Supported Yes
- Data Link Protocol Bluetooth 2.1 EDR,
IEEE 802.11a,
Fast Ethernet,
Ethernet,
Gigabit Ethernet,
IEEE 802.11b,
IEEE 802.11n,
IEEE 802.11g - Compliant Standards IEEE 802.11g,
Bluetooth 2.1,
IEEE 802.11n,
IEEE 802.11a,
IEEE 802.11b Printer
- Type None
Miscellaneous
- Cables Included ( 1 pcs.),
Mini-DVI-DVI adapter - Features 802.11n Wireless LAN,
Bluetooth 2.1,
Camera Expansion / Connectivity
- Slots 2 (total) / 0 (free) x Memory
- Interfaces 1 x Mini DisplayPort,
1 x FireWire 800,
5 x USB 2.0,
1 x Audio - SPDIF output/headphones,
1 x Audio - SPDIF input/line-in,
1 x LAN (Gigabit Ethernet),
1 x Mini-DVI Power
- Device Type Power adapter
- Power AC 120 V ( 50/60 Hz )
- Power Provided 110 Watt
Operating System / Software
- OS Provided Apple MacOS X 10.6
- Software Apple iCal,
Apple QuickTime,
Apple iTunes,
Apple Dashboard,
Apple Spotlight,
Apple XCode Developer Tools,
Apple Address Book,
Apple Safari,
Apple DVD Player,
Apple Time Machine,
Apple Quick Look,
Apple Spaces,
Front Row,
Apple Mac OS X Mail,
Apple iChat,
Apple iLife '09 Dimensions & Weight
- Width 6.5 in
- Depth 6.5 in
- Height 2 in
- Weight 2.9 lbs
Manufacturer Warranty
- Service & Support 1 year warranty
- Service & Support Details Limited warranty - 1 year,
Technical support - Phone consulting - 90 days Sustainability
- ENERGY STAR Qualified Yes
- EPEAT Compliant EPEAT Gold
- Greenpeace policy rating (Nov 2011) 4.6
- Greenpeace policy rating (Nov 2012) 4.5
Manufacturer info
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Apple products on Shopper.com
-
- Manufacturer:Apple
- Address:
One Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA 95014 - Phone: 1-408-996-1010
%20-%20Compare%20prices,%20reviews,%20user%20opinions%20-%20Shopper.com&srcUrl=http://shopper.cnet.com/desktops/apple-mac-mini-2/4014-3118_9-33783918.html?orderBy%3Dprice%26sortDesc%3Dfalse%26info%3Duser&x_breadcrumb=3000:3118&x_arw_bkts=MAD:first_impression){kind=small}