I'm sure glad I didn't buy a Mac Mini!

I looked at the Mac Mini and at first glance I thought they were pretty good. Then I saw what I could get for $400 from Office Depot ! I paid $550, with a $150 mail-in rebate.

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/product_detail.do?product_code=GX613AA%23ABA&tafcjnef=fy08&aoid=11232&cpncode=18-1722789-2&srccode=cii_5766179

HP Pavilion Desktop a6300f PC

Operating system Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium(1)

Processor Intel Pentium Dual-Core Desktop Processor E2180(2)

Memory 2048MB

Memory speed PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM

Total memory slots 2 DIMM

Maximum memory expansion Expandable to 4GB

Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 7100 with 128MB dedicated graphics memory.

TV and entertainment experience N/A

PCI expansion 1 PCI (occupied) 2 PCI Express x1 (2 available) 1 PCI Express x16 (1 available)

Hard disk drive(s) 500GB 7200RPM SATA [gigabyte is defined as 1,000,000,000 bytes, accessible capacity may vary]

Primary CD/DVD drive SuperMulti DVD Burner with LightScribe Technology

Secondary CD/DVD drive N/A

Communications Integrated 10/100BaseT network interface

Sound card High Definition Audio,

Speakers 8 speaker configurable

System N/A

Front-side bus (processor dependent) 800MHz Front Side Bus

Power supply N/A

I/O ports Front panel 15-in-1 memory card reader 6 USB 2.0 ports (2 Front, 4 Back) 2 FireWire (IEEE 1394) port(s) (1 Front, 1 Back) Headphone; Microphone; Line-in (Front) 2 PS/2; Digital Audio In

Software - full versions Photosmart Essential to manage your digital photos(25b) Roxio Creator featuring LightScribe Technology: Edit, burn and archive data to to DVDs and CDs(9) muvee autoProducer Basic: Automatically create professional looking home videos videos and burn to DVD Roxio MyDVD Basic: Make movies and slideshows and burn to DVD or CD(9) Microsoft Works 8: Includes a word processor, spread***, database and calendar calendar Adobe Reader 8.0: Read and print PDF files HP Total Care Advisor: Customizable desktop tool provides support, system health health and shopping information

Software - introduction versions Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 Trial: 60-day trial version(14) Norton Internet Security 2007: Protect your PC out of the box (60 days of complimentary complimentary live updates)

Trial Internet service Easy sign-up to major dial-up and broadband Internet Service Providers:(16) - AOL Basic Dial-Up (offer included) - AOL Dial-Up Advantage (offer included) - AOL High Speed (offer included) - MSN dial-up (offer included) - NetZero Dial-Up (offer included) - NetZero Accelerated Dial-Up (offer included) - EarthLink dial-up (offer included) - EarthLink High Speed (offer included) - High Speed Internet Services Comparison Shopping

Dimensions 16.28 x 6.89 x 15.24 in

Basic warranty One year of hardware parts and labor coverage, 90 day software toll-free phone assistance


If I'd bought a Mac Mini, it would have cost me twice the price ($800) for half the RAM, half the VRAM (64MB? Is it a joke?), a quarter of the HD space, no media readers, no LightScribe, and no expansion slots or bays, no keyboard, no mouse. Do people actually buy those things?


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