The fanfare for the Mac mini started before half of the components were in.  And for good reason.  It’s the only one of its kind and can hook up to just about anything peripheral that you want to hook it up to.  You can get it with various sizes of memory, and extra hard drive and more.  All of this, and the mini is only 6.5” x 6.5” and 2” tall – smaller than many paperback books – and it only weighs 2.5 pounds, to boot.

We haven’t even gotten to the good stuff yet, although replacing your PC with a box the size of a large paperweight isn’t a bad idea.  The best, though, is what’s inside this mini universe and what it can do.  For starters, if you get rid of your old PC and switch to the Mac mini, just keep your monitor and other peripherals and they will work with your new mini, so you don’t have to go purchase everything and start over from scratch – unless you happen to hate your monitor and other peripherals, then just go ahead and get whatever items you want to replace.  The rest will still work with the mini.

The Mac mini was designed to take up less space and use less energy.  It is unobtrusive, partially because it is small and partially because the outside design is sleek and simple. 

Even though the Mac mini takes up less space and uses less energy than the bigger PCs it is not short on output.  It has an Intel Core 2 Duo Processer, advanced NVIDIA graphics and a DDR3 memory which is lightning fast.  As for storage, there is up to 500 GB which should hold just about anything you want without worries about how much room it will take up.  In addition, the Mac mini comes equipped with powerful Wi-Fi so that there are no extras that you have to fiddle around with like many other computers.

One last technical feature is that the Mac mini operates on Mac’s own OSX Snow Leopard operating system which has been heralded as the world’s most advanced operating system.  Along with the operating system, the Snow Leopard is already set up to be a server.  If you choose to activate it as such through Mac, you will have your own server in this tiny box and this server will be able to add an unlimited amount of Mac and PC users without having to pay licensing fees for each of them.  This is a perfect situation to help grow a business, and since the hardware is in the box – the Mac mini – you don’t have to go out and purchase expensive server software.  As far as power and storage to help make things run fast and efficiently, there are two 500GB hard drives that will make sure to get the work done.

As for the general information, if you do not need 500GB of storage and you are not planning on using your Mac mini as a server, you can configure your mini before you buy it.  You can do this online and order anywhere from 2 to 4 GB memory up to 500 GB.  It’s up to you.  As for your hard drive, you can order 160 GB, 320 GB or 500 GB. 

The Mac mini is a plug and play feast.  With 5 USB ports plus extra specific ports that give you the ability to hook into your TV and play DVDs, that in itself could make the case for purchasing the mini.  In addition, as we stated earlier, you can keep your monitor and other peripherals and simply plug them in and get going as well.  To top that all off, the mini has ports that allow you to run two displays at the same time which can help with projects, photos, music and other work you are doing by expanding your display capabilities in a way that can help things run more quickly and efficiently for you.

There are numerous accessories offered for the Mac mini to enhance what it can do.  In addition to the movie, CD, DVD, music and other applications that come with the Mac mini, some accessories include mice and keyboards, Apple TV, which streams your movies and TV wirelessly, mini speakers and more.

You can purchase the Mac mini online at the Apple Online Store or in person at the Apple Retail Store.  They can discuss your needs and you can determine what sort of a configuration as far as memory and more would be the best for your particular situation.   You can also call 1-800-692-7753 (1-800-MYAPPLE) for information or to get questions answered, or you can go onto their site at www.apple.com. for plenty of information, pictures, specs and more.