Review: Apple Mac mini - Core Duo

* Astonishingly small - taking up less desktop real estate than a typical mouse mat - and easily portable
* Uses Intel dual-core CPU - delivering more than enough power for most digital home uses
* Perfectly usable as a Windows XP PC - and XP can be easily installed with help from Apple's Boot Camp utility
* Good looking, well designed and well built
* Easy to get up and running out of the box
* Runs very cool, runs very quietly - although you can hear the CPU fan when it does occasionally kick in (and DVD activity, too)
* Good built-in networking & wireless connectivity - Gigabit, fast wireless and Bluetooth are standard
* Powerful and easy-to-use bundled software, especially the established programs in the iLife suite
* Installing software and new hardware has probably never been easier than it is under OS X
* Some cute OS interface features that make it easy to switch between different apps and windows
* Widgets - pop-up applets that make life easier
* Not hard to access shared folders on Windows local networks (and Windows users can access shared folders on the mini)

* Seamless integration between Elgato's eyetv 2 software and Roxio's Toast 7 DVD burning software (neither included with the mini, though)

* Program and folder windows can only be manually resized by clicking and dragging the RH bottom corner - it's madness
* Opening the case to upgrade RAM, hard disk or CPU is not a simple job (but nor is it impossible)
* No TV tuner support in Apple's Front Row media front end, so the mini can't genuinely replace a conventional Windows MCE PC when running OS X (the mini might still make a great media centre PC if it can run Windows XP MCE 2005 - something we were unable to test)
* Amount of RAM fitted as standard needs to be increased to 1GB
* The hard drive fitted as standard should be of bigger capacity
* Worryingly, some tasks in iTunes and QT Pro take longer under OS X than under XP - Apple needs to sort this out on the hurry up
* Some big-name programs still not available in versions that run natively under OS X on Intel Macs (perhaps this will change after the WWDC in August?)
* OS X user interface (and programs running under it) don't look as sharp and distinct as XP's GUI and programs running under it
* Only one audio output and one audio input - so speakers and headphones, for instance, can't be connected simultaneous without using a two-way adaptor
* Better support needed for good quality printing to printers attached to Windows networked PCs
* Do external power supplies really need to be that big?
* Apple itself not yet offering to install Windows XP for you (some clued up dealers are, though)
* Still a little pricey, despite recent price cuts - too many of us are unwilling to pay extra for quality, so Apple may need to make further reductions
* Apple's Mighty Mouse isn't. Mighty, that is. Opt for something better and cheaper, don't swallow the hype (but make sure it has at least five buttons)