Despite its small size and quiet operation, the Mini is as powerful as the Windows-based units. Our test unit had a 2-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo chip set, a 120GB hard drive and 1GB of RAM. The back of the mini sports four USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire 400 port, along with DVI video and Gigabit Ethernet adapters.
The Mac Mini would be a fairly good corporate citizen in Windows-centric organizations. For instance, while it doesn't come with a mouse and keyboard, it worked fine with leftover mice, keyboards and monitors from Windows PCs. That's important in Windows shops, where mice and keyboards seem to proliferate in storerooms.
More important, the Mini connected effortlessly to our small network via both its built-in Wi-Fi and Gigabit Ethernet port. It immediately saw the two other computers on the network -- both Windows XP boxes -- plus a network-attached storage device.
Also available to make the Mini a better citizen in a Windows office are products such as Boot Camp and Parallels Inc.'s Desktop, which enable you to install Windows XP or Vista on a Mac and use applications designed for those operating systems. However, you'll need a separate legal copy of Windows.
Besides being a good citizen in the office, the Mini is a reasonably good citizen in the world at large, receiving a silver rating from EPEAT.
One problem with the Mini is that it can't be remotely managed and secured, although malware developers have generally left the Mac OS alone, focusing instead on Windows. Another potential downside for IT managers is that, while Windows-based small computers can be easily opened -- to add RAM or replace a hard disk, for example -- getting at the innards of the Mac Mini is a much trickier process.
Macs have a reputation in some quarters of being pricey, but the Mini we looked at, while it doesn't come with a monitor, keyboard or mouse, cost just US$799. That's more expensive than the Lenovo small PC we examined but far less expensive than the HP unit. In fact, if you can live with less power, you can get a Mac Mini with a 1.83-GHZ Intel Core Duo processor and an 80GB hard drive for US$599 (or, at the high end, you can get the 2-GHz Mac Mini with 2GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive for US$1,024).
If you need to use applications available only on the Mac, desire the elegant Mac OS or simply want the smallest, quietest computer possible, the Mac Mini is a strong choice for home and small offices.
Hewlett-Packard dc7800 Ultra-slim Desktop PC
This svelte enterprise-focused Windows Vista computer has a lot going for it, but we also found a snarl or two. On the plus side, the dc7800 uses hard and optical drives designed for laptops, making it the smaller of our two Windows-based computers; it is roughly, 10 in. wide, 10 in. deep and 2.6 in. high, and it weighs seven pounds. It fit quite comfortably on our desk, serving as a base for a 22-in. LCD monitor.
Despite its diminutive size, the dc7800 has almost everything you'd expect to find on the outside and the inside of a desktop computer except, of course, expansion slots. There are two USB ports on the front of the box as well as ports for a microphone and headphones. The backplane is particularly generous, with six more USB ports, VGA and DVI video ports, PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports, audio in and speaker jacks and a Gigabit Ethernet port. Our review unit also came with a built-in 802.11a/g adapter. HP Ultra-slim desktop. HP's dc7800 Ultra-slim desktop. Courtesy of HP.
Opening the case requires only turning a thumbscrew and pulling off the top. Once inside, you can replace virtually all of the components without tools. The dc7800 is Energy Star-compliant and boasts a silver EPEAT environmental rating.
This system is designed to work with Intel's Active Management Technology, which enables IT personnel to monitor the condition of the device and its operating system and even sometimes to repair it remotely. As befitting a computer aimed at IT-centric businesses, the dc7800 comes with a TPM (Trusted Platform Module) chip set to strengthen security and a suite of security and management applications.