Granted I’m not your typical Mac user.
It can be argued persuasively I’m not your typical anything.
However, I am fond of the Mac Mini and recommend it frequently to my clients. Photographers, graphic artists, and web developers especially need what the Mini offers.
Many power users have a G5 Tower or Mac Pro. Many more have iMacs.
What they also get with their professional-grade machines is heat. According to Apple, even asleep, my G5 tower consumes 140 watts and puts out 410 BTU. (Your mileage will vary) Awake, It’s a as much as a whopping 604 watts and over 2,000 BTUs, making my office five degrees warmer than the rest of my house! You haven’t lived until you hear all the fans ramp up and my G5 goes into hovercraft mode at 3 a.m.
In comes the intel Mac Mini!
It runs 24 hours a day.
It draws 17 watts, resting (by my test).
It is a file server, backing up data from my three other Macs.
It is a web server, offering proofs (pdf files) to clients online, 24/7.
NO monitor.
NO keyboard.
I run it using SpyMe, a truly neat remote management app.
Having the Mini allows me to turn off my other computers instead of keeping these heat-generating monsters running all day and all night.
Now they’re going to discontinue it? I certainly hope not! But if they do, and they don’t offer a headless replacement, I’ll be recommending refurbs and used for Mini years to come.
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