Mac mini Cheap Enough for Windows Users , But Still a Mac

L arry Magrid, a syndicated columnist for CBS News, wrote Monday that the Mac mini is cheap enough to be attractive to Windows users wanting to Switch to the Mac, while still being a full-featured Mac.

"Hearing the hype about Appleis new $499 Macintosh gave me pause," wrote Mr. Magrid . "Could Apple, which is known as the BMW of computer companies, really come out with a machine cheap enough to tempt Windows users yet still iMaci enough to satisfy Macintosh aficionados? After unpacking and setting up the new machine, the answer is a qualified yes."

Mr. Magrid reviewed it from the standpoint of being a Switcher, including salvaging a keyboard, mouse, and display from PCs he had lying around. He also offers a frank assessment of the total costs buying a Mac mini might hit -- more RAM, buying the display, keyboard, and mouse if necessary, and possibly upgrading to the higher-end Mac mini unit in the first place.

Even including those costs, however, Mr. Magrid wrote that the Mac mini will be tempting to many Windows users, and that some of those Switchers may well become life-long Mac-loving members of the Mac community.

CBSis review joins a chorus of mainstream reviewers and analysts who have said that the Mac mini will help bring Windows users over to the Mac platform.