Miniature Cases Everywhere

N o one questions that Appleis design team sparks trends in the computer world. Some, however, use Appleis inspiration to craft their own creations.

Take the Ze Cube, for example, a Macintosh Classic II that has been reformulated to fit into a ten-inch crystal clear cube. With its built-in 9-inch display, the Ze Cube picks up where the headless Power Mac G4 Cube left off.

"Thought itis one third the size of most PCs, Ze Cube delivers far less performance and thatis just enough," the Web site says. Itis powered by a 16MHz Motorola 68030 processor with 10MB of RAM and features an 80MB hard drive that you can watch spin. Be sure to catch the commercial as well, which carries with it a copyright that suggests the Ze Cube is four years old now. Kudos to tuaw.com for the link.

Ze Cube

Looking for something a little more Windows compatible? Hardmac.com brings us news of a new PC from Aopen that takes a few cues from Apple. The memorably-named EY855-II XC Cube, announced earlier this month, packs a Pentium M laptop processor and a slim CD/DVD burner, albeit not a slot-loading one. Itis a bit larger than a Mac mini (boo) but has an upgradeable AGP video card (applause). Itis still just a PC, however, and costs $320.

AOpen

Lastly, if youire looking for the perfect screen for your Mac mini, perhaps you should consider a 42-inch plasma display. One Mac mini owner did and showed how easy it is to connect the two together, using zip ties to attach the Mac mini to the back of the display. and keep everything hidden away.

Mini Plasma