Look out Apple TV....here comes Dell

[pantherman007]

Most people buy macs because of the OS, not the hardware.

I'm looking for a small, HD-capable media center to run XBMC, so the OS becomes less important. Apple has had the perfect form factor and let it languish on the back burner - I'd have bought two Minis immediately if Apple had made even moderate improvements in the last 6-9 months. Along comes Dell with something that has to be considered competitive at the very least.

Unless Apple surprises me next Tuesday (which I doubt), at least one of these little Dells will be making its way to my house in August...

 

[nanofrog]

It's a nice little unit. Looks great too.
Apple, this <Points to new Dell> is what people want in a Mini.

 

[mcavjame]

I don't understand what everyones fascination is with these dell new small computers. They look like they are made out of cheap plastic (as are all windows pcs) except the bamboo one. The mac mini or appletv looks 100 x better. And who wants to deal with windows anymore?? What am I missing?? Whats the point?

Lates

The fascination come from the fact that a PC maker has been able to up the spec and options on a similar sized unit to the Mac mini. I'm not talking visual design, I'm talking form factor (although I like the look of these units, esp the blue).

So, you are right. I'm not racing out to buy one, but examining this unit provides insight into what may be coming from Apple. As one poster put it, Apple will 'up the ante' to offer additional value.