The Intel Mac mini was expected but its $100 price increase over the G4 version wasn't. The iPod HiFi speaker system was expected, but people seem underwhelmed with its industrial design, price, and specs. And the $99 leather iPod case? I still haven't found anything good that's been said about that one.

Yes, the new mini packs an Intel chip inside. Yes, it comes with Front Row and a remote. Yes, it features other upgrades that could justify the $100 price increase. But it still costs $100 more than the old one, which might spell the kiss of death to Apple in a few more of our nation's schools. It's ironic, because nearly every Mac head I know who's around my age became a Mac head beacuse s/he had Apple IIes and Mac SEs in their classrooms as a child. Much hyped iBook contracts aside, Apple is seemingly casting aside the Education market in favor of milking everything it can out of the iPod. iLife '06 is great software that many a teacher (myself included) would love to use in the classroom. But at 20% more per computer, the Mac mini may no longer be the no-brainer it was just one year ago in the eyes of many school Tech Directors.

Steve Jobs may have said that Apple "reinvented the home stereo" with the launch of the iPod HiFi speaker system, but if you believe in specs then someone's lying. From the Apple Website: Frequency response: 53Hz to 16kHz ± 3 dB. 53-16,000 Hz does not make an audiophile happy. Not even close. 20-20,000 (full spectrum of human hearing) is a good place to start. Like I said, specs alone do not speakers make, but so far not so good for the iPod HiFi.

Bloggers and commenters around the web have been much, much harsher on the "audiophile" claims made by a single box speaker claiming to be stereo and hi-fi and made for playing compressed audio. David Colker of the LA Times calls it, "maybe the weakest offering from Apple since the woeful Cube computer of 2000." Then there's this: "Also announced today: the iTravel time machine so you can get back to 1985 and find some D batteries." Ouch.

Hey, that's not me talking, that's these guys.

Dell Dual-Core Laptop
So I was looking at DealNews.com today and saw a deal for a new Dell Inspiron E1505 Laptop featuring an Intel Duo Dual Core processor, just like the now-shipping MacBook Pro. The deal was for a 15" widescreen laptop with free printer for $729 after rebate. Whoah.

I clicked over to the Dell site and did some configuring to bring the Inspiron's specs as close as possible to the entry-level MacBook Pro's: 1.83 GHz processor, 512MB RAM, 80 GB SATA drive, Bluetooth, Dell's best 15" LCD display. Final cost? $1,332 before rebate, $1,082 after. That's a good $900 less than a similarly equipped MBP, and you get a free (if likely lousy) printer. Sure the Dell doesn't have MagSafe, but it does have four USB 2.0 ports (MacBook has two) in addition to one Firewire, a higher resolution screen (1680 x 1050 vs. 1440 x 900), S-Video out and a Flash Memory reader. Then again, the MacBook Pro is slimmer, lighter, and has that nifty backlit keyboard. Then there's that whole Windows thing.

I know I'm comparing Apples and Oranges here, and my PC knowledge is pretty woeful, so you tell me: What am I missing here? Why is Dell's Dual Core laptop more or less half the price of Apple's? I do believe that OS X is worth more than Windows MCE (or XP), but there's gotta be some other reason the Mac costs 90% more. Industrial design? Brand name? Important technical specs I'm too ignorant to see?

Write in. Tell me. Why is the Mac so much pricier?

Ms Pac-Man on Your iPod
The folks at the Linux for iPod project have been working hard, and the latest fruit of their labor is getting MAME to run on the iPod 5G and nano. MAME stands for Multi Arcade Machine Emulator, and it's an emulation environment built to run virtual versions of many a classic arcade game read from soft ROM files.

Granted, to legally play Ms Pac Man from a ROM you have to actually own the arcade game itself, but the mere idea that an iPod can emulate dozens of classic arcade games from my childhood is almost too good to be true.

Check it out here (project page) and here (photos).

Get the best price for your new Mac at MacPrices.com