Apple Mac mini Intel Ivy Bridge Core i5 2.5GHz Desktop for $549 + FS

Quote from chasemyaccord : LOL, funniest thing I've read today. Let me tell you what really happened when you bought your iPhone. Assuming this is the base model, you signed a two year contract, you paid $600 for your phone, the carrier then subsidized $400 of it. The carrier easily made its money back by keeping you locked into your two year contract and bleeding you dry over 24 months. I will agree that the iPhone holds its value better than any other phone out there. When I used to be with AT&T, I bought my iPhone 3G for $199 and sold it for $200 on CL two years later. Doesn't mean I came out ahead.

uhhh.... you're thinking about it too hard and digging in way to deep. Stop trying to make yourself sound smart like a politician. No crap I was stuck on a contract and paying data.
That comes with getting a smart phone and it was my choice to get a smart phone.
ALL i am saying was that I was able to upgrade to iphone5 without having to pay anything out of pocket.

Quote from Sj480 : I've never owned a Mac. Would this be good to run Photoshop CS5 or Lightroom5, etc? Obviously an upgrade to RAM & possibly SSD would be wise. Not sure how easy it is to upgrade Macs... as I've stated, I'm a PC/Intel guy, throught & through.

Yes, this should be fine to run Lightroom 4 (no 5 yet) and CS6. You could easily upgrade the ram and the hd to SSD. Here is the step by step http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRDVUI6Gn3E
While people are fighting Mac vs Windows, you can run bootcamp on this and have both OS on it. Great thing about Macs, dual OS support.
Here are free tutorials on how to use the Mac OS. Everything from photos to video editing included with it. http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/

Quote from aleki : With the "in" trend shifting to android and ultrabooks; Apple stock, and demand, is diminishing. Unless Apple evolves their iOS, they're going to be in deep trouble in the coming years.. That said, while resale value is generally very good for Apple products, I definitely see them introducing more sales, as they try to remain competetive. Just my $.02

Demand is diminishing? iPhone marketshare is the highest in apple history.

Quote from ONEchance : Quote from expansionist :Have fun with Apple's new 6-month product cycle. I think you're trying to bash apple? But it actually works for apple product owners. Because apple products retain their value (don't ask me why....), you can easily sell your "old" apple products for about the same price you bought it; so essentially, you're only paying the upgrade difference in cost if you buy a newer version. Maybe even get the newer version free if you make enough profit. I have actually made money from selling my old apple products 1-2years after release.... Sold my iphone 4 for $220 this year to upgrade to iphone 5, AND made $20 lol.

Same with Android handsets, the difference is I got a good deal on my phone for 0$ with 2 yrs contract. After 1.5 years I sold it for $150 and with my early upgrade, I got an S3 for $49 during Black Friday. Made $100 easily.

Quote from expansionist : Have fun with Apple's new 6-month product cycle.

This comment makes absolutely no sense.

Do you really believe that computer technology doesn't change in 6 months? Can you name any major computer manufacturer who sells machines that doesn't introduce new models every 6 months?

Quote from mikebpi : Demand is diminishing? iPhone marketshare is the highest in apple history.

Actually, it was in the news yesterday that Apple is losing money over the iPhone 5 because Android is selling better (I own an iPhone 5 by the way):

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/appl...GQ8M3MU0WP

Quote from mikebpi : Demand is diminishing? iPhone marketshare is the highest in apple history.

probably referring to this http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1...04344.html
"Apple Inc. AAPL -3.15% has cut its orders for components for the iPhone 5 due to weaker-than-expected demand, people familiar with the situation said Monday."

Quote from Fatalv : This comment makes absolutely no sense. Do you really believe that computer technology doesn't change in 6 months? Can you name any major computer manufacturer who sells machines that doesn't introduce new models every 6 months?

According to every other person who quoted me, Apple.

You're probably thinking mobile. Intel practically dominates the desktop (including Mac) space and their tick-tock processor cycle is yearly.

Great deal IMHO.

Quote from smiledrs : Yes, this should be fine to run Lightroom 4 (no 5 yet) and CS6. You could easily upgrade the ram and the hd to SSD. Here is the step by step http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRDVUI6Gn3E While people are fighting Mac vs Windows, you can run bootcamp on this and have both OS on it. Great thing about Macs, dual OS support. Here are free tutorials on how to use the Mac OS. Everything from photos to video editing included with it. http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/

Thank you!
Much appreciated.

Quote from Sj480 : I've never owned a Mac. Would this be good to run Photoshop CS5 or Lightroom5, etc? Obviously an upgrade to RAM & possibly SSD would be wise. Not sure how easy it is to upgrade Macs... as I've stated, I'm a PC/Intel guy, throught & through.

Ya Macs are good for creative design, artists love Macs. Although if I had a choice I'd rather have Aperture over Lightroom. You can Google the differences between the two. Lightroom was inspired by Aperture because Adobe didn't have a product like it.

I'm really looking foward to making some good videos with my iMac. Video editing on a Mac is the de facto standard (see Final Cut Pro).

Quote from LoveRock : A link to the specs. http://www.apple.com/mac-mini/specs.html I have both macs and pc's. Macs just work. Pcs need maintaince. Both have the strengths. Macs have fewer weaknesses. And OSX is not Win 8, thank the gods. If I were doing only network admin I'd say go windows. I run Photoshop CS 6 on an older iMac (all in one, aluminum case, dual core intel) with only 4 gigs of ram. Runs fast and reliable. I do dedicate an outboard 500GB FireWire 400 drive for scratch.

Thanks!
I mainly need it for graphic design & photo editing.
May even tryy Pro Tools for the 1st time.
Been using Cubase on an old duo core. Yuck.

Quote from solarwind : Actually, it was in the news yesterday that Apple is losing money over the iPhone 5 because Android is selling better (I own an iPhone 5 by the way): http://www.nypost.com/p/news/appl...GQ8M3MU0WP

Quote from isugoat : probably referring to this http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1...04344.html "Apple Inc. AAPL -3.15% has cut its orders for components for the iPhone 5 due to weaker-than-expected demand, people familiar with the situation said Monday."

Actually if you read the follow up articles today about those "news reports" the cuts in orders for components were due to higher yields from manufacturers, not because of decreased demand. Demand for iP5 remains robust by all accounts.

Quote from mikebpi : Demand is diminishing? iPhone marketshare is the highest in apple history.

Sure, by one percent from it's best.. But so has Android's; and at an accelerating pace. Also take into account that "record-breaking marketshare" was possible because of holiday shopping. Expect it to fall below 10% again during the summer.
Their product lifecycle has been sporadic lateley; which looks to be slowly deterring customers.

Quote from intence01 : Ummm, by Android I think you mean tablets. Guess who was first with a successful tablet and Ultrabook? The MacBook Air is still a very competitive Ultrabook for the price.

No, I mean phones. Since ICS, the Android OS has been a solid performer across supported devices. Samsung took advantage of Apple's recent shortcomings with their advertisements and it's been paying off. Teens are talking android as the hottest thing now; which is a pretty darn good indicator of where the market is heading.

First successful tablet and ultraportable laptops, I'll give you that.. But keep in mind that both ideas werent revolutionary. Tablet PC's were a niche product, weighed 5+lbs, and without reliable gestures, was quite a useless premium. Ultraportables existed, but were so poorly optimized(mainly because tech at its time couldnt accomodate power for discrete computing without significantly affecting battery life), there was no market appeal. Since OSx is far more resource friendly than windows, Apple was able to successfully market the ultraportable laptop segment. While I'll agree that Apple did significantly contribute to the tablet, and ultraportable laptop appeal (mainly tablets), without their presence, advancements in technology would have eventually made it possible anyway; we're not done shrinking by the way; batteries are due for a change.

Edit: I should mention, I had absolutely no problem recommending a refurbished macbook air to a friend who was looking for a new laptop(primarily because resale was good at the time of suggestion). But later admitted in hindsight that he would have much rather payed $600 for an XPS 13 than $1100 for his MBA(he was issued a XPS13 by his employer and fell in love with it).
Also, I bought my mom an iPad 3 for christmas because she has been asking for one all year. After two weeks of use, she asked to return it(I had absolutely no intervention in her decision, by the way). Her issue, and probably what people are coming to realize, is that they arent laptop replacements. Half the websites she visited still required a pointer for mouse-over functions, and disliked how fragmented her browsing experience was(from some plug-ins not being supported). Even as an e-book reader, she perferred the nook touch she bought two years ago..
I'm not hating on Apple, I respect the company for giving the competition a compelling shove in the right direction; but now that competetive software and hardware have matured, they are losing their position on the pedestal. Their platform is in need of an overhaul if they dont want to be knocked out of the race...

Quote : I guess my point of posting in this thread is, there is a limited appeal to the Mac mini's. If you are looking to buy one now because you think it'll be worth $500 in the open market a year or two from now, you're sorely mistaken