Aopen, Intel Make Mac Mini Twin

Techtree News Staff, Jun 01, 2005 1749 hrs IST

Intel and Aopen have made a mini PC which looks just like the Mac Mini and will highlight it at Computex, a trade show.

Intel and Aopen have tied up to make a mini PC which looks just like the Mac Mini.

The machine that is based on Intel's latest Pentium M processors and mobile 915 chipset, will be highlighted by the company at Computex, a trade show in Taiwan.

Aopen will also aunch the Mac Mini look-alike based on the same Intel chips, at the show.

Anthony Ma, a senior product manager at Aopen, said that the company aims to ship the Mini Mac look-alike in September to consumers.

A company spokesperson said that Anand Chandrasekher, director of Intel's sales and marketing group, is expected to frame the machines as another step toward the creation of a wider PC market segment for tinier, more stylish desktops, all based on the Pentium M.

The spokesperson added that one opportunity for small desktops, a space where Intel will run up against Apple Computer's Mac Mini, is in the home, where small desktops might become second or third PCs.

The Pentium M is used in the look alike as it was designed for a notebook and uses less power than a Pentium 4 and hence needs less cooling in a desktop.

Aopen will target businesses and education systems with its latest small Pentium-M desktop, the XC Cube model EY 915 which will cost around $900 to $1,000 excluding a display.

USER COMMENTS

big under

by muthu, hosur, on Oct 05, 2008 11:59 AM, Report abuse Reply

Good Product...AOpen is very good...keep it up

by Vivek Kumar, Mumbai, on Jun 24, 2005 01:35 PM, Report abuse Reply

Good Product...AOpen is very good...keep it up

by Vivek Kumar, Mumbai, on Jun 24, 2005 01:35 PM, Report abuse Reply

Good Product...AOpen is very good...keep it up

by Vivek Kumar, Mumbai, on Jun 24, 2005 01:29 PM, Report abuse Reply

This is a good product, keep it up..AOpen. Their products are good.

by Vivek Kumar, Mumbai, on Jun 24, 2005 01:28 PM, Report abuse Reply

900 to 1000 i would just buy a notebook for that price

by craig, corner brook, Canada, on Jun 01, 2005 06:23 PM, Report abuse Reply

That's the proposed price of the XC Cube model EY 915 , not this. I don't see any mention of the price of this mini mac clone.

by Faisal, Kannur, on Jun 17, 2005 04:03 AM, Report abuse

This looks like a good product but it is a little pricey compaired to the mac mini, i'd buy it if i could get upgraded graphics and a fast processor.

by Chris, NY, on Jun 13, 2005 11:06 PM, Report abuse Reply

good

by adi_gabale, hyd, on Jun 05, 2005 04:54 PM, Report abuse Reply

I'd rather buy a Mac mini - I really dont trust small PC's, besides the price is too high, a Mini is much cheaper. But I am willing to give it a test drive

by AC_me, Chennai, on Jun 03, 2005 01:12 PM, Report abuse Reply

I like the size of the box and the fact that it is intel based, but the price is too high.

by PatM, chicago, on Jun 02, 2005 10:11 PM, Report abuse Reply

Nop nothing here .... Its ok as a news, but could you guys be a lil more Country specific with news. I don't know how many times did you get this suggestion, but come on guys.. Look at it here people from around the world are wasting there creative time to "discuss" a pc or a mac??? I mean whatever you find good and as long as you know how to use it right?? India, yeah thats the name of the country. Keep such shows coverage in a different section if you can.

by Champion, Mumbai, on Jun 02, 2005 11:17 AM, Report abuse Reply

I recently had the opportunity to check out the MAC Mini - I was planning to pick one up for my Dad because of all the things I heard about its ease of use and it being intuitively designed. Well the only thing that was really catchy was the eye-candy application bar in the bottom of the screen. I tried playing Chess on it ... and it "sucked" - I have played different chess programs on my PC - "Chessmaster" "Fritz" - all resource-hungry, programs which eat lots of CPU-Cycles and a good card for rendering the pieces in 3D while playing good chess. My P4 - 2.4 Ghz performance is much better. What surprised me the most was that Apple is always known for its multimedia capability - and the MAC Mini I used was the 1.5xGhz Version. Anyways, I am not going to buy it - sure is damn stylish and looks great (one might get carried away and call it "Sexy with a lot of Class") but then that is just it. Apple has so many better machine - the MAC Mini is probably not the best apple to start of with. Hey for all the PC owners who are interested in the MAC-Mini Twin, this cannot be upgraded, I heard. And you can add much either because it is going to be packed tight, pretty much like the way the MAC-Mini is.

by Pats, Bangalore, on Jun 02, 2005 10:51 AM, Report abuse Reply

I mean't you "cant" add much either!!!

by Pats, Bangalore, on Jun 02, 2005 10:54 AM, Report abuse

The only advantages a Mac has over a clone is the lack of viruses and malware that effects them. OSX is just as unstable and security holed as Windows, there are just so few people hacking them that security holes aren't as scrutenized. Lastly, pirated software is so hard to come by for Macs that they aren't even worth buying unless you have money to pay for retail copies of everything. I'd put a Mac mini in a car as a mod system for music but that's about it. Anything a Mac can do a clone can do better, provided you have a program to convert fonts.

by Lotto, Toronto, on Jun 02, 2005 02:47 AM, Report abuse Reply

I beg to differ. In a report published by an English company in MacWorld Feb, 2005 th OpenBSD & MacOSX which is based on OpenBSD were the most secure OSs. Lnux & Windows at about the same level. Finally it depends entirely on the end user to keep one'c pc secure. One can't ignore precautions & be promiscuous.

by Pradip Shah, Mumbai, on Jun 02, 2005 08:42 AM, Report abuse

COPY CATS

by felix, delhi, on Jun 02, 2005 08:23 AM, Report abuse Reply

Rather buy a Mac-Mini with an 19" LCD at that price.

by R.Malhotra, New Delhi, on Jun 01, 2005 06:03 PM, Report abuse Reply

Yeh i rekon dude i mean look at that price :P a centrino laptop wouldnt be that much more :P

by circcorp, Perth WA Austrlia, on Jun 02, 2005 06:58 AM, Report abuse

I dont care which performs better... the 'PC' or the Mac... but from the looks of it, it seems that Intel is just publicising its loss over the Mac's by giving up the fight and producing a mac look-alike. If you cant beat 'em, copy 'em.

by antartis, Los Angeles, on Jun 02, 2005 06:11 AM, Report abuse Reply

I don't know why most Mac users are fanatic just like Playstation, Adobe users. I'm a person that uses both PCs and Macs for a living and the only difference between them is exterior design. I can crash both PC and Mac OS in less than 20 minutes, so don't tell me that Mac is a lot better than a PC. Macs have only a few small advantages over PCs and that's it. Most PCs are ugly and Apple has taken advantage of this. The only "good looking" PCs is from Alienware. The rest are just ugly boxes. But when you look at hardware, then you realize what kind of bully Apple really is. They don't comply with a lot of international standards and they create their own rules. No wonder hardware manufacturers don't like dealing with Apple. As for the chips used, well that's another joke. Let me put it this way, If you had a custom hot-rod and a Porsche lined up to go on a straight line, then most likely the custom hot-rod would win. But if you want to go around curves, then I would personally choose a Porsche because the hot-rod would roll over. Macs use Power chips which are only good for speed (nothing else). There is a lot more going on with chip design than what most people think, and most Mac users have no idea what they are talking about.

by Danyel, Amsterdam, on Jun 02, 2005 02:22 AM, Report abuse Reply

This one's got lawsuit stamped all over it, to be sure. Oh, and MadGoose - get a life! Your precious PCs are still just computers, blah, blah, blah...

by Chris, Portland, on Jun 01, 2005 08:03 PM, Report abuse Reply

First off, Mac users should realize that PC stands for "Personal Computer", a category into which their beloved Macs fall. Secondly, not having a life is a consequence of being a full-time Engineering graduate student; I don't see what not having a life has to do with the fact that the Mac (or what Mac users like to refer to as the PC, for that matter) is not the be-all and end-all of computers. Sure, the Mac has an intuitive OS and interface, but beyond those two things, it's still just another (dare I say it) PC. For the record, I'm also a Mac user, but I'm sick and tired of the typical Mac user mantra of "my computer is better than yours." The fact of the matter is, it's not. Every computer has its strengths and weaknesses and all of these strengths and weaknesses should be considered before passing judgement on any system. It's not enough to say that a Mac is better because viruses and spyware are not problems; it's not enough to say that a "PC" is better because it has a higher clock speed. Something to consider before you start using the phrase "get a life" like a 14-year-old teenybopper.

by MadGoose, Des Plaines, on Jun 01, 2005 11:29 PM, Report abuse

i dont think the price in the article above is for the mac mini clone, it says its for the XC cube, which is a different product. i dont see the problem with a clone would love a mac mini but know it wont be able to do everything i want i.e use musicmatch, connect to xbox360 (when its out), so this is a reasonable comprimse for a htpc/music server

by andy, london, on Jun 01, 2005 08:12 PM, Report abuse Reply

What? A PC more expensive than a Mac? This is unbelievable! The only reason I stay away from the Macs and now Intel goes and does something stupid. Maybe the CEO of intel should team up with Robbie Williams and do a duet "Something Stupid".

by Goobimama, Goa, on Jun 01, 2005 07:46 PM, Report abuse Reply

So, it is clear that this is "target business and education systems" Personally, I am not attracted too.

by Kevin, Toronto, on Jun 01, 2005 07:32 PM, Report abuse Reply

Rather buy a Mac-Mini at that price.

by R.Malhotra, New Delhi, on Jun 01, 2005 06:02 PM, Report abuse Reply

Mac zealots: shut up. Your precious Macs are still just computers that run just another operating system. The only thing you've got going is that you don't have Windows installed on your hardware. If Pentiums are so "inferior", why are the majority of personal computers powered by them? Furthermore, why is it that an x86 version of Darwin exists? Don't get me wrong, Macs are good at what they're for ... they're just not the answer to everything. Sure, cite viruses and spyware as major problems; you know that those are a result of stupid end-users. Some education would solve those, no sweat. Crashing? Mostly faulty drivers, which Microsoft doesn't write. Otherwise, it's usually faulty memory, which can occur in a Mac as well. You are NOT immune. /me goes to play Half-Life 2 Deathmatch, which you Mac zealots know nothing about

by MadGoose, Des Plaines, on Jun 01, 2005 07:13 PM, Report abuse

Here's a trade dress law suit for certain. Can't they come up with something original? The Mac Mini is nice, but not the only small solution. Ripping it off helps no one, advances nothing and will just give lawyers another payday. Intel and AOpen get a life please

by Robert Heiblim, Caldwell, on Jun 01, 2005 07:05 PM, Report abuse Reply

WHAT A STUPID SHIT!! HAHAHA, LOSERZZZZ!!!

by mantz, somwhere, on Jun 01, 2005 06:38 PM, Report abuse Reply

I couldn't agree more

by hild, somewhere, on Jun 01, 2005 07:00 PM, Report abuse

I couldn't agree more

by hild, somewhere, on Jun 01, 2005 07:00 PM, Report abuse

That's a lookalike exterior wise... what a dumbcrap.... Can it match to superiority of Apple? Can it give that smooth, seXXi feel of OSX?.. the answer is no. It's one thing to create a look alike.. it's different matter about clone. I've mini and it's much much better deal, considering Hardware, performance and feel, when compared to above specifications and cost.

by Alien, Z13-c, on Jun 01, 2005 06:54 PM, Report abuse Reply

by Alien, Z13-c, on Jun 01, 2005 06:53 PM, Report abuse Reply

Well, you can really tell that they're not trying to compete with the mac mini. That's a lot to pay for less power.

by AndrewOnline.ca, Juniper, on Jun 01, 2005 06:39 PM, Report abuse Reply

What losers!

by Lord Kelvin, Columbus, on Jun 01, 2005 06:26 PM, Report abuse Reply