The new Mac Mini

[Eric Santiago]

Would love to try Maya on this 🙂

[Jeremy Garchow]

But it “only” has USB-c (not Thunderbolt 3). How would anyone get ANY work done, let alone design Bridges, buildings, and other heavy structures that will carry, house, and/or employ human beings and their vehicles?? Why doesn’t it have quad GPUs and weigh 148 pounds?

Why must I always feel the need to sarcast?

[Mark Suszko]

I don’t get the angle about this being great for CAD work. And this is not a mac mini vs. hp mini issue, but an overall form-factor issue. A small-footprint independent computer suggests a mobile, or at least intentionally portable, user experience, or at least, an installation that is more “field”- like than “office”-like. For example, I could see a small computer like this hooked to a 3-d printer or CNC router or laser engraver. Even though all of those things can run off a thumb drive or internal memory, but let’s leave it for the sake of argument. I can see a small format machine like this connected to VR experiences. Or used in the music-recording/production and DJ business areas. But what’s the advantage of a small footprint, with inherent compromises in performance or other features/ options, in a static, standard office/desk environment like CAD? Or, is there some gain from rack-mounting a bunch of these into a massive array? This may be a cool platform for certain applications, but you’re pitching it for CAD work? Like the scene in “Big”, when Tom Hanks is asked to play-test the robots that turn into buildings… “I don’t get it”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ERuhks3GNk

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[Shawn Miller]

[Mark Suszko] “I don’t get the angle about this being great for CAD work. And this is not a mac mini vs. hp mini issue, but an overall form-factor issue. A small-footprint independent computer suggests a mobile, or at least intentionally portable, user experience, or at least, an installation that is more “field”- like than “office”-like. For example, I could see a small computer like this hooked to a 3-d printer or CNC router or laser engraver. Even though all of those things can run off a thumb drive or internal memory, but let’s leave it for the sake of argument. I can see a small format machine like this connected to VR experiences. Or used in the music-recording/production and DJ business areas. But what’s the advantage of a small footprint, with inherent compromises in performance or other features/ options, in a static, standard office/desk environment like CAD? Or, is there some gain from rack-mounting a bunch of these into a massive array? This may be a cool platform for certain applications, but you’re pitching it for CAD work? Like the scene in “Big”, when Tom Hanks is asked to play-test the robots that turn into buildings… “I don’t get it”.”

Mini PC’s are good from a power consumption, space and heat standpoint. The trend in bigger office environments is fewer closed offices, fewer permanent desk assignments, smaller cubicles and more open, collaborative work spaces. A mini PC also makes sense for very small, enclosed offices where heat and noise can affect your daily comfort.

Shawn

[Mark Suszko]

Then why not laptops?

[Shawn Miller]

[Mark Suszko] “Then why not laptops?”

You can put more RAM and a Xeon processor in a mini PC. It’s also not unusual for a company to assign multiple devices to a single employee, so lots of people have a workstation and a laptop or tablet.

Shawn

[Richard Herd]

[Mark Suszko] “an overall form-factor issue.”

They look really cool.

[Ricardo Marty]

I think that the new surface studio has better Tech specs and ergonomics for a cad user. Maybe more expensive but well worth it.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/devices/surface-studio/tech-specs

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/devices/surface-studio/overview

Ricardo Marty

[Mark Smith]

I own a mini that is a 4 core i7 CPU. It seems like there certainly in a case for form factor like the mini that has some processing power and takes up very little space. Connect monitors and keyboards that suit you and away you go.