Legit Reviews

The AOpen Pandora may look like the Mac Mini, but it certainly is not. AOpen and their reseller partners are going to have these Mini PC's available this Christmas, but are they going to be worth it? With complete system prices at $399 for Linux and $499 for Windows they are worth a look.

AOpen is going to offer the Pandora in both Windows and Linux configurations, which is a good move as it helps lower the price points. The Pandora will be available in North America just in time for Christmas shoppers. Sadly they will not offer a barebone version or just the chassis all by itself. They will be sold as complete systems only. Estimated prices are: Linux based ($399/unit) or Windows based ($499/unit). That is a very low price point considering that the Mac Mini starts around $499 and comes without a monitor and keyboard! Looks like AOpen pulled off one heck of a mini PC just before the holiday shopping season.

Article Link: AOpen's Pandora Box Makes it to the Market

actually, i'm pretty sure that now the mac mini does come with a mouse and keyboard... just not a monitor. AND apple gives you a 30-day test drive.

Straight from the apple store:

Mac mini ships without a keyboard or mouse and allows customers to reuse ones they already own or buy any they choose. Upgrades are offered for wired or wireless keyboard and mouse sets (will be shipped separately from Mac mini). Note: Bluetooth is required to operate the Apple Wireless Keyboard and Mouse. For this solution, you must choose either Internal Bluetooth or Internal Bluetooth + AirPort Extreme Card from the Wireless Options menu above before selecting the wireless keyboard and mouse set.

No Keyboard, mouse, or monitor is included with the Mac Mini.

I think its damn cool, and im very glad to see other mfgs pulling out some SSF that really are small.

Just got an e-mail from a source inside AOpen and got the system specs on the Pandora:

Update: After speaking with AOpen we got the following system specs for the $499 base system

Celeron M 1.3G
256MB DDR II
40G 2.5” HDD
Slot-in Slim Combo Drive
Power Adapter
Power Cable (US type)
DVI Converter
HDTV Cable
Driver CD
Windows XP

yeah, after reading what you posted about the mac mini, i went and looked up some stuff... turns out they got rid of that deal right quick:

http://news.com.com/Mac+Mini+offer+quic ... 45443.html

i guess they didn't end up so confident (probably because apple's in desperate need to improve their processing power... thank God for their plans in q1 of 2006)

WOAH! That's frickin' sweet!
$399 for everything including monitor! Not high end components, but enough to surf the net, write e-mails/papers, and listen to some tunes!
It's especially cool that they are offering it with Linux. That is prettymuch unprecidented!

GJ Aopen!

yeah, i will give aopen props for the linux version... that is actually sweet. the windows one, not so much.

i think it's pretty.

I must admit those specs are pretty sweet for a mini, and to have DDR II, that's even more impressive. I just hope that this system pans out well for the company, because it looks like a great setup.

Brilliant idea AOpen!!!!!

Just like the $100 Laptop.. who said computing was expensive!


The only thing.. I'd like a barebones version... but alas no

audiophile wrote:actually, i'm pretty sure that now the mac mini does come with a mouse and keyboard... just not a monitor. AND apple gives you a 30-day test drive.

Wasn't Apple's 30 Day trial cancelled?

the only thing they are missing is the pre-installed F@H app with team 38296 setup! lol

this thing would be just right for kids to do school work on....

that or a decent folding far. just think rip that sucker open and upgrade the cooling, a few resisters and you can crank up the voltage OC it to high hell for $400

1) It still doesn't look nearly as nice as the Mac Mini
2) I see no mention anywhere that this comes with a mouse/monitor/keyboard for $500 ($400/linux). The article states that AOpen is not selling retail barebones systems, ie you buy your own hard drive / video card / ram / CPU / OS.
3) Next year Apple is going to ship Intel based Mac Mini's that can run windows / x86 linux as well as Mac OS X
4) Small form factor computers are the least overclockable. If you overclock it, you're going to cook everything inside.

Some math for 2)...

$400 computer is with no OS
- $80 CPU
- $50 laptop hard drive
- $80 laptop DVD-CDRW drive
- $50 RAM
-------------
= $140 to divide between a specially designed and engineered case, power supply, motherboard and video chipset, 17" LCD, keyboard, monitor, and profit. So, no monitor/keyboard/mouse for you.

I dont' think that Apple gets enough credit for the Mac mini. Making small form factor computers is difficult. They put in some real money and effort and it paid off.

ynniv wrote:1) It still doesn't look nearly as nice as the Mac Mini
2) I see no mention anywhere that this comes with a mouse/monitor/keyboard for $500 ($400/linux). The article states that AOpen is not selling retail barebones systems, ie you buy your own hard drive / video card / ram / CPU / OS.
3) Next year Apple is going to ship Intel based Mac Mini's that can run windows / x86 linux as well as Mac OS X
4) Small form factor computers are the least overclockable. If you overclock it, you're going to cook everything inside.

Some math for 2)...

$400 computer is with no OS
- $80 CPU
- $50 laptop hard drive
- $80 laptop DVD-CDRW drive
- $50 RAM
-------------
= $140 to divide between a specially designed and engineered case, power supply, motherboard and video chipset, 17" LCD, keyboard, monitor, and profit. So, no monitor/keyboard/mouse for you.

I dont' think that Apple gets enough credit for the Mac mini. Making small form factor computers is difficult. They put in some real money and effort and it paid off.

WELCOME TO LR FORUMS!

yes Apple is going x86, but they will have a modded bios or whatever which will block you installing anything other than osx - also osx will not run on a pc without this restriction!

Also your prices are retail... AOpen buy in bulk so an $80 cpu to you and me, but to AOpen it's more like $65!

Yes Apple deserve credit for the mini! -> Imitation is the highest form of flattery.. AOpen are just giving what the people want!

Nates Article wrote:The above system configurations greatly differ to those that CNET News and Toms Hardware posted on their sites, but our source at AOpen is very credible.

Sadly they will not offer a barebone version or just the chassis all by itself. They will be sold as complete systems only.

kenc51 wrote:

audiophile wrote:actually, i'm pretty sure that now the mac mini does come with a mouse and keyboard... just not a monitor. AND apple gives you a 30-day test drive.

Wasn't Apple's 30 Day trial cancelled?

that's why i posted this ;)

audiophile wrote:yeah, after reading what you posted about the mac mini, i went and looked up some stuff... turns out they got rid of that deal right quick:

http://news.com.com/Mac+Mini+offer+quic ... 45443.html

i guess they didn't end up so confident (probably because apple's in desperate need to improve their processing power... thank God for their plans in q1 of 2006)

Also your prices are retail... AOpen buy in bulk so an $80 cpu to you and me, but to AOpen it's more like $65!

Thats true. Still, AFAICT the AOpen does not have a monitor/mouse/keyoard. My point is simply that the AOpen is not cheaper or faster than the Mac mini.

You are correct that Mac OS X/Intel will not run on a Dell (or it will be very painful and unappealing), but the opposite is not true. MacIntels will come with Mac OS X, and Apple will only support Mac OS X, but Apple execs have said that they won't stop you from running Windows on them. It appers that Apple is putting aside its software battle with Microsoft in order to pick more profitable fight (one that they can win on many fronts) with Dell.

So what happens when Apple sells Macs like they sell iPods?

kenc51 wrote:yes Apple is going x86, but they will have a modded bios or whatever which will block you installing anything other than osx - also osx will not run on a pc without this restriction!

Where did you get that information from? They're not restricting the use of other OSes on the Mac hardware. The only thing that will be restricted is the use of OS X on non-Mac based hardware. There's very few Mac users who'd actually want to run Windows for anything other than simple testing (such as web developers) or to run the occasional app that's Win only (and there isn't a viable Mac counterpart).

BTW: They specifically made mention of being able to run Windows on the Intel based Macs at the WWDC (Worldwide Developer Conference - June 05) when the Intel switch was announced. They actually touted this to us "web developers" who were there.

-----

Based on the specs given, I'd stick with the Mini.

ynniv wrote:

Also your prices are retail... AOpen buy in bulk so an $80 cpu to you and me, but to AOpen it's more like $65!

Thats true. Still, AFAICT the AOpen does not have a monitor/mouse/keyoard. My point is simply that the AOpen is not cheaper or faster than the Mac mini.

You are correct that Mac OS X/Intel will not run on a Dell (or it will be very painful and unappealing), but the opposite is not true. MacIntels will come with Mac OS X, and Apple will only support Mac OS X, but Apple execs have said that they won't stop you from running Windows on them. It appers that Apple is putting aside its software battle with Microsoft in order to pick more profitable fight (one that they can win on many fronts) with Dell.

So what happens when Apple sells Macs like they sell iPods?

I stand corrected....
but i'll still build my own instead of "wasting" my money on an OEM pc (Apple is the biggest oem, as far as i'm concerned)

ynniv wrote:Still, AFAICT the AOpen does not have a monitor/mouse/keyoard. My point is simply that the AOpen is not cheaper or faster than the Mac mini

I can't find any evidence to back this up!! where are you getting this info (no monitor etc.)
Also x86 IS a better cpu than the power pc = in general useage, which is what the target consumers care about...