Intel's 'mac mini' rejected by vendors

INTEL'S EFFORTS to interest Taiwanese manufacturers in its 915GM-based platform have met with mixed results so far. Aopen accepted Intel's proposals, and went ahead with its ‘Pandora' Mac mini lookalike, which has attracted huge attention. First International Computer (FIC), also adopted the platform for its GE1 series, flatter than the Mac mini, but with similar overall volume. FIC's representative claims that her company was selected by Intel from amongst many manufacturers eager to make 915GM systems, but in reality, it seems several companies actually turned Intel down.

"It's not our market", said Cameron Rogers, Shuttle's marketing director, bluntly. Meanwhile, an MSI product manager, Price Liu commented: "When we saw the success of the Mac mini, we were thinking about it." However, for the time being, MSI won't be adding anything more mini to its line of SFF PCs. Market size is the problem with such a low margin product, says Liu. "If the quantity isn't enough, why should we do it?" he asks.

The INQUIRER has already published details of Aopen's ‘Pandora'. Here's some information on FICs GE1. It will accept Pentium M class CPUs from 1.6 to 2.26 GHz, supported by a 916GM and ICH6-M combination. There is one DDR2 SO-DIMM slot, for up to 1 gigabyte of memory. It currently uses a tray loading optical drive, unlike Aopen's slot loader. There is space for one 2.5 inch hard drive.

Mass production will begin in September, said Anne Wu, of FIC's R&D division, with an expected entry-level price of $599 without operating system. Unlike Aopen, The company will only sell this as an ODM product, not own brand. FIC also plans a version with on-board TV tuner, however, Wu commented that the relatively high price of Windows Media Center edition (compared to Windows XP), may have a negative impact on end user cost. µ