New Mac Minis Released, Still Doesn't Make us Nerds Happy

Since the first Mac Minis were released, I've been combing the Internet for a deal. I don't really need another computer but there is something about having this tiny, quiet box on my desk. The price has always been holding me back: it's not in the $400 sweet-spot for a computer. Yes, I know that Apple is not a lower-end brand but the pricing on the Mac Minis compared to its features, including the hardware revisions released today, is ridiculous. 

The base model is $729 ($599 USD) or +$800 with tax. With that money, you could build a much faster and more capable Windows PC, and you could build it using a Shuttle case to keep a similar form factor. I realize that this can be said about any of Apple's PC's but the Mac Mini is obviously over-priced in that their $949 (!) model is only marginally more powerful than their base model; it is definitely not $229 better. Keep in mind that this does not include a mouse, keyboard, or monitor. Hell, it doesn't even include the $19 remote! For $200 more, you could get the base model 20" iMac. 

So who is this product for? Apple obviously didn't take a note of how people are using the Mac Minis: usually connected to their TV's as Home Theatre PCs. If the newly revised Mac Minis included an HDMI port and digital audio out , I could see this sitting by my TV and at that price. If they threw in Blu-Ray (or "a bag of hurt" according to Steve Jobs), there would be the same hoopla around the Mac Minis as their other seemingly disease-curing devices.