In the not too distant past Apple introduced a Mac Mini Server.

It eliminates the DVD drive in favor of housing two hard drives, comes with Snow Leopard Server installed and 4 Gigs of RAM right out of the gate. It also has the larger 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo processor.

Steve’s idea is to remove the system drive (one of two 500 Gig internal drives) and install the OWC Mercury Extreme Enterprise Class SSD 100GB SATA 3.0GB/s Solid-State Drive in it’s place. Then you’d have a speed demon of a system drive and a second internal drive with which to record and mix your tracks, all in one little enclosure.

Nice idea Steve! Hmmmm…

Let’s look at how the price compares to our last example.

In Steve’s configuration we don’t have to buy the extra RAM and we don’t need a second, external drive, so there are some savings there. Here’s the break down.

The Mac Mini 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo: $999.00

100 Gig Internal SSD: $399.99

TOTAL: $1,398.99

And here’s the breakdown of my original idea…

The Mac Mini 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo: $599.00

Additional 2 Gigs of RAM: $57.99

100 Gig Internal SSD: $399.99

50 Gig External SSD: $299.99

23″ HP Widescreen Monitor: $229.98

TOTAL: $1,586.95

Steve’s machine would certainly be a tough little workhorse. I will point out that with my configuration you’re also getting a second SSD with which to record and mix your tracks as well as a nice 23″ widescreen monitor – all for only $200 more.

Good on ya’ Steve for this killer idea for an alternative configuration!