[classichasclass]

Author here. Power consumption on this unit is about 21W.

Is the CPU/watt ratio less than later units? You bet. But it's not bad, it's free, it's not in a landfill, and it's more than enough grunt for the basic tasks it's doing.

[oneplane]

Yeah, those Mac Minis can go quite low. But still the CPU power from any PPC vs. an ARM or low-end x86 is a bit inverted. A low-end ARM or x86 that is faster than any of the PPCs while using less than half the power (in the 1W to 8W range) does make a dent.