Poor AirPort reception on Intel mini?

My brother brought home a new Intel mini today (the core solo - he does nothing but iTunes and web surfing really). Problem is, the thing gets horrible reception on the AirPort wireless network. I don't have AirPort in my mini so I can't compare, however a windows notebook sitting right beside it will get plenty of signal whereas the mini will completely lose the network connection quite frequently.

Has anybody seen a lot of reports like this?

do you have anything on top of the mini? Maybe even something metallic?
The Airport and Bluetooth antennas get their reception through the top, white plastic cover. for best reception you shouldn't put anything metallic above the mini.