The Mac Mini, love it, hate it, use it to....

[SOCMOB]

prop up a tippy chair?

I almost bought one today .... except I ended up playing it safe (and cheap) and getting a really souped-up G4 Icebook instead.

But the Mini seems really neat, is anyone using one? Thoughts?

[Bad Voodoo]

I use one as a media "server", so to speak. Works great w/ a SAN or Drobo-type device to serve HT content via Plex. No complaints at all. I save storage real estate as I'm able to archive my DVDs from open display to a dark closet, and I save $$ vs. high-end HT component alternatives. I highly recommend it for that purpose.

[Bug Splat]

Brother has one. Bought it, formated the drive and installed XP Media .

[BONECUTTER]

Been thinking about one to run through my LCD TV and sound system. Just need to do my homework and check connectors and stuff.

[TWoods450]

I have one at work that I use for testing stuff on, and one at home that streams my movies/music from a windows 2k8 server thats in the garage.
Bonecutter, they have optical audio out so they are good to go for running through a soundsystem (just need a $10 adapter).

Only down side is that netflix won't allow HD Streaming unless its on of their 'Approved' Devices (xbox360, HD Tivo, PS3, ETC)

[MichaelKent]

My room-mate in college had one (back in 2006-2007) that he used as his main computer and for working on film school projects. That little thing was able to render super35mm film (more than 4x the "resolution" of 1080p) allowing him to edit films at full quality. Now he's a professional editor.

As is typical with a Mac, it gave him no problems. No crashing, no viruses, no slowdowns, etc.

I was actually just thinking about getting one the other day...

[ponderosa]

I thought this would be about:



Need to start watching the forum I'm in, when viewing the new posts... sorry.

[BONECUTTER]

Bonecutter, they have optical audio out so they are good to go for running through a soundsystem (just need a $10 adapter).

Thanks for the info. I need to check connectors and stuff for I want to have all my stuff wired. BOSE 321, PS3, Mac Mini through my 40' LCD.

Currently my only home computer is a Macbook.

[TWoods450]

Thanks for the info. I need to check connectors and stuff for I want to have all my stuff wired. BOSE 321, PS3, Mac Mini through my 40' LCD.

Currently my only home computer is a Macbook.

macbook should have the same optical audio out, just need this http://www.amazon.com/Toslink-To-Opt.../dp/B0002MQGRM

[davhed]

Over the last 5 years I've set up several personal and professional networked storage servers using Minis. I find them to be reliable, easily expandable, and very discrete. I haven't had any problems using them as the main file server for a "light weight" video production suite, a primary music server for an in-home distributed audio system, and a development server for cross-platform application development. The gigabit ethernet on board makes them very useful for large file transfer and storage, and it kicks butt running OS X server to host simple web services.

I really like the MiniMax

[AJAX22]

Heh, thought this thread was going to be about the mpa930

[Grumpyoldretiredcop]

Mine is filling the empty space in its box, out in the garage. I hated it.

[TWoods450]

grumpy, what model is it? I have a friend that might be interested in buying it if you want to get rid of it.

[Joe]

Macs are crap. PC all the way

[SeanCasey]

If you want a similar form factor as the Mac Mini but don't want a Mac, check out the Dell Zino HD. It is my HTPC. BluRay drive is an option on it as well. With Netflix integrated into Win 7's Mediacenter, it works great. Plus a few MC addons and I have all of my disc library stored as ISO's images on the drive and I can click it in MC, it mounts the image and plays it immediately (DVD Jukebox).

For a HTPC keyboard I use a Logitech DiNovo Mini.