Media question

[TheOtis]

So in the past month I've become very interested in having a media center computer. I love the idea of having all my 11,000+ songs and all my movies in one spot that are available at the click of a button.

I came across a Mac Mini and it looked extremely appealing. I was thinking about building a media center PC, and was adding up all the costs and everything and it wouldnt cost that much, BUT, finding a small case that looks appealing that's NOT $200+ isn't easy.

I have small experience with using macs, (small meaning I used them through school).

Would a mac be a good or ok choice for a media center? How is the built in audio? Would I have to convert all my songs to a certain audio format from Itunes for them to be able to play in Itunes in a mac? And what about video files? Do they need to be in a certain format to play on a mac mini?

The reason I ask is, I'd use 2 of my hard drives from my PC in a good looking external enclosure on the mac, and I'd hate to hook it up to the mac and find that the OS dosen't detect anything or it just erases the hard drives.

 

[The General]

Do you want to have TV through it? If so, then you'd need the EyeTV thing ... but if you just want to have a portal for which you can play videos/movies/pictures on a TV / audio system then the Mac Mini or the Apple TV will work just fine. If you have everything already on your computer, then I'd just get an AppleTV as it is only $299.99 and does everything but broadcast television. Play movies, music, etc.

 

[The General]

Do you want to have TV through it? If so, then you'd need the EyeTV thing ... but if you just want to have a portal for which you can play videos/movies/pictures on a TV / audio system then the Mac Mini or the Apple TV will work just fine. If you have everything already on your computer, then I'd just get an AppleTV as it is only $299.99 and does everything but broadcast television. Play movies, music, etc.

 

[TheOtis]

Nah I won't need TV through it. I did look into the AppleTV, it sounds awesome.

But, it only has a 40gig hard drive and you cant use the USB port for a external hard drive. So you're pretty limited. And I just think its really cool that I can have a computer that small with all of my movies and songs in a external enclosure, and have it be all being so compact, even more compact then a PC could be.

The fact the mac mini is $600 and so small is my main reason for wanting to get it. Plus at $600 it's the cheapest mac that you can get that's new. And I've always wanted to try out the newer mac OS, it looks awesome.

 

[The General]

Yeah, the idea is that you can store stuff on it, but most of the stuff will stream from iTunes, from your current computer.

If you don't like that idea, then you should just get a Mac Mini.