New Mac Mini as a HTPC

[Dr House]

Apple have launched 2 new mac minis. I have wanted a HTPC for ages and this look to fit the bill. I was looking at the faster one and attached a couple of USB drives and get rid of the NAS.

The Mac book pro should arrive within the next few days so I think they will be quite good together.

Anyone got any opinions?
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The new mini sports the Apple Remote with Front Row, up to 2 GB memory, Intel GMA950 graphics processor, DVI connector w/ VGA out option, Slot loading optical drive, up to 120GB hard drive, built-in gigabit ethernet, analog and digital audio, USB & Firewire ports, iLife '06 and Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger.

1.5Ghz Intel Core Solo Model: $599
1.5GHz Intel Core Solo processor
2MB L2 Cache
667MHz Frontside Bus
512MB memory (667MHz DDR2 SDRAM)
60GB Serial ATA hard drive
Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
Built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0
Apple Remote

1.66Ghz Intel Core Duo Model: $799
1.66GHz Intel Core Duo processor
2MB L2 Cache
667MHz Frontside Bus
512MB memory (667MHz DDR2 SDRAM)
80GB Serial ATA hard drive
Double-layer SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0
Apple Remote

All Mac mini models also include an integrated Intel GMA950 graphics processor with 64MB of shared DDR2 SDRAM(1), 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet, four external USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 400 port, optical digital and analog audio in/out, and built-in mono speaker.

 

[Dr House]

I do like the spec of that shuttle but I don’t think it will be cheap.

I know the mac mini will not play HD however my plasma is not HD so that’s no a problem. The most important factors for me are :

Looks!
Silent,
DVI
Optical out

It does seem to fit the bill the only thing holing me back is the intel graphics. With the student discount it should work out to around £500 which for the spec is not bad. Also remember that Macs have a very good resale value.

 

[Dr House]

I do like the spec of that shuttle but I don’t think it will be cheap.

I know the mac mini will not play HD however my plasma is not HD so that’s not a problem. The most important factors for me are :

Looks!
Silent,
DVI
Optical out

It does seem to fit the bill the only thing holing me back is the intel graphics. With the student discount it should work out to around £500 which for the spec is not bad. Also remember that Macs have a very good resale value.