Tuesday, June 15, 2010

The New Mac Mini: The Impression

Today Apple announced their new Mac Mini design, in the midst of the iPhone 4 pre-order issues, with an aluminum body and a squat look, much like the Apple TV.  It looks so much like the Apple TV that it more or less points out the direction I think they want the Mac Mini to go:  Media Center. 


Why do I think it's destined to the media center designation?  Well, it could be because of the HDMI port on the back.  That, and I've been thinking of using the Mac Mini as a content center for a while.  With Bluetooth keyboards and mice, the jump isn't that difficult.  That, and any Apple Remote will work without a problem. 


Currently I use an Apple TV for our main Media Center, with my 20" iMac in the office for casual viewing.  But I was thinking now nice it would be to have a Mac Mini (or Mac Mini Server) as the main Media Center, with satellite media centers, like that Apple TV, for other TV's in the house. 


It would also make a good gaming system, with the beefed up graphics and everything that comes with it.  I've been looking for a solution that would unify all media into one device.  With media devices like the Mac Mini, I can see a good future.


So for those of you out there that don't think they would get an Apple device, what solutions do you have?  Any Linux boxes out there with Mythtv installed?  Windows Media Centers?  Let me know what works for you, and why.


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