Mini instead of an ATV

I just switched from an ATV2 to a Mac Mini last week (crossing my fingers for a refresh this week lol). I installed Plex and use it to handle my library that is on my NAS. It's also serving as a MagicJack box 24/7. Plex is awesome and will handle anything you throw at it except for the encrypted iTunes purchases (which you can watch on TV too). The 2010 Minis have built in HDMI too, which is nice.

Wicked1 said:

Is anyone using a Mini instead of an ATV, I know it is a little more expensive but I was thinking of getting a 2010 base Mini, bumping the ram to 4GB and putting in a 500GB HDD just to use around the house instead of streaming my movies etc from an ATV?

Anyone using just a Mini instead of ATV?

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I switched to the Mini as it had the oomph to handle everything I threw at it. A few remarks:

1. The 2GB ram is fine if all you do is Plex/XBMC. There is no gain to go higher. This is from the mouth of the developers of XBMC and my experience mirrors what they say
2. I would not upgrade the HDD but instead opt for a cheapo NAS. I have a 1 disk Synology NAS and it's one of the best purchases I made these last years. It's cheap, can be left unattended, it can act as FTP and many other purposes.

Seydlitz said:

...
2. I would not upgrade the HDD but instead opt for a cheapo NAS. I have a 1 disk Synology NAS and it's one of the best purchases I made these last years. It's cheap, can be left unattended, it can act as FTP and many other purposes.

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I really agree with this.. synology has this unit


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...042&cm_re=synology_nas-_-22-108-042-_-Product

you can drop a 2tb samsung in

it



http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...2245&cm_re=samsung_2tb-_-22-152-245-_-Product


I use it as a holding ground for my

imac
2 mac minis
and mac pro

I just recorded a show for my wife on the imac. oprah and chastity bono (no hate comments please ). I can move it to the synology and watch it on any of the four macs. if she says save it I will move it to the macpro.

I use a 2.33 C2D upgraded mini with 2GB as my HTPC with XBMC fed by a 8TB array I have in my basement, hooked up by gigabit ethernet. Beats all* the features of the ATV.

* - just waiting for the Airplay to be integrated properly into XBMC.