What Do You Use Your Mac Mini For?

[NickD]

What do you all use your Mac Mini's for? When I get one shortly, I'll be using it as a media center, and with a couple external hard drives, backup for all complete Final Cut projects and data. I may also use it to stream video/audio, or seed torrents down the line :)

What about you guys?

[nlivo]

i used to use it as a media centre connected to my tv but then we got an appletv....so now my brother uses it, here's in y. 12 at school.........

[gkarris]

We use one at church for recording audio and CD duplication.

I have one at home for small video editing projects, then putting them on DVDs (for church). I also use it to encode my DVD's for iPod.

Great machine - bad if it's going away without a replacement... :(

[kellen]

Was my first mac, now it is regulated to apple tv duty or when I wanna play WoW on my 34" HDTV. Also hooked up to the surround sound, so it doubles as a music player.

Future plans are to add on a couple of external drives and rip DVDs to it, but no time at the present.

[ukor]

Media Center connected to my 50" HDTV. Some web browsing when laptop is occupied.

[furious]

My parents run there business with it.

[GimmeSlack12]

I bought a used MiniG4.

Hooked it up to my 65" SDTV via S-Video and bought a Griffin Airclick and hacked Front Row onto it. It is connected to my wireless network (cause it has AE/BT) and I manage bittorrent downloads on the machine via Apple Remote Desktop on my iBook or through VNC from anywhere in the world. Using Perian Codecs I can run any type of video format and on occasion I use it to burn DVD's (it has a Superdrive too!).

It is fantastic!

[freebooter]

I use mine to collect dust. :rolleyes:

It was great to use until I started to do Photoshop a lot and the Intel iMac 24" came out.

I'll have to sell it, I suppose.

[Markleshark]

It's my main computer. 1.83 CoreDuo model, upgraded to 2 gigs of RAM. Love it. :)

[synth3tik]

I am going to get one for my "media center", I currently have an :apple:TV and it is really a horrible piece of junk. Shamefully junk.

[shu82]

I am going to get one for my "media center", I currently have an :apple:TV and it is really a horrible piece of junk. Shamefully junk.

I don't see how the mini is better. Except for the fact that you can surf with it. I have mine hooked to my 50" plasma. Wireless keyboard and mouse, your good to go. Before I got the net back it was just an appletv/dvd player.

[GimmeSlack12]

I don't see how the mini is better. Except for the fact that you can surf with it. I have mine hooked to my 50" plasma. Wireless keyboard and mouse, your good to go. Before I got the net back it was just an appletv/dvd player.

I completely understand why it's better. Because its a full-fledge computer and the sky's the limit. No having to work with the Back Row interface and the ability to have a proper hard drive and peripherals available. This is a no-brainer to me. This is specifically why I bought a Mini instead of an ATV.

[Kebabselector]

It is my main computer (though have a Macbook, but thats for moving about).

General use comprises of web, email, work, parallels, Neooffice, iTunes stuff.

Photography use: Lightroom and Photoshop CS3, mini struggles a bit on lightroom though.

Also it's running as an Apache webserver and runs MySQL for my blog.

MacMini 1.66 1gb 80gb hdd. Use an external firewire Raid for my photography.

Very happy with my first Mac. Just hoping to get a more powerful replacement soon. I much prefer a separate box to the iMac (I use my monitor for other things!). So if the Mini is to die, then I'd like a screenless iMac please, either that or a cheaper MacPro, called the MacNotSoProJustCutDownABit™

[AEP]

Everything!

Been my only computer for over a year now, I just love it.:D

thinking of getting a new iMac once the revision comes, will be sad to the faithful mini demoted to a mere jukebox.

[theheyes]

I dont own one, but I was very close to buying one to run folding@home on it.

I really hope they dont drop the product because I'll seriously consider it if they bump the specs.

[GimmeSlack12]

I dont own one, but I was very close to buying one to run folding@home on it.

I really hope they dont drop the product because I'll seriously consider it if they bump the specs.

You're going to buy a computer just so you can use if for folding? Really? I mean, what are the benefits of folding (other than the data crunching)?

[thuff13]

I use mine as a Media Center. I have it hooked up to my 42" HDTV and the digital audio going to my receiver. Right now I use it as my DVD player (until I decide it's worth it to by one of the HD players), for watching downloaded videos, for showing off pictures, etc.

[roland.g]

It's my main computer. 1.83 CoreDuo model, upgraded to 2 gigs of RAM. Love it. :)

Same here. 1.66 (early 2006) refurb bought in Oct as a holdover for a Leopard based iMac which has turned into a quest for an aluminum iMac next month upgrade to Leopard in Oct.

[emozolik]

I completely understand why it's better. Because its a full-fledge computer and the sky's the limit. No having to work with the Back Row interface and the ability to have a proper hard drive and peripherals available. This is a no-brainer to me. This is specifically why I bought a Mini instead of an ATV.

My thoughts exactly. In Sept im buying an iMac (using my wifes backtoschool discount), but this is my next purchase. I would consider the AppleTV if it had a DVD drive, otherwise no-way. I want the mini in my living room as a HTPC. I really hope Apple gives it the bump it needs!

[devman]

development server (svn, blogs, discussions, etc.)

[GimmeSlack12]

My thoughts exactly. In Sept im buying an iMac (using my wifes backtoschool discount), but this is my next purchase. I would consider the AppleTV if it had a DVD drive, otherwise no-way. I want the mini in my living room as a HTPC. I really hope Apple gives it the bump it needs!

And what bump does it need? I bought a used G4/1.42 Mini ($400). Works beautifully. An Intel Mini would be way overkill for use as just a Media Center. You can probably get a PPC Mini for cheaper than I did. All you really need is a big HD and at least 1 gHz.

[emozolik]

And what bump does it need? I bought a used G4/1.42 Mini ($400). Works beautifully. An Intel Mini would be way overkill for use as just a Media Center. You can probably get a PPC Mini for cheaper than I did. All you really need is a big HD and at least 1 gHz.

Outside of ram, im hoping for better and (long shot) dedicated graphics. I would like to use my TV to play FPSs if possible.

[wazgilbert]

Was my first mac, now it is regulated to apple tv duty or when I wanna play WoW on my 34" HDTV. Also hooked up to the surround sound, so it doubles as a music player.

Future plans are to add on a couple of external drives and rip DVDs to it, but no time at the present.

cool, what spec, and framerates do you get?

[gkarris]

I am going to get one for my "media center", I currently have an :apple:TV and it is really a horrible piece of junk. Shamefully junk.

I actually just got one and love it. The only thing bad is that it gets too hot and you can't turn it off (only has a standby mode). Hopefully Apple will fix that with a software update. It also has a better interface than Front Row.

I heard the next version of Front Row on Leopard will be the same as :apple:TV anyways.

I heard they're discontining the Minis, so get one fast...

I love my Mini... I actually have an original PPC one new unopened in the box as part of my Apple Computer collection!

[theheyes]

You're going to buy a computer just so you can use if for folding? Really? I mean, what are the benefits of folding (other than the data crunching)?

Sorry I didn't specify. I wouldn't have bought it _just_ for folding. My plan was to replace my iMac when they bumped the Mac Mini specs/Leopard came out and attach a 24" monitor to it.

The reason I mentioned folding is because the Mac Mini is a very efficient machine, it draws very little power for the work it does.

The benefits of folding are speculative. Some cynics believe it is pointless. There have been a number of scientific papers published off the back of the project. It will certainly advance mankinds understanding of protein folding and in turn may help find cures or new treatments for cancer, alzheimers, parkinsons disease and so on.

In my opinion its worth the effort. At the very least it is a proof of concept that distributed computing on this scale actually works.

[iPhil]

A device to push my Cable tv on to my wide screen lcd via This item ('http://www.elgato.com/index.php?file=products_eyetvhybridna')


No the lcd is this item ('http://tinyurl.com/2pw45m') :o :o



i'm also using a vga switch for both systems .. Mini (Intel) / PM G4 GE Dual ..

[kusanagi]

I use mine, as many as a media centre.

It originally was a 1.5ghz G4 w/AE+BT. Overclocked it to 1.67ghz (makes browsing divx files through FrontRow a bit smoother) and have 4x 500gig WD mybook premiums (daisy chain firewire) for storage. Plugged into my plasma via DVI.

For a remote I'm using an apple remote plus the Manta TR1 receiver from twisted melon. I'm having some problems now with the IR remote, the software is a little buggy for my liking but there's really not many other options availble.

Great little machine though, if it wasnt for the fact that the video card doesnt not support Core Image, I probably would have used it as a replacement for my iBook instead of getting an MBP.

[JAT]

Everything. Media center, server, audio, video, Lightroom/Aperture/Photoshop, Parallels, burning discs, surfing, (formerly) schoolwork, etc. I do have 2GB RAM, it helps.

Obviously the people comparing a Mini (or any real computer) to an iTV don't have an HDTV. The iTV doesn't really do HD.

[Royale w/cheese]

Media center hooked up to my 42" Sony Wega, mostly. But in a pinch, when my stronger macs are tied up rendering, the mini does video, flash, dreamweaver, photoshop, anything! They are very capable machines in my opinion.

[tjwett]

I don't see how the mini is better. Except for the fact that you can surf with it. I have mine hooked to my 50" plasma. Wireless keyboard and mouse, your good to go. Before I got the net back it was just an appletv/dvd player.

how about 5.1 surround sound out? gigabit ethernet? 5.1 surround sound out? onboard DVD player? what about 5.1 SURROUND SOUND OUT? i can't believe they left that off the tv, boggles the mind really.

[steamboat26]

Mainly for itunes, iphoto, typing papers, iMovie/iDVD, watching/recording tv, and just browsing the web. Mainly media center stuff.
I use it once in a while for some light photoshop

[WannaGoMac]

Porn.

[Cassie]

Everything. My mini is my hub. It does my music, movies, games, internet, photoshop, flash bootcamp, and many other things. And all with 512 Mb of RAM. :) My iBook is usually only used at night when I'm in bed, so my mini is my main computer.

I love my Mini... I actually have an original PPC one new unopened in the box as part of my Apple Computer collection!

I always wanted a PPC mini, it was just introduced when i was beginning to seriously consider a Mac as my main computer. Maybe I'll get one one of these days.

[Whiteapple]

I use mine for my photography editing in Photoshop CS3, and catalog/managing in Aperture.

Needless to say it's not the best system for my needs, but it served me well for designing my application portfolio for a design University. I'm proud of the little machine. I do everything on it. Ripping/burning (external USB 2.0/FW drive), watch DVDs on my 23" ACD, listen to music.

Hum, what else... oh yeah ! Forgot : I check news for updated iMacs as this will be my next computer (working mule for next year).

See, minis are not just for people discovering macs. I've had macs since 1996.

[Chisholm]

We mount them behind 42" Samsung LCDs in classrooms in a university. With the Bluetooth they are great. This combo replaces the old failing projectors quite well. And our college's Dean thinks they look cool.;)

[shu82]

We mount them behind 42" Samsung LCDs in classrooms in a university. With the Bluetooth they are great. This combo replaces the old failing projectors quite well. And our college's Dean thinks they look cool.;)

Sweet. I wish my old school did that. We were still using overhead projectors 2 years ago. BTW: Roll Tide!:D