Want to use Mac Mini in a Seperate Room

If your media are in iTunes or the Movies folder of your TV mac, then they'll show up in iTunes/Front Row of your second mac.

Are you talking about literally using your Mini...or just accessing its files?

Because if you literally want to use it...I'd recommend using a VNC client. That or you can string cables...but that'll be costly, whereas using a VNC client is free.

Punkwaffle said:

I would like access to use it from my upstairs office which has a monitor, keyboard, and mouse without disturbing whatever is going on on the TV downstairs.

Click to expand...

Is another computer included with that monitor, keyboard, and mouse in the office?

You can use Screen Sharing to access it.

http://www.farawaymac.com/mac-server/screen-sharing-remote-access-with-leopard/

However, you'd just see what was running on the Mac mini. So, if it's connected to the TV and playing a movie (with the TV as the display) you'd see that "display" also.

Maybe a way around that would be to have dual displays on the Mac mini?

The OP is talking about the Mini being the only computer in the equation

The short answer is no.

The longer answer is you MAY be able to set up a KVM (keyboard.video.mouse) switch and physically run cables upstairs to keyboard and monitor BUT the reliability of this drops dramatically with distance and the KVM and cables will be expensive (not to mention fishing huge-@$$ cables through holes in the walls and floor. There are some specialized KVM extender systems that use CAT5 wiring, but we are talking about more money than a second Mini.

Then, you are expecting to multitask on the Mini while not affecting video recording/playback. Not going to happen without glitches or unacceptable performance.

Best bet - get another Mini for upstairs, and hook the two together by Ethernet cable so you can transfer files, share the Internet connection and occasionally do remote desktop control of the other machine.