Hello,
I wasn't sure where to put this post but since it's basically buying advice I decided to put it here.
Right now I have two machines an aging Macbook Pro (2.16 Ghz, 15") and an older Mac Mini (the original Core 2 Duo, I believe). Both have upgraded RAM (3GB and 4GB respectively). The MBP is my work machine while the Mini is hooked up to my TV, where it is used for downloading and XBMC. The Mini has 1 TB hard drive hooked up to it, where I've copied my DVDs and right now my iTunes (there's an additional 1TB external used as a back up of the first).
I need a smaller machine to carry around and would like to have another machine at home. I'm thinking of selling my MBP and buying a Macbook Air 11" this summer if they are updated. I'm also thinking about buying a "home" PC. At first, I was sure I was going to make this a Hackintosh as it would give me a lot of USB ports, expandable storage, etc. However, reading through descriptions, it seems like there is a lot of software tweaking during each round of updates. Is this true, or is vanilla OS X working on the right hardware?
The Air, obviously isn't beefy enough to be my main machine so if I don't build the Hackintosh, I was thinking about the 21" iMac. However, I don't want 3 hard drive stuck to the machine, though I am in ample need of storage.
I was thinking about perhaps using some sort of cable to hook the iMac to the TV and selling the Mac Mini. Or keeping it as a dedicated machine for the TV. Or some combination of that and some kind of home storage system - big enough for my iTunes, movies, and photos. RAID servers don't seem very good as there seems to be too much risk of data loss. Does anyone have any ideas as to what might work?
Any advice on anything would be super appreciated! Thanks in advance!
I wasn't sure where to put this post but since it's basically buying advice I decided to put it here.
Right now I have two machines an aging Macbook Pro (2.16 Ghz, 15") and an older Mac Mini (the original Core 2 Duo, I believe). Both have upgraded RAM (3GB and 4GB respectively). The MBP is my work machine while the Mini is hooked up to my TV, where it is used for downloading and XBMC. The Mini has 1 TB hard drive hooked up to it, where I've copied my DVDs and right now my iTunes (there's an additional 1TB external used as a back up of the first).
I need a smaller machine to carry around and would like to have another machine at home. I'm thinking of selling my MBP and buying a Macbook Air 11" this summer if they are updated. I'm also thinking about buying a "home" PC. At first, I was sure I was going to make this a Hackintosh as it would give me a lot of USB ports, expandable storage, etc. However, reading through descriptions, it seems like there is a lot of software tweaking during each round of updates. Is this true, or is vanilla OS X working on the right hardware?
The Air, obviously isn't beefy enough to be my main machine so if I don't build the Hackintosh, I was thinking about the 21" iMac. However, I don't want 3 hard drive stuck to the machine, though I am in ample need of storage.
I was thinking about perhaps using some sort of cable to hook the iMac to the TV and selling the Mac Mini. Or keeping it as a dedicated machine for the TV. Or some combination of that and some kind of home storage system - big enough for my iTunes, movies, and photos. RAID servers don't seem very good as there seems to be too much risk of data loss. Does anyone have any ideas as to what might work?
Any advice on anything would be super appreciated! Thanks in advance!