Do I Get a Mac Mini

[Philgr]

First post i'm new here so 'Hello Everyone'

Im seriously thinking of getting a mac mini - my first mac !

I have just finished building an extension on my house and im looking to put a TV/PC setup in the kitchen / dining room, as this new room has quite quickly turned in to the base for the family.

I currently have a PC based server in the loft which has my entire music collection, as well as all my most important files on.

Will a Mac Mini be suitable for my needs which is to play my music collection, surf the net, Watch Sky TV. (I have installed a LAN feed and a TV feed in the new room)

I like the look of the mac OS, is it simple to use?, as my wife will use it and i want my young daughter to use it as well.

Advice and comments please.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Welcome to the forums.

Don't know about SKY, but it should be very suitable for the rest of your needs.

If you use iTunes on your PC, you can share the iTunes library from your Mac mini and use that as a music player.

Mac are also has a very nice learning curve and should be well suited as an introduction to computers for your daughter. Check out Tiger's built-in parental control, you can setup an account for her with very strict control over what she may or may not do on the computer and the web.

 

[gwuMACaddict]

great way to learn a mac... i say try it

 

[Mr.Hostility]

OS X isn't too hard to use, if you are brought up on Windows is can be trying for a while to learn the differences. But it's a nice operating system, and almost fun to use. You don't have to worry much about viruses and such which is nice.

I assume to watch TV you will need something like this;
http://www.mlmug.org/EyeTV.html

Kinda looks like it would fit the Mini well, but $329 is pricey. Maybe there are other alternatives that someone can suggest.

Edit:

Seems this is an alternative:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20040426151111599

 

[Philgr]

Well i have done the deed and ordered my Mac Mini with the following spec :

• Mac mini - 1.42GHz
• 512MB DDR333 SDRAM - 1 DIMM
• 80GB Ultra ATA drive
• Wireless Keyboard & Mouse Kits
• Mac OS X
• ATI Radeon 9200 w/32MB DDR video mem

im going to order up a 1gig mem stick in a couple of weeks which im told will help boost the performance.

On the TV front i have ordered one of these :

it is a TV / Monitor so there is no need for a TV card.

 

[Gmac07]

i want one of those sony tv/monitors soooooooooooooo bad!

 

[AstrosFan]

I think you'll find that OS X has a very easy learning curve, for everyone involved.
Also, there's excellent support in a number of places - especially here at MacRumors.
I also got a subscription to MacWorld - I found it to be a good resource with some good tips on using the OS as well as extra peripherals.

For music, take a look at the airport express - it's not only a wireless router but also allows you to stream music wirelessly.

Good luck & welcome to the Mac family!

 

[Philgr]

I'm a complete noob when it comes to mac's, my only recent experience of a mac is a 30 sec click about in PC world, so expect loads of very silly questions on these forums in the coming weeks

As for the streaming music i have a home network already in my house, both wireless and cat5, with a file server in the attic of my house where all my music lives, i think the biggest challange for me initially will be to get the mac mini working on my windows network.

Watch this space

Phil G

 

[DISCOMUNICATION]

MFM-HT75W

Please tell us how that monitor works out for you when it arrives. Maybe some pics of your set up too?
I was considering the MFM-HT95 (higher verticle resolution 1280x1024 vs 1280x768), but am now leaning toward Samsungs 930mp and 910mp.
My one man thread on the topic:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=111609
Still not many good reviews with pictures on the the Sony MFM-HT line yet. Hope that setup works out for you. It sounds nice.