More PC to Mac Mini questions

[therockfrog]

Hi,

Every few years I get tired of spending hundreds of dollars on computer games for my PC...so I sell the PC and then after awhile get so in the mood again for the games, I get another high end PC. I also use my PC for other things but my game addiction has got to stop.

I've been thinking about getting a cheap Mac Mini and just using it as my home PC. BUT, i have a few important issues i need to ask to make sure things will work If I switch.

1. I have a QNAP NAS. I have around 2 TB's of movies, music, videos. Can I log into the NAS though the mini like I do through my PC? Can I access it though my wifi as a drive like I do with my PC?

2. I just bought Sony Vegas Movie Studio and LOVE it to use it for editing my home videos. I guess the only way to use this is to buy the PC emulator, correct?

3. Can i use any external Blue Ray drive with the Mac...do most/all hardware companies make software drivers for the Mac?

4. Can I remotely log into my office though the web like I do now with my PC...not sure what kind of remote software it is but can Mac's do this usually without any problems.

5. Can I download/install MP3s without having to use Itunes? I have an IPAD and just can't stand itunes.


Thanks for any help!

 

[tersono]

1. Shouldn't be a problem.

2. Yes, but give iMovie a try first.

3. Yes, you can use a blu-ray drive mounted in an external case. Several vendors (notably OWC) supply ready-built solutions

4. Yes. There's a number of ways of doing it ranging from LogmeIn to using a VPN and Apple Remote Desktop. Depends on how you want to do it.

5. You can play mp3s with one of the alternative players around, but if you want to sync to iPad you'll need to use iTunes (don't know what's to hate about it to be honest - it works well).

 

[therockfrog]

Thanks for the answers.

I usually buy music from different sites, aquire it different ways and just save it on my hard drive under it's own folder...then I copy and paste onto my MP3 player(s), move it to my NAS, whatever. I don't play the music on my PC and I have an Acer Iconia also that I use for most of my music..the ipad is for my kid. Not that I hate Itunes, I just dont need it.