Best way to setup as media center & desktop at same time?

[torchmedia]

I am planning to put my new mini in the living room of our house and want it to serve as both the 'family mac' and a media center. I have a desk setup on one side of the room, and the couch and tv on the other side of the room. I am planning to use mini dp to my Apple 24" display, and HDMI out to the TV.

Would I be better for me to:

1. Put mini by TV and have Apple display, wireless keyboard and mouse over at the desk and run mini dp cable to display

or

2. Put mini by Apple display, running HDMI over to the TV?

I guess part of the consideration is the use of the Apple remote? Or since I have iPod's lying around, should I just use something like Rowmote instead?

And finally, I want to use Plex if it's feasible. Can the mini be setup to run Plex on the TV exclusively and the rest of the computer run on the Apple display?

Thanks!

 

[warvanov]

Personally, I would put the mini at the desk and run an extra long HDMI cable to the TV. That way you can use a wired keyboard/mouse at the desk and you have easy access to the mini to plug in any peripherals.

I guess something worth considering is how much space you have at your desk vs near the TV. I like having my mini set up near the TV, I think it looks nice, but you might or might not feel the same way. You might also not have much room on your desk and might benefit from the extra space you'd get by keeping it near the TV.

 

[torchmedia]

Space and the way it looks aren't an issue in either location. However you're right about the peripherals. We'll be using the SD card slot on the back frequently so it makes sense to keep it on the desk.

 

[brianbauer04]

Just so you know and before you spend any money on your solution - the Apple TV 2 @ $99 will solve all of your problems and give you additional features.

Good luck - I spent over a year trying everything I could think of before breaking down and buying the ATV2. And now I wonder why I even bothered messing with everything else.