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Try to put in your iMac into your TV rack as HTPC and you can understand the footprint what Mac Mini was designed for....
Sorry, no. Thats what the :apple:TV was designed for.

You do realize the mac mini has an HDMI port, don't you? I'll give you a hint: it's not just there to run a fancy hdmi>dvi dongle out to your desktop monitor.
 
Ditto with a Mini, it wasn't deigned as a HTPC.

Yes clearly. Apple never meant to plug the mini into your TV and play movies/music :rolleyes:

http://www.apple.com/macmini/features.html
It’s easy to connect Mac mini to the biggest screen in the house — your HDTV — courtesy of a built-in HDMI port. All it takes is one HDMI cable to start enjoying movies and TV shows from iTunes, surfing the web, and flipping through your photo library, all in brilliant HD. There’s also a handy control that lets you adjust the output on Mac mini to fill even the biggest HDTV screen. And when you just want to listen to music, you can play your entire iTunes collection through your home entertainment center, or stream it to a set of speakers in any room via an AirPort Express Base Station.
 
Compare.

A Mini with only the the 2.7 option costs $900.
The 27" iMac costs $1700

For $200 less than the cost of the 27" thunderbolt screen, you get two more REAL 2.7ghz CPU cores, drastically faster graphics power, keyboard, mouse, an extra thunderbolt port AND a 27" screen.

Get close to parity (KB, mouse, optical drive and 27" display) and you're PAYING $400 to lose two CPU cores, half the graphical power and a TB port!!!

Add the SSD+HD and the difference jumps to $550!

That configuration Mini costs $2,845.00
For only $50 more, you can get the 27" iMac with 3.4GHz quad core and 6970M with 2GB vRAM. A machine that would absolutely wipe the floor with the Mini in every possible aspect.

Where is the Mini's value? :confused:

No Glossy, mirror screen.

Simple, its the single reason I can't buy an iMac.
 
Try to put in your iMac into your TV rack as HTPC and you can understand the footprint what Mac Mini was designed for....

Losing the Superdrive removed the current model from my upgrade path for this purpose. If wanted a diskless system I would have gone with an Apple Tv
 
Losing the Superdrive removed the current model from my upgrade path for this purpose. If wanted a diskless system I would have gone with an Apple Tv

Now you have the choice of either not going with the mini, purchasing a superdrive, or putting forward a little bit more money for a blu ray drive (I found an ASUS branded drive that wasn't much more expensive than the :apple: Superdrive).

It kind of sucks, but now you get a few more options regarding the HDD. Only wished I could get the 500gb + SSD... oh well :rolleyes:
 
ditto

No Glossy, mirror screen.

Simple, its the single reason I can't buy an iMac.

I can't stand that "mirror" on the iMacs ...

If the imac had come with a matte screen I would have bought the 2011 27' imac, but have been holding out for the mini since the imac came out.

Bought a 26' matte LG screen and been anxiously waiting ever since.
 
Since the new server Mini can hold two 2.5" drives, I'm wondering if the other new Minis can take two 2.5" drives also - added, swapped around, etc. by the end user?

I'm actually considering trading in my five year old MacPro (which drives a 24" NEC S-IPS matte screen display) for a new i7 Mini (still for use with my 24" NEC S-IPS display)... but I'd really like to stick two 750GB 7200 RPM drives in the new i7 Mini. The only special features of the MacPro I've been using is sticking four 1TB drives into it... with ThunderBolt, I think a new high end Mini will serve me just as well as the old MacPro.... perhaps better.

It looks like memory upgrades are easy for the user to do, I'm wondering if swapping drives in and out is at least as easy (if not easier!) than doing so with earlier versions of the Mini.
 
I just find it unbelievable that so many people make such a big deal out of the fact that Apple's iMacs and Monitors (newer ones) are glossy.

Where are you using these monitors where there are all of these reflective lights everywhere? GO OUT OF YOUR WAY to put the computer somewhere that DOESN'T have anything reflective behind it. It's not hard, nor has it been even a remote challenge for anyone I know (that includes several photography studios, music studios, art galleries, and even industrial businesses). I've never - EVER - had a computer anywhere, be it at work or at home, where I had lights behind me in my workspace. If I did, I wouldn't choose to be working there...not because it would be an inconvenience to move things around, but because it wouldn't make sense in the first place to even be working in a situation like that for most people (dare I make up a stat on the spot just for fun and say 90+% of people would agree, simply because of A) the tremendous sales and B) I've never seen it be an issue for anyone I know in any capacity for 15+ years?).

Someone fill me in on this mysterious northern lights situation that everyone seems to be in. :rolleyes:
 
The iMac glossy screens hurt my eyes and puts me in physical pain. End of story.

I own an Early 2008 24" iMac and from the second I saw it, I knew it was going to be an issue. Maybe you don't have eyesight issues, but I have considered going back to Windows because of that issue. Right now, I have my iMac connected to a Dell U2311H display and I couldn't be happier. (Well, until my new Mac mini arrives, of course!)
 
I just find it unbelievable that so many people make such a big deal out of the fact that Apple's iMacs and Monitors (newer ones) are glossy.

Where are you using these monitors where there are all of these reflective lights everywhere? GO OUT OF YOUR WAY to put the computer somewhere that DOESN'T have anything reflective behind it. It's not hard, nor has it been even a remote challenge for anyone I know (that includes several photography studios, music studios, art galleries, and even industrial businesses). I've never - EVER - had a computer anywhere, be it at work or at home, where I had lights behind me in my workspace. If I did, I wouldn't choose to be working there...not because it would be an inconvenience to move things around, but because it wouldn't make sense in the first place to even be working in a situation like that for most people (dare I make up a stat on the spot just for fun and say 90+% of people would agree, simply because of A) the tremendous sales and B) I've never seen it be an issue for anyone I know in any capacity for 15+ years?).

Someone fill me in on this mysterious northern lights situation that everyone seems to be in. :rolleyes:

Dude are you serious? Do you work/live in a basement?

The glossy screen sucks @ss. Even in a dimly lit room you can see reflections in it.

And i do not want to have to configure my living/furniture arrangements around a computer screen.

end of story.
 
Since the new server Mini can hold two 2.5" drives, I'm wondering if the other new Minis can take two 2.5" drives also - added, swapped around, etc. by the end user?
I've just added an SSD in place of the 500GB drive. There is room under the first HD for a second drive, but no fixtures.

There are two SATA zif ports on the motherboard, but only one flat cable is provided. I assume the server and 2xHD models come with the extra flat cable and screws/cage/tray for the 2nd drive (as per the 2010 server model.)
 
Yup, doesn't play 1080p...:rolleyes:

I've got a 135" Cinema in my house...720P doesn't cut it, and Netflix and iTunes don't have everything I want to watch when I want to watch them. I'd rather run a Mac Mini attached to my 16TB array so I can have my full 1080P HD library available to me at all times, not to mention Hulu and other streaming sites not offered default by the AppleTV...thanks for your most valuable input though.

Also, don't falsely quote me to imply I don't know what I'm talking about...I worked for Apple...
Different opinions, of course, but you've only got me beat by 19" and I think 720p looks fine. But I sit about 15' away. Your chairs look a LOT closer.
 
Dude are you serious? Do you work/live in a basement?

The glossy screen sucks @ss. Even in a dimly lit room you can see reflections in it.

And i do not want to have to configure my living/furniture arrangements around a computer screen.

end of story.

Lol, I actually work in a basement, and my glossy screen gave me just as many headaches (literally) as it did in a room above ground. I really don't mind the reflections, as much as the headaches the screen tends to give me (the antiglare film on my MBP eliminates the issue).

I still don't understand why Apple doesn't just give us the option of choosing a glossy or matte display for the iMac. After all, the 15" and 17" macbook pros offer a matte screen option.
 
I've just added an SSD in place of the 500GB drive. There is room under the first HD for a second drive, but no fixtures.

There are two SATA zif ports on the motherboard, but only one flat cable is provided. I assume the server and 2xHD models come with the extra flat cable and screws/cage/tray for the 2nd drive (as per the 2010 server model.)

Well, yes the server model ships with 2x hard drives, so it has all the necessary SATA cables / assembly in place.

Having just upgraded my Mini (2010 server) to 2x 1TB drives - I can say it's a rather painful process.. certainly not for the faint of heart. Replacing lower bay drive requires complete dis-assembly of the chassis, including removal of the motherboard and power supply. Disconnecting various temp sensors from the Mini motherboard is difficult, and one can easily damage sockets. I have read about people having issues with fans after they attempted this upgrade.

Do it at your own risk.
 
Did it grow ten inches from when you initially posted about it?

I moved the projo back and pulled the curtains back a few inches. I wasn't using all the screen real estate at first.

Different opinions, of course, but you've only got me beat by 19" and I think 720p looks fine. But I sit about 15' away. Your chairs look a LOT closer.

Perhaps, but I work in post-production, so my eyes are tuned to look for that kind of stuff and it bugs me.


Dude are you serious? Do you work/live in a basement?

The glossy screen sucks @ss. Even in a dimly lit room you can see reflections in it.

And i do not want to have to configure my living/furniture arrangements around a computer screen.

end of story.

Actually, not end of story. End of story for you maybe. I find the glossy screen a pleasure to use personally, and I sit right next to a window at home. I wouldn't use it in a professional setting per se, or rely on it for accuracy, but when I'm playing games or just messing around watching videos on it for fun, I prefer the saturation and the deeper blacks...but that's just me.
 
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