Which Mac mini For Home Theatre?

[gman71882]

OK, my father wants to get a MINI to hook up to his stereo for his music, and to play movies off of and my questions are this:

The PowerPC Mac Mini's are still available in His area of Houston for a great deal: @ costco for $699 with wireless keyboard and mouse & APPLECARE! Great for Home Theater use!!!

How is DVD Playback on the PowerPC MINI compared to NEW Intel Mini's??
Is there any differnce between the 2 that would make an Intel mini a better purchase for DVD Playback??

Found this Post about the NEW Intel MINI... which an ok buy... but alot more expensive with the warranty and accessories.

 

[cwedl]

The powerMac Mac Mini will handle DVD's very well. The intel core solo will handle DVD's and Movies will be work well.

 

[supergod]

The intel is the way to go.

I mean, you want front row right? A mac mini without front row is pretty lame as a home theatre computer. And wifi is pretty necassary as well what with the small HD.

 

[dmw007]

The intel is the way to go.

I mean, you want front row right? A mac mini without front row is pretty lame as a home theatre computer. And wifi is pretty necassary as well what with the small HD.

I would go with a 1.66GHz Core Duo Mac Mini.

 

[generik]

The Duo is the one true path!

If you can wait till May there may be price reductions waiting for you.

 

[dmw007]

If you can wait till May there may be price reductions waiting for you.

Which would be very nice as the Mini is, in my opinion, a tad bit overpriced.

 

[mrichmon]

How is DVD Playback on the PowerPC MINI compared to NEW Intel Mini's??
Is there any differnce between the 2 that would make an Intel mini a better purchase for DVD Playback??

DVD playback and divx playback on a G4 mini works fine. You don't get Front Row with the G4 mini's, but a free alternative "Media Central" does a similar job and provides a few features that Front Row does not provide.

I use a 1.5GHz Mac Mini together with Media Central and an ATI Remote Wonder II remote control as a media player and have never had a problem with using it in this role.

 

[MacHarne]

All your home theater needs: Mac mini Core Duo.

Read this to discover more about video playback. The Duo runs circles around the Solo, it seems.

 

[generik]

Either way it is best to wait till June, since it is likely that Apple would also unveil the MacBooks then as well, and possibly a speedbump for the iMacs, Minis, and MBPs.

My reasoning?

Official price cuts coming soon in May.

Since Apple would actually save as much as $200 on each core chip then, surely it goes to follow that Apple would either pass on some of its savings, or bump up the line to use a better chip at the same price point. Of course they may also choose to be an ass and pocket the difference as pure gravy, but we all know what that means...