Torsten Curdt’s weblog

I don’t want to buy a TV as I haven’t watched much TV in the past two years anyway. I have my private movie collection - and that’s about it. So what shoud I get down here?
I would like have to have some sort of flat lcd display and a media center that will play my mp3s, movies etc. …hm! A Mac Mini plus lcd screen? …or should I go for a iMac straight away - there is not much of a price difference anymore anyway. (Btw: stupid move, Apple!) But there are a couple of pro/cons of every option.

• Mac Mini G4
  • - might no be fast enough for H.264
  • - at least sound is not supposed to be good
  • - wireless and bluetooth gets extra
  • + cheaper as it’s no longer sold by Apple
  • + easy to carry back to Germany some day
• Mac Mini Intel Core Duo
  • - shared memory graphics card
  • - quite expensive
  • - first revision
  • + fast enough to play all different kinds of media
  • + easy to carry back to Germany some day
• iMac 20″ G5
  • - if it has really that much less power than a Intel Core Duo it’s too expensive
  • - 20″ is not really big for an entertainment unit
  • + iSight
• iMac 20″ Intel Core Duo
  • - first revision
  • - problems with wireless
  • - 20″ is not really big for an entertainment unit
  • + iSight

Any other suggestions? Any comparable bare bones? A Mac would be just nice because of FrontRow and e.g. CoverFlow and I assume a sleep could be used for a fast on/off. Plus the Macs are meant to be very quiet.

If someone has a comment or other alternatives …please let me know!

8. March 2006 | gadgets | DiggIt!