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Mac Mini for Entertainment Center PC

Hello Experts. I currently have a Roku HD 1000 device setup in my living room (connected to surround sound and 56" widescreen) which I use to view pictures and listen to MP3s stored on a Iomega network hard drive. It's pretty cool but since the new Mac Mini came out, I'm thinking that it might be able to do the same things plus more. However, I've never messed with a Mac before so I'm not sure. Can you please help me with the following questions:

1. Will FrontRow be able to play MP3s stored on my network hard drive?
2. Will FrontRow be able to see the pictures stored (in a shared "Pictures" folder) on the network hard drive?
3. Can you make the machine have Frontrow load on startup?
4. Can you make the Dashboard appear on startup? (I'm thinking when I turn on the TV to see the weather widgets and stuff)
5. Is there anything else I should take into consideration?

I don't need the Mini to watch/record TV (I have a dvd recorder that can do that)...I'm just looking for a cool upgrade to my Roku.

Thanx in advance.

rogier

1. yes, the Roku uses the SMB (samba) protocol and has an IP address. Both you'll find on the macmini as well
2. yes, for the same reason
3. yes, by adding FrontRow to the "login items" in the accounts control panel
4. yes, same
5. you'll be wondering where all the buttons on your remote control have gone.... FrontRow has got only six!

goodluck
rogier

walsellers

The Intel Mac minis have optical audio out. Good for stereo systems.

With BlueTooth keyboard and mouse, you can probably control it easily from the couch.

Shiseiryu1

ASKER

rogier,
Thanks for the info. Let me ask one more quick question. How useful do you think the Speech recognition feature would be for using the Mac mini from the couch? I know you can make it obey commands, but I don't know which ones it does. For example, the typical stuff that I want to do...view widgets, open frontrow to view pics/music...can it do that?

Thanks.

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rogier

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Shiseiryu1

ASKER

That's really awesome...thanks for the tips. It sounds to me like the Mini may be a great replacement for my Roku. I've never used a Mac before but it sounds like it is going to be fun and powerful. Thanks for the tips.