Having said the Mac Mini’s not for me, I’ve changed my mind. Even with a few extras like a DVD writer, WiFi and Bluetooth, I can still get a MacMini for half the cost of a G5 iMac, and if I throw in a 17 inch TFT monitor with DVI input from Dabs, I still have �300 left over.
However, some people are discussing making the Mac Mini into a Personal Video Recorder (PVR) – well, it’s a nice idea, but hang on a minute – look at the cost! The cheapest Mac Mini is �339, you then need something like an Elgato Eye TV box – the digital terrestrial TV version is �199 at the UK Apple store. That’s �538, and you only have what’s left of a 40 GB hard drive after OS X, iLife etc has finished with it. You’ll also need some leads and adaptors to make get the video output to your TV.
From John Lewis you can get dedicated hard-disk based DTT PVRs for �179. Take your choice – a Digifusion with twin tuners and 40 GB disk, or a single tuner Humax with an 80 GB hard disk. Okay, you can’t burn DVDs or Video CDs on them, but they’re at least a THIRD of the price of a Mac Mini-based PVR. I haven’t even looked around for deals, but I’m sure you can get cheaper ones.
Anyway, either solution has got to be simpler than trying to get MythTV to work…