Apple Mac Mini (2.3GHz Core i5, Summer 2011)

Pros: easy setup, does wired and wireless.

Cons: No drives.
USB 2 ports only
Slow for blu-ray type videos
Very few wireless multimedia keyboard options.
no keyboard
limited video codecs
slow wireless

Summary: I got a new TV and wanted a multimedia device. My other TV has a Dell Zinio (Dell no lnger sells them). I have a iPad 1 and iPhone 3gs so thought a mac mini would compliment the other devices.

First off I work in the tech world but primarily with Windows and Linux. Office365/2010 is my primarily workspace.The last Mac I used on was a G4. I do support macbook airs so I see/use the interface enough to understand it.

The Mac Mini is overpriced. I purchased one with a upgraded harddisk so that I could get 7200RPM, 5400 is not enough for HD movies with something running in the background. I also got an additional 4GB (to bring it to 5GB) from cruicial.

Before putting in the additional memory I set it up and transfered a couple of Blu-ray files. When running them it did spudder every minute of so. I gave up after 15 minutes. I then put in extra ram and things did work better.

My next goal was to backup my system. I have a real NAS and wanted to use Time Machine with it, no go becuase it was not directly hooked up to machine (per Apple support). I also use a online service (CrashPlan) which I bprimary use for files, documents, but not for imaging. To do that I would need to purchase a Time Cap.

After 2 weeks I returned the Mac Mini to a Apple Store (I brought it online) then walked over to a MS Store and purchased one of the last Dell Zinio. The Zinio has a larger HD, more RAM, and connected to my system without any issues.

Last note my house is wired Cat5E with 100/1000 switches.