New Mac mini: Apple's Media Center or No?

ByMike Moffit

Don and I are having a friendly disagreement (with others taking sides, of course) as to whether or not the new Mac mini that Apple announced today is, in fact, their push into the living-room as a Media Center Mac.

I say that Apple’s clearly marketing the home theater/media center as one of its possible uses, especially with the included (and updated) version of Front Row which now supports streaming media (music, photos, and videos) over your home wired or wireless network.

Don’s main point is that it doesn’t have DVR (Digital Video Recording) capabilities, so it doesn’t earn the title of “Media Center”.

I tend to counter that DVR does not a media center make (after all, the Tivo is not a media center) and that you can always add one of the El Gato EyeTV

Of course, I’m a little biased, I haven’t had TV service in five years or so and so the new Mac mini is the Media Center Mac I’ve been waiting for. 🙂

What do you all think of the new Mac mini? Media Center or No?

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