whichwayup.org

12/11/06 01:22 AM: All I want for Christmas...

If I had my druthers (by the way, that’s a great word, and I’d like to see it make a comeback), I’d want a Mac Mini for Christmas. However, the $599 price tag (plus I’d want at least 1GB of RAM, so more like $640 or so), makes it a bit pricey for a Christmas gift. As we get older, I suppose, we get more accustomed to a bunch of small gifts from our various friends. If only someone made a web site where you request a gift, and your friends can all pool $25 or so towards that big gift. That would eliminate the dozens of iTunes gift cards you get each year.

The Mac Mini is great, namely because 1) I already have a laptop, so I don’t need another. As much as I’d love to have a MacBook or a MacBook pro, the fact that I have a working laptop makes it difficult to justify the need for a new one. Maybe in a few years, but not right now.

2) I’d love to hook the Mac Mini up to my television, and with Front Row and everything, I’d be set and it even has a remote control. Right now I’ve got this absurd setup… I used to have an old G4 plugged into my stereo (running with no monitor). I would log in using VNC to control iTunes, and thus listen to my digital music on the stereo. I decided I also wanted to watch videos on my television… so I’ve rigged up a broken TiBook (Titanium Powerbook) to my television using it’s built in S-Video output. However, since it lacks Front Row or any sort of remote control… I again have to log into it using VNC since I can’t take advantage of my HDTV using the S-Video cable (so I can’t really see anything on the screen very well). At least I can now watch those (legally) downloaded TV shows on my TV.

It’s all very half-baked, and since the Powerbook is sort of broken (the hinges broke so the screen doesn’t work, among other issues), it’s finnecky and sometimes just shuts down for no apparent reason.

Lastly, I have no Mac that works decently enough to use Photoshop and all of that. With the Mac Mini, I would normally have it set up with the keyboard/mouse/LCD monitor I have, and then when I want to watch it on the TV, just move it to the other room (since it’s so tiny).

But yeah, enough raving about why the Mac Mini is such a great product.