Mac mini Media Center

Mac mini Media Center

Image by Andrew Coulter Enright
Westinghouse LVM-37W3 LCD Video Monitor – 37", 1080p
Sanus System VM1B VisionMount LCD Wall Mount
Apple Mac mini – 1.66GHz Intel Core Duo, 2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM, 60GB HD – CoverFlow RC1.2, iTunes, Last.fm, GasLight, Front Row, VLC, Handbrake
NewerTech miniStack v2 – 500GB HD – Music, Photos, Movies
NewerTech miniStack v2 – 120GB HD – Backup
Apple Wireless Keyboard and Mouse
Griffin PowerMate
Apple iSight
Sherwood RVD-6090R AV Receiver
Technics SL-1200M3D Quartz Direct Drive Turntable
Infinity Reference 2000.6 Speakers
Infinity BU-2 Subwoofer

The Westy is connected to the mini via DVI at a native resolution of 1920×1080–no overscan whatsoever. The picture is terrific, 1080p content is breathtaking. The wall mount is pretty flush, just a couple inches, and strong as it was set into brick. The mini is connected to the receiver via mini TOSLINK. The hard drives are quiet. The remote works well through that tinted glass. The PowerMate provides fast, intuitive scrubbing through CoverFlow (1381 albums) and videos (both QuickTime and VLC). The iSight clings magnetically to the back of the display when not in use–when a call comes in we just move it to the top of the display where it also attaches magnetically. It’s microphone still works well back there–voice calls and room recordings sound good. The receiver’s tape-out runs back into the mini so we can rip vinyl. The 1200 uses a Stanton Discmaster.