Mac mini or PS3?

[Boostin]

So me and my girlfriend are looking to set up a sort of media center for our HDTV. So, we already each have a MBP, or at least we will as soon as the freaking Arrandale's are released. Also have a 360. So, We basically wanna do some web surfing, maybe look at photos, play some games, mainly just WOW if we decide on Mac Mini. And use it for music/movies/DVD player. So in ur guys opinions, which would be better? And price doesn't really matter because we only want to get one.

Also, other questions.
1. Will a 2.26GHZ 4GB ram mini play wow decently? Or is it really worth it to get 2.53GHZ I don't mind playing on lower/lowest graphics settings to achieve no lag/stutter/freezejng. (I will have 4GB ram in either)
2. Can I hook up a blue Ray drive to the mac mini as a external drive and how does that work? Does it just play it like "normal" in DVD player?

Sorry if it has bad grammer/misspell. Typed the whole thing on my iPhone. Lol.

 

[Billydelp4]

id get the ps3. if you both have MBPs then you can hook one of them up very simply to the media center when you need to. if you get a bluetooth keyboard for the ps3 then web browsing would be alright.

youd be real cool if you just grabbed both. if you are willing to drop $799 on a upgraded mac mini then you should just get the ones that pop up on the refurb site and go get a ps3 slim.


stimulate the economy.

Billy

 

[Hellhammer]

I would consider building a nice little PC for that purpose. You can't watch Blu-Rays in OS X and WoW will also run a lot better on Windows so I don't really see the point to get Mini and then use Windows all the time. For 599$, you can easily build 3GHz dual core, 4GB RAM and a good GPU, maybe 4770 or something into a Mini-ITX form factor which is almost as small as Mini and it would also have internal Blu-Ray instead of external. Think about it

 

[BulletToothTony]

for the new ps3 lower price i would get a ps3.. bluray it's really beyond hd streaming and it sounds amazing.. plus it has some games that your gf may find lots of fun..

the ps3 can do a lot more than what u may think.. Ps3 media server from google it's awesome and free.. check it out.. anyhow good luck

 

[Boostin]

Huh, great opinions, however we can't get both, well, more or less we don't want both. So it's gotta be one or the other. I don't like windows, I actually hate it. I refuse to own a windows machine. (just a preference thing) So anyone know if it would be beneficial to get the 2.53GHZ over the 2.26GHZ?

 

[NIPRING]

Ps3 for sure. Streaming is a breeze with Rivet, huge bonus.

 

[vistadude]

Since you have an xbox 360, it already has a media center. Why don't you install windows 7 or vista for this purpose?

 

[Hellhammer]

So anyone know if it would be beneficial to get the 2.53GHZ over the 2.26GHZ?

Get the 2.26GHz. You won't notice the difference as it's so small and upgrade RAM yourself.

BTW, you already have a Windows machine, X360

 

[kramerica2]

Funny, I was in the exact same dilemma last October, lucky me, the minis went out of stock just then so I had to buy a PS3. One of the best "decisions" I ever made, however, my uses are a bit different than yours.

It's much better than the mac mini for:
movies (espicially if you stream them from another computer), games, BR (obviously) and price.

It's much worse than the mac mini for:
web surfing (the integrated browser is decent, but you can't compare it to a desktop), WOW (obviously).

It's a different experience, but can't tell which is better for:
Photos, music

Beside that, the PS3 has the plug n' play simplicity advantage, and the mini has the versatility advantage.

 

[computermilk]

So me and my girlfriend are looking to set up a sort of media center for our HDTV. So, we already each have a MBP, or at least we will as soon as the freaking Arrandale's are released. Also have a 360. So, We basically wanna do some web surfing, maybe look at photos, play some games, mainly just WOW if we decide on Mac Mini. And use it for music/movies/DVD player. So in ur guys opinions, which would be better? And price doesn't really matter because we only want to get one.

Also, other questions.
1. Will a 2.26GHZ 4GB ram mini play wow decently? Or is it really worth it to get 2.53GHZ I don't mind playing on lower/lowest graphics settings to achieve no lag/stutter/freezejng. (I will have 4GB ram in either)
2. Can I hook up a blue Ray drive to the mac mini as a external drive and how does that work? Does it just play it like "normal" in DVD player?

Sorry if it has bad grammer/misspell. Typed the whole thing on my iPhone. Lol.

Just use your Xbox, it's the best.. no sense in buying a PS3 that will just collect dust until you're going to watch Blue Ray's.

I've used mine once so far this year, to watch Zombieland that's it.

Use windows 7> Xbox Media center, and also you can use Netflix on the Xbox.

with the added bonus is more people being online to play games with, and the better marketplace.

I guess the way i look at it is the WHOLE big picture.

the PS3 has one piece to the picture, Blue Ray, and that's it.

the Xbox has every piece. , Games, community, streaming, etc etc etc.

 

[Hellhammer]

Just use your Xbox, it's the best.. no sense in buying a PS3 that will just collect dust until you're going to watch Blue Ray's.

I've used mine once so far this year, to watch Zombieland that's it.

Use windows 7> Xbox Media center, and also you can use Netflix on the Xbox.

with the added bonus is more people being online to play games with, and the better marketplace.

I guess the way i look at it is the WHOLE big picture.

the PS3 has one piece to the picture, Blue Ray, and that's it.

the Xbox has every piece. , Games, community, streaming, etc etc etc.

I agree with you on some things but I think OP stated quite clearly that he don't like Windows and doesn't have a PC either. Of course there are apps for X360 streaming for Macs as well but I just wanted to let you know. Also, Live costs money and it's not better than PSN really. It used to be but PSN has been improved a lot and only thing that it's missing is cross-game chat (chat integrated to OS not game) but as it's free, you can't really complain. As he already has X360, we don't have to start a console war. Remember that downloaded Blu-Ray rips are NOWHERE near as good as real Blu-Rays so you can't compare rips and real BRs.

In summary, if you want Blu-Ray, get PS3 but otherwise, X360 will do the same job.

 

[StruckANerve]

You don't even need windows to use your Xbox as a media center. You can use Vuze to wirelessly stream content to your Xbox 360 from your mac. You can already do what you want without having to buy any additional hardware except for maybe the wireless N antenna for the 360 if you don't already have it. Netflix on the 360 is amazing as well. You can watch tons of conent without ever accessing your Que on the computer. So there isn't really any reason to get a mac mini and the only reason to get a PS3 would be for Bluray.

 

[computermilk]

I agree with you on some things but I think OP stated quite clearly that he don't like Windows and doesn't have a PC either. Of course there are apps for X360 streaming for Macs as well but I just wanted to let you know. Also, Live costs money and it's not better than PSN really. It used to be but PSN has been improved a lot and only thing that it's missing is cross-game chat (chat integrated to OS not game) but as it's free, you can't really complain. As he already has X360, we don't have to start a console war. Remember that downloaded Blu-Ray rips are NOWHERE near as good as real Blu-Rays so you can't compare rips and real BRs.

In summary, if you want Blu-Ray, get PS3 but otherwise, X360 will do the same job.

I agree, no need for a console war at all, that's dumb.. i think that battle was lost a long time ago.

I own a PS3, so i'm not bias'd

I do however recognized the obvious, and i just wish i had a reason to Blow off the Dust that is building up on the top other then to watch a Bluray.