[maxwalrath]

Doesn't someone make a tablet computer like the onion? Basically something 4x the size of the i-Phone with a touch screen that acts as a laptop?

[anthony a.]

Uh, that keyboardless laptop report was from The Onion.

hmmm, someone referred to it in another forum.  is the onion a joke?

[WGH]

hmmm, someone referred to it in another forum.  is the onion a joke?

No - but it is satire.

[anthony a.]

i am looking for a mac mini right now that will be hookep up to a usb dac in my audio system.  i "think" a new mini will be released in the next 2-5 months so in an effort to not splurge at the moment, what speed do i need to hold me over?  the 1.25 ghz is pretty cheap on ebay but it only has tiger and 256mb ram.  should i opt for the 1.66 intel with 1gig ram minimum for what i need?  i won't be doing any encoding, etc on this machine, only audio playing, etc.  thanks.

[Crimson]

If you won't be doing any decoding either (i.e. you'll be using AIFF, WAV, etc.) the 1.25 should be OK with a little more RAM.

[Rashiki]

I have an old Mac Mini with the 1.2GHz G4 processor and 1GB of RAM, and it's more than adequate for audio playback through a USB DAC.

 -Rob

[anthony a.]

okay great, i think i will get the 1.25 then to hold me over for the time being.  thanks.

[JohnR]

I have an old Mac Mini with the 1.2GHz G4 processor and 1GB of RAM, and it's more than adequate for audio playback through a USB DAC.

Good to hear - I'm planning to "repurpose" my Mini for audio playback as soon as I get a new one for the desktop. Too bad the new model is not announced yet - I may have to just get the current model...

[anthony a.]

just out of curiosity, are most people using a mini with usb dac have an external hdd for music storage (since internal hdd is quite small in the mini).  or, can a mini still access the music if its stored on a windows pc that is on the network?

[Rashiki]

just out of curiosity, are most people using a mini with usb dac have an external hdd for music storage (since internal hdd is quite small in the mini).  or, can a mini still access the music if its stored on a windows pc that is on the network?

I've done both. I've had an external drive hooked up, and I've also used it with a NAS device on my home network.

[anthony a.]

okay, great.  so if i run it off a nas or server pc, then would the itunes on the mac essentially be empty but log onto the "shared" server computer to access the library?  is this the only way of doing it?

[Rashiki]

okay, great.  so if i run it off a nas or server pc, then would the itunes on the mac essentially be empty but log onto the "shared" server computer to access the library?  is this the only way of doing it?

There are other options than iTunes, but, yeah, if you're using iTunes with a NAS, you'd mount the NAS on your Mac, then tell iTunes to import a folder on NAS volume. You'd have to make sure to select the option to not copy the files in your iTunes preferences, otherwise it'll copy all of the files. Once it completes the import, it'll be just like having the files locally.

[Crimson]

okay, great.  so if i run it off a nas or server pc, then would the itunes on the mac essentially be empty but log onto the "shared" server computer to access the library? 

Yes, all you'd have on your mini would be library and database index files.

is this the only way of doing it?

Most popular media players can rip to and access your library from your local drive, an external USB or firewire drive, or NAS or a networked computer drive (PC or MAC). As long as the remote drive is available as a mounted volume it'll work fine.

[jqp]

LATEST rumor on the Mini - Atom 330 + Nvidia 9400M, coming in March

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/01/16/mac_mini_ion/

[Bemopti123]

If the atom rumor comes to fruition, it will have driven a nail to the Mini's coffin.  How puny and processor deficient will they want to make the new Mini.  BTW, with the failure of its release in MacWorld, god will know when a refresh and redesign will even happen.   

[jqp]

Instead of the Mac Mini, I would consider the JUST UPDATED White Macbook!

Monitor, keyboard, mouse
2.0GHz Core 2 Duo
NVIDIA's GeForce 9400M chipset with its integrated 16-core GPU
2GB upgradeable to 4GB for a song
Bluetooth
FireWire 400

http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2009/01/21/white-macbook-gets-a-spec-bump-adds-nvidia-9400m-graphics