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For the price of around £200-£300 is it worth getting a Apple Mac Mini G4 to use for the following:

Browsing the web Watching Movies Streaming TV Shows Listening to Music

I will be plugging it into a HD ready tv and using it with a stereo amp.

Is it worth getting one or should I pay the extra money and get the intel based macmini ?

What would be the bottlenecks of using this system ?

Also if any one knows of a better alternative to the macmini that would be great

Thanks

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Nobody on here knows if you're living off welfare or are a millionaire. How do you expect someone else to answer whether it's "worth it"? – Daniel Beck Jan 27 '11 at 11:22
My budget is irrelevant I just want advice. – OliverBS Jan 27 '11 at 11:24
This is mostly personal opinion. I love the PPC arch, for example, so I'd personally prefer the G4 to an Intel box. I generally wouldn't pay £300 for something I've gotten many a time for free though ;) – Jeremy Sturdivant Jan 27 '11 at 11:27
You wouldn't ask whether to get the Intel machine if both were free. Therefore it's about money. Also, we don't provide shopping or product recommendations as per the FAQ. – Daniel Beck Jan 27 '11 at 11:28
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If you didn't ask "it is worth?" and rather have asked "Is the performance of the Mac Mini G4 enough to do [list things you do] fluently" you would get honest and accurate answers. Prices you have to judge yourself since we don't do shopping recommendations. I don't know an answer but how you ask your question is key to either getting answers on Superuser or being branded for a bad question against the terms of use – sinni800 Jan 27 '11 at 12:03
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closed as not constructive by Daniel Beck, Linker3000, Nifle, Diago Jan 27 '11 at 20:11

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2 Answers

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For using a G4 Mac Mini:

Pros:

  1. Assuming you are going to plug in the Mini via its DVI connectorn to a HDMI socket on the TV. I found the DVI output better at responding to the TV being turned on after the Mini has been running compared to an early Intel Mini. (I had to buy a DefGen DVI Detector to ensure the Intel Mini identified the TV properly). However, this also depends on your TV (Mine is a 4 year old Panasonic) and how/when you boot up your Mini.
  2. Runs quieter than the early Intel minis. (If you push it).

Cons:

  1. The Mac Mini G4 does not support a remote control, while all Intel Mac minis do.
  2. No support for iPhone development, if you're that way inclined!
  3. Older G4 Minis do not support Wifi or Bluetooth without an increasingly rare upgrade board.
  4. Less memory (1GB compared to 2GB+ for Intel Minis).
  5. Fewer USB ports.
  6. Analog audio output (compared to Digitial audio on the Intel minis).

Personally, I'd go for an Intel Mini.

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I'd say that it's unsuitable for streaming flash video from the internet. Flash will run very slow and drop frames. Also don't expect to play high def content, except itunes 720p mpeg4, everything else standard def only.

Someone else has already commented on lack of memory, but it will really constrain you trying to run something like plex, xbmc or boxee.

DVI to HDMI and analog audio have been mentioned,

This has only 802.11g and 100baseT, so i'd use the wired connection for any streaming.

In other words i'd try for an intel dual core model rather than this.

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