consumption. The reason I'm considering a Mac Pro is upgradeability. A Mac mini looks good too because it's small but it's hard upgrading to a bigger harddisk if at all. With the Mac Pro you can easily swap out different parts like memory, harddisk, etc.
Nowadays I watch all my media from my Apple TV or blu-ray player. This weekend I got the new Apple TV and it doesn't have storage so it's either rental or streaming from a computer on the network. I do rent a lot, especially movies and now with the new Apple TV also shows. Whatever shows are not rentable I buy as a season or per episode. Because all of this takes up a whole lot of space I got a 2TB external USB-drive which is connected to the Time Capsule on my network. My main computer is a MacBook Pro. The iTunes library is saved on the external drive on the network. One day, which will be soon I reckon :p, this won't be enough and I'd like to save all of it so that's why I'm looking into a dedicated media computer/server. Also having the iTunes library on the network doesn't work as well (read fast) as when it's on a local disk.
So, do you guys have any tips/do's-don'ts for my situation? Suggestions for other systems are welcome too.
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I'm considering getting a second-hand Mac Pro for use as a media server and some light computing stuff like word processing, internet browsing and media…
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Well - it's not really like you have any other choice with an "Apple owns me" setup if you actually want even the limited degree of expansion that a Pro brings to the table, is it.
Fact is though, how much storage throughput do you need in your position is the question, as well as the question also as to whether you'll realistically be upgrading anything else - given the rather pathetic situation of display adapters, third-party storage systems, etc.
If a couple of external USB or Firewire drives is going to satisfy your storage needs in the end, then it's not an issue to go with a Mini, perhaps in a Server config (and It's going to be a darned sight better than the Time Crapsule for starters especially over a wired link - or perhaps you don't do wired).
As far as most basic users are concerned even an iMac also seems equally viable if you just want a general-purpose machine to sit somewhere being the hub of your Apple experience, with the caveat that you should get it maxed out as some options cannot be fitted aftermarket if you don't pick them at purchase.
Fact is though, how much storage throughput do you need in your position is the question, as well as the question also as to whether you'll realistically be upgrading anything else - given the rather pathetic situation of display adapters, third-party storage systems, etc.
If a couple of external USB or Firewire drives is going to satisfy your storage needs in the end, then it's not an issue to go with a Mini, perhaps in a Server config (and It's going to be a darned sight better than the Time Crapsule for starters especially over a wired link - or perhaps you don't do wired).
As far as most basic users are concerned even an iMac also seems equally viable if you just want a general-purpose machine to sit somewhere being the hub of your Apple experience, with the caveat that you should get it maxed out as some options cannot be fitted aftermarket if you don't pick them at purchase.
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