[HoofHearted]

I'm a firm believer in occums razor, that conspiracies are 99.9% rubbish, that the most likely course of action is that one that normally occurs. oh yes siree.

In fact Apple have only ever tried to distract from (rather than just hide) a project only once in my recollection (please correct me if I'm wrong). That was when a mysterious set top box called columbus was rumoured as the next big thing. Whether it existed or not is moot, as it (and the hideous PowerMac AIO - largely forgotten) created a great smokescreen for a little keynote suprise called the "iMac".

I have no reason to doubt the headless iMac rumours, or indeed have any reason to consider them the truth. But it would be kind of ironic if this time around a set-top media box came out of a rumour of a low-cost computer...

[mitchell_pgh]

I hope there is a headless iMac just around the corner, but as a big Mac fan, I'm not counting on it. If the price is what they indicated... my father will be purchasing a new computer...

[Voch]

I'm with the "it's exactly what I want from Apple so it can't be true" camp.

Firstly I've been considering building or finding a TV computer. My Athlon desktop is too loud and the ATI Radeon 9000 TV-out is crappy, my PowerBook's screen is to nice to not use as a portable, a G5 is potentially too loud and kinda overkill for a TV computer, an eMac has a CRT I'll never use, the iMac has an LCD I'll never use, etc. I've considered hunting down a used iBook with a broken LCD or something but didn't want to go that route.

Secondly, I hate fixing my Dad's Windows 2000 box. I'd hand down my Rev. A MicroMac after using it for X months when the Rev. B MicroMac came out and I've had some time to think about his migration (I'd have to teach Dad to use iCal instead of Outlook's calendar functionality but otherwise I've aleady got him hooked on Firefox and Eudora).

Next, I've also wanted a Mac of some kind to remote login to from work for when I need GraphicConverter or wanted to start a Mac-only download. SSH/VNC works great on my PowerBook but I don't want to leave it awake while I'm at work. Yeah...I know...I should just take the PowerBook to work but that's not the point. I've pondered killing two birds with one stone and getting a G5 tower for a TV computer and for the remote stuff but that's $2000 of overkill.

It's just too much of a coincidence that this machine would be so useful to me. The universe does not converge like this. Ever.

Voch

[mitchell_pgh]

TV Computer?

What do you want to do with this TV computer?

I recently purchased an Elgato EyeHome
http://www.elgato.com/index.php?file=products_eyehome

It does DivX movies, iPhoto and iTunes very well. It's exactly what I've wanted in a Mac --> TV solution.

SIDE NOTE: Because it's a network device, I could potentially buy a few of them... I'm VERY happy with the device. I'm still catching on to encoding my movies, but I'm happy.

[Voch]

Just playing of DVDs, XVID files, DiVX files, video CD files, etc. but without necessarily putting them onto media ("watch and pitch"). I have one of those Philips DiVX players and it's but it won't play everything like a Mac with VLC will.

And since I want a home desktop Mac anyway to compliment my PowerBook (offload downloads and stuff like that to free up the PowerBook) I thought I'd just hook it up in the living room to the TV and kill two birds with one stone.

Voch

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally posted by Voch:
Just playing of DVDs, XVID files, DiVX files, video CD files, etc. but without necessarily putting them onto media ("watch and pitch"). I have one of those Philips DiVX players and it's but it won't play everything like a Mac with VLC will.

And since I want a home desktop Mac anyway to compliment my PowerBook (offload downloads and stuff like that to free up the PowerBook) I thought I'd just hook it up in the living room to the TV and kill two birds with one stone.

Voch

Then I would really consider this system. The ONLY downside is that it doesn't play DVDs that are placed in your computer. You need to download them to the computer using one of the many DVD backup programs.

Just my 2¢

[Voch]

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
Then I would really consider this system. The ONLY downside is that it doesn't play DVDs that are placed in your computer. You need to download them to the computer using one of the many DVD backup programs.

Just my 2¢

Thread sidetrack...sorry...

The EyeHome is a very nifty item. I've been thinking a little simpler and already proven, though...just hooking up a Mac to a TV and running VLC and iTunes for video and music. I'm only justifying this over the EyeHome as I'd also like another Mac to do some background work to free up my PowerBook (and potentially eliminate my Athlon PC someday...really only useful over my Mac for MAME audits).

But until this rumor that'd cost at least $999 + $100 for RAM + tax for an iBook to do both of these things (something I've considered...I'd retire my PowerBook to be the "home always-on Mac") or finding an old G4 tower.

That's for the heads up. If the cheapie miniMac doesn't become a reality the EyeHome is on my short-list.

Voch

[mitchell_pgh]

Thread Derail: I picked up the EyeHome because I enjoyed watching movies on the TV while also doing work (email, etc.) but VLC took up too much CPU power for my somewhat older system. With EyeHome, it does 90% of the work, leaving my system free to do other things.

Back on topic... can't wait to see what apple has in store for us...