Is the Mac mini finally a home media computer?
Pretty much, albeit at $599, it’s a somewhat pricey home-media-center component. The mini gains the remote-control-and-software combo that make up Front Row, allowing you to control audio, video, and photos from across the room. And it uses a new version of the Front Row software that can play music, videos, and slideshows located on other computers on your local network. That means you won’t even need to load up content on the mini to play it back. The new mini models also have 5.1-channel digital audio output (instead of just stereo analog output) for connecting to a surround sound speaker system for watching DVDs. There’s also-built in digital and analog audio input as well, something that the old Mac mini lacked entirely.
