SoundBoy Wrote: > I just made a little comparison: > > MacMini: > - runs Windows, Unix, MacOS > - has a CD drive and HD, rip your music > - has Wireless and Bluetooth and IR remote > - very small footprint > - very low to non-existent noise level > - has a digital out/in, DVI out > - comes for 600 bucks > - no need for any other device to stream music from your collection > - no need for any connection (wired/wireless) if collection is stored > on it > - many remote options > > SB: > - has wireless and IR remote > - has a digital out > - comes for 300 bucks > - nightmare to hook up wireless (just read all the messages here!!) > > Any more comment needed folks? SlimDevices.. as much as I enjoy your > little SB3 I think its about time for you guys to become creative once > again. Others were catching up and now its on you to close the gap. I > think currently the SB3 is way overpriced - not enough bangs for the > bucks anymore... Was good enough 2 years ago - but not today - back to > the drawing board please.. The SB community is waiting.. > > Cheers
Some people will no doubt prefer the mac mini. The squeezebox is not for everyone. But you're ignoring a few things: - 300 bucks is already a stretch for many of us, so $600 per location is a lot more (many of us are already running servers so the cost of the server shouldn't be factored into it) - the mac mini, while small, is not as small as a squeezebox. In/on wall installations certainly aren't possible with the mini. - the mini has no display. And that's simply a deal-killer for me. So now you have to buy a computer display for every room? Or turn on the tv to control your music? I don't want a big display in every room. Or you're forced to use a laptop for control or a PDA or something like that? There's no comparison to the directness and simplicity of the squeezebox's display and IR remote. I have a perfectly functional desktop computer in my bedroom--I've even hooked it up to work with a remote control. But I still use a squeezebox in there because it's simply the easiest way to access my music collection. And I can have it's simple, bright display right on my nightstand. - The squeezebox interface is powerful, customizable, and simple. And does the mini have an elegant web interface for control of media from anywhere? Does it allow synchronization of audio between minis? Does it natively support things like a CLI or xPL, or so many other things that allow the squeezebox to be integrated into a home automation system? Can the media software you're running (Front-Row?) support plug-ins to extend its functionality? - To have a mini at every location where you want to play back music means that you now have a small army of computers to maintain, troubleshoot, etc. With the squeezebox you just have to maintain a single server (which, as I said, many of us are already doing anyways). - the squeezebox has a quality analog output that makes it conducive for small installations while retaining good sound quality. And really, if all I wanted to do is add audio capabilities to a room in my house, *why* would I spend $600 on a full computer that I'll never use for anything but audio when I could get a squeezebox for $300? I could certainly see how maybe having *one* mini in, maybe the living room near a tv could be useful. Then you could use that as a server for squeezeboxes in other zones. But you have to admit that the squeezebox and the mini are not directly comparable. They will each cater to different needs/desires, and to intimate the Slim is somehow "behind" and needs to catch up is just mistaken. Particularly curious is that you never offer any suggestions about functionality that you'd like to see the squeezebox have. Nothing to suggest that it's "behind" except, apparently, what you consider to be too high a pricetag. -- azinck3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ azinck3's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=3967 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=24605 _______________________________________________ discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
