Multimedia Center

I myself have just got an iMac however I have a mates father who is looking for a multimedia system originaly a few weeks ago I was going to build a Small form factor PC and load XP Media Center on it so it can be connected to his new 48" wide screen TFT TV.

He has a PC upstairs running XP Home and the idea was originally was to have the standard PC upstairs then when he has pictures, movies etc. on the pc upstairs then map a network drive to the External HDD downstairs connected through Wi-Fi to the SFF PC.

Then from downstairs he can see the movies, Pictures and MP3's however he does nto want any access to the compouter as a computer just an interface like XP Media edition.

However the question is if I go a iMac Mini dowstairs would this do the job, or would I be better going for a PC instead with XP Media Edition on it instead?

Also for the min i have seen the TVMax box from www.miglia.com would I need this also or is there no need for this.

What connections does the mac mini take?

Any suggestions would be greatly rec.

The other option I was looking at for the PC was this

http://www.team-mediaportal.com/

I would use the Mini and hook that into his 48" screen.. Then, have a separate XP machine warehouse all of his media files, so that the Mini can access his media over the network.

Media Portal is slow and choppy.. I've been using it since the first beta was put out. It has come a long way, but it's not worth it.

Thanks for that I think I will go for the mini.

However the person that will be using it is not clued up how is the best way to have his movie mp3 and pictures stored.

I know I can store my MP3's on a external HDD can I get OSX to show the movies a and the pictures accross the external HDD as i thought you had to have movies and and pictures on the MAC hard drive?

No I have all my itunes on the network. Thanks for the idea, I am looking for a mac mini now, for the same purpose.

Whats about the movies though how can I get them onto an external HDD?

I thought they had to be in movies?

In the movies folder?

No they don't. OS X is a very good and flexible system.

So how do i tell it that the movies are in an external drive then.

And how do i tell it my pictures are on an external drive?

timboellis1, just put alias' to the movies/pictures folder on your ext HD onto your Mac Mini.

Thank you thats all I need my mind is made up to go for the mini now, thanks