[mythtv-users] HD thin client?

[Scott D. Davilla]

>    I think if more PC makers get into these sorts of machines,
>then the niftiness of both the mini and the appletv will wane.
>We currently have a rather perverse situation right now where
>Apple is actually the "cheap option". Everyone else wants to
>charge you more money for slower systems and sometimes dramatically
>more money for roughly equivalent systems.
>

I've seen lots of small platforms in the ITX motherboard form factor 
which is larger than the MacMini outside case size. I even have a 
few. By the time you buy everything to "match" MacMini, you are $100 
to $300 dollars more in cost with a larger form factor. And that's 
self build so add your labor cost too. Note that we are talking HD 
content not SD content (408i/p).

The other PC makers just don't get it, plus with the MacMini and the 
AppleTV there is the potential additional revenue from iTunes music 
and video sales. The other PC makers no other revenue stream once the 
box is sold. Not to say we should all be using iTunes but there is a 
large number of people who do. There is no incentive for PC makers to 
make small silent form factor boxes for home media usage with the 
price point that we would like to see. Just not enough sales to 
justify the return on the effort.