Upgrading my Mini to a HTPC w/ FR, any suggestions?

[section8]

My long term goal is to use the mini for Front Row and a File Server for the rest of my network. so i want to set this up right the first time if possible. BTW i have FR running, love it.

looking for a 300-400GB HD. noise is the biggest concern, w/o losing performance.

I have read a lot of posts on the many different mini enclosures, and am leaning towards the ministack v2, or the Lacie mini hd/hub. i just wish i could put my own HD in. anyone want to buy a 80GB HD? ; )

i have read that you can put a SATA HD in these, not just a PATA. is there a performance advantage?

Can a Mac mini use a 2GB Memory Stick? the 256MB to 1GB upgrade was the best upgrade for the money.

I also want to connect the mini to my Samsung 46" DLP HDTV. i have 2 options.

opt 1:

Mac Mini DVI (apple DVI/S-Video Adapter) via S-Video to Yamaha Reciever via component video to HDTV

opt 2:

Mac Mini DVI via DVI to HDTV

the reason i would like Opt 1 is that the Yamaha will automatically change the video inputs, whereas opt 2, i would have to change the inputs manually on the HDTV. My concern is the quality of the S-Video, will it degrade the image for the iPhoto playback? the Music and Photos are a priority for me.

[poisonfist]

You would lose hell of a lot through s-video, you should definitely go with the DVI to DVI route.

It's a no-go for the 2 gig stick, you can only get it up to 1G.

I have no complaints with my ministack (v1), some say the fan noise is noticable but in my case, the fan noise from the mini is always greater than the ministack.
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Mac since '86


328i sport package

[section8]

i noticed you OC'ed your Mini. how hard is that? i read some brief details about it. would love to do that.

[cubed]

i have my mini hooked up via the s/video adaptor to my tv which doesn't support hd and the video/image quality is just as good as it would come out on a dvd player hooked up through svideo. i have a yamaha av receiver as well and the sound quality and the video quality are really decent.

i also have the ministack v1 with a maxtor 300gb 16mb cache harddrive installed in it and ffor storing my movies to play through front row it works awesome. i really like the firewire/usb hub features it provides.