Mac Mini as 600 cd Music Server - up to the task??

Question

I have two 400 disc cd-changers that I am endeavering to replace with a Mac Mini. My wife bought me (bless her soul!) a 60gb core duo mini for Christmas. We have an iMac in our office and love the convenience of using Front Row with our 200+ iTune songs. We love it so much that we'd like to have the same convenience of perusing our cd collection in our living room - plus it would mean getting rid of two behemoth-sized CD-changers.
My Question:
Is the mini and Front Row up to the task? I want to use the mini exclusively for music. Any problems with feeding nearly 600 cds into the drive of the mini? I plan on ripping nearly all CD's using Apple lossless encoding (I'm an audio geek). ..I know that I will have to buy an outboard hard-drive (probably a 500GB LaCie).
Secondly, any good recommendations for a cheap monitor? Since I will only be using this to select music, create playlists, etc.. it need not be top tier in terms of resolution, etc.. That said, I would like it to be flat and slim so as to fit on the table next to our stereo system.
Many thanks to all readers/ responders!

Answer 1

Firstly, thank you all responders. ..Your input was indeed considered.
Well, I did exactly as I endeavored and turned my new Mac mini into a music server. So far so good. A few comments regarding the process:
Expanded capacity: I purchased a LaCie 250GB and directed iTunes to store all music on it. It works flawlessly. My concerns that Front Row would function sluggishly due to using an outboard drive and due to the sheer size of the library were unfounded. So far, I have not had a single mishap.
Monitor: Though I would have preferred something in the 6-10" range, the smallest I could find was a 15" Envision for $79 (after $120 mail in rebate). Though a bit ostentatious for my modest digs, it works great.
Outboard CD-Rom/ DVD Drive: Acting on the advice of an employee at an Apple store, I elected to use an outboard CD-Rom drive rather than extract the 600 cds using the integrated drive on the Mac Mini. For $70, it seemed like a good idea. ..Easier to replace an outboard drive, than have to ship the Mini back for service.
One small problem encountered: After hooking the whole thing up and playing a few tracks back, I noticed that if I held my ear close to my speakers (Vandersteen 3A Sig), I could hear a faint hum from the tweeter. Dang, a ground loop. ..Thankfully, a $15 ground loop filter from Radio Shack took care of the problem without any harmful affects on the sound.
For >$1000, I now have a very cool music server that I expect to have great fun playing with. ..Good luck to any who might do the same.
IMAC (early 2006)   Mac OS X (10.4.4)   1.5 G Ram