Mac Mini v iMac as Media Centre

Quick question (sorry - being a pest today)
I already have a powerbook G4 (which I'll upgrade in a year or so) but I was all set to buy a mac mini for use as a media centre with Front Row to play my DVDs, movie files, iTunes stuff etc.
However, I'm just seeing that the iMacs are not that much more expensive plus they are higher spec.
Is there any particular reason why I should pick the mac mini over the imac as a media centre (other than that it is cheaper)?
I'm just thinking that it would be handy having the imac display on for running the main stuff in front row etc, then when I want to watch a video, I just play it on the second display attached to the iMac (ie my 32" LCD TV). I would leave th iMac running 24/7, never sleeping, with just the display sleeping, and set up EyeTV on the iMac etc.....
Any comments?
David

Hello again! I have an Intel iMac set-up as my "media center" now. One thing to keep in mind about the iMac is the fact that it has a built-in screen. Front Row will only display on the "main" display (the display that contains the Dock and menu bar) if you have two screens. If you want your Front Row to display on the TV, it will have be the "main" display or it will have to "mirror" the main display. For me, with the HDTV and the computer only five feet apart, it's a little annoying to see the same thing displayed on both screens at the same time (with mirroring turned on) and the audio coming out from behind the TV (where the stereo is centered). I don't really want the Dock and menubar to appear on the TV and not the iMac's screen when I'm actually using the iMac as a computer and switching the two around got a bit frustrating for me.
Both the DVD Player application and the EyeTV software can display the video on a separate screen, but Front Row has no preferences to change, so you can't tell it to display on the other screen. So, depending on your physical arrangement of the two screens, this may or may not be an issue for you.
The Mac mini would only be able to have the TV as the display. As long as you're not looking to browse the Web and do e-mail on the Mac mini, an HDTV should make a very good display for your media. Mac OS X 10.4 allows you to turn on VNC sharing so you could download some free software to remote control your Mac mini from the PowerBook when you needed to do something that the Apple remote can't control. But, you will need a keyboard and mouse to set it up the very first time.
So, if you're only looking for a media center and not a complete desktop computer, the Mac mini is a good option. The iMac should be able to handle the job well, but depending on your physical situation, you may or may not encounter some slightly annoying configurations. Since Front Row will be included for all compatible Macs when Mac OS X 10.5 ships, we might hope there'll be an update for Front Row that will allow you to select which screen Front Row displays on. But, that remains to be seen.
-Doug

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