[phunqe]

Hello,

I've been looking at new htpc hardware and my inability to choose just reached new heights when I now face the choice between:

ASRock Vision 3D 252B.
Mac Mini (2,7Gz i7 / 8Gb RAM version), running boot camp (for bit streaming).

They are about the same price.

If we look past the fact that the Mac Mini probably looks better in the overall setup, help! :p

Looking at reviews and specs doesn't say much really, other than the fact that they both are obviously very capable machines...

Which actually has the best hardware? I am foremost interested in picture/sound quality and no fuzz GPU accelerated playback. I don't like ATi in general, mainly becuase of all the problems it seems people have with them overall, but if something is good, then it is good and I will go with that.

Any input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

EDIT: Ok maybe asking which hardware is better with that Mac configuration is a bit misleading because it has the i7 CPU. Let's take the i5 2,5Gz version instead and look past the price difference between the systems. Then it's just 4 vs 8 Gb of RAM, which should have less of an impact.

[Carb0]

I'm an Apple fan. I have a Macbook Pro, an iPhone and an iPad and I would take the ASRock Vision 3D 252b. There is no advantage in buying a Mac if you intend to use Windows or Linux as the operating system. And there is no advantage in using OSX on a HTPC. Both machines have similar hardware specs that are more than enough for HTPC tasks, but the ASrock Vision 3D comes with a bluray drive and a remote. It's the perfect prebuilt HTPC.

[phunqe]

Thanks for the input, you used the same arguments as I've been using for myself to lean towards the ASRock.

Cheers.

[sjobbels]

I have a mac mini as a mediacenter, for my brother I bought an asrock ion 3d and installed openelec on it. And to be honoust I prefer the asrock ion, it starts up within 10-15 secs.

[Dougie Fresh]

$1189? And it's a barebone?

I feel rather strongly that I could build a system just as capable for HTPC in a similar footprint for half that.

[poofyhairguy]

OSX is the worst HTPC OS.