New headless iMac as a HTPC?  

nice man:)

after checking it out, question:
why not use the MAC OS X 10.3 internal resolutions control panel? I guess it can do the same work that SwitchRes X can?

Outputting the right resolution is necessary but not sufficient for a good HTPC.

The EyeTV 500 can get you HDTV reception. Hopefully the CPU would be fast enough for decent playback (which is not a given, since the MPEG2 acceleration is not available in 3rd party apps, only Apple's DVD player).

Apple's DVD player is not in the same class as something like Theatertek, PowerDVD, WinDVD, or other Windows options.


In any case, hopefully the rumor is true.. there are a lot of uses for an inexpensive MacOS machine, and it would allow a lot more people to see how much better MacOS X is than the alternatives.

I think Mac software dealing with media stuff is far behind Windows now. I can't even get a decent player for the MPEG2 transport stream, VLC is the only option now and it sucks.

Those Quicktime plugins are really driving me crazy, you want to play something, either no sound or no video. Unlike windows, you have endless choices, just google it and download whatever you need.

Using Mac as HTPC is pain, Apple is good at marketing only.