mac min or pc

what's the differnce between using apple tv and mac mini?
can you add external HD on apple tv

yes, appleTV had HDMI outputs very cool, cheap, and a great music server.

AppleTV was designed more for video. Its digital audio output is limited to 16/48. Mac Mini on the other hand, can output 24/96.

One big advantage of the mac mini is that the power supply is separate from the computer, this makes for a very quite (electrically speaking) set up.

Secondly for the most part the Mac mini runs silently in the audio sense, it is rare indeed that you would hear the fan at all in normal operation.

About the only downside is limited HD space, but ideally you should be using an external drive dedicated to audio, and you can even get a matching drive!

Join the cult of the mac mini, the other solutions are really pretty clunky by comparison.

I can vouch for the Mac transition. In February 09, I purchased a refurbished MacBook as my server...now, 6 weeks later and I have now dropped the cash for the new 17" MacBook for my household. Now the server is doing sole duty and a fixture on the audio rack. While I get more and more used to the Mac, i get further and further away from every going back to a PC. In fact, if Intuit didn't make such a mess of Quicken for Mac I am SURE I would never use a PC again...

Enjoy the search, John