Great things to do with your Mac mini

Buy the Mini server, replace one hard drive with an OWC SSD, replace huge 2008 era Mac Pro tower your employee is using with it, smile as he doesn't even notice anything is different

I've never owned a Mac Mini, but I will one day. They'd make perfect Video Game emulators!

Carputer!

Replace the hard drive(admittedly not easy) with a solid state drive and load up your movies, songs, and nab programs. Combine tethering, or parking out front of Starbucks and you have internet access.

There are lots of solutions for mounting small lcd screens and using wireless accessories.

It is often less expensive but easier to use and more powerful than all those double din upscale stereo replacements!

Win7 on the Mini FTW.

We use them in conference rooms as presentation machines. Small size means they can be mounted behind large LCDs and silent running means that despite their solid performance, we don't need to listen to it hummm...

Another one just crossed my desk last week. I'm always amazed at what a great little PC they make.

I use an old Mini as a great answering machine that emails my voicemails using the no longer available Phone Valet, but more importantly, as a home video surveillance system with four outdoor cameras and using the built in camera on the iMac with Security Spy from Ben Software. With my iPhone app I can view and control the cameras and get an email if theremis any activity on the cameras from anywhere and view a month worth of archived video.

I had my eyes on the Mini from the beginning, but I never saw it as a viable solution for video editing until the early 2009 model was rolled out. I sold my 17" PowerBook G4, sauntered down to the Apple Store and bought my first new Mac. I edited my way through my last two years of film school with that little guy, and I miss it dearly. Sadly, I had to sell it to afford the parts for a much more powerful Hackintosh. :D

I bought a Mac mini in late 2010 because it seemed to be the best option for a Windows box that didn't take up any space but did more than the Intel Atom machines that were abundant at the time.

15 months later I have two Macs, an iPad and an iPhone. The Mac mini (which still serves as my main computer) was an open door (or perhaps rather a vortex) into the Apple world. Not running any Windows boxes today.

Oh, and among the cool stuff Mac minis do, it's perfect for regular desktop computing as well. Because of its small size I've even used it as a portable computer.

I've used one as a media center since forever--first a G4 with a Keyspan remote and Media Central (back when it was free); now an early Intel mini with Apple's remote and Front Row (which, by the way, I can't believe they dropped from 10.7.) My kid (now 6) has been able to use it for about a year. I also own a few others (Minis, not kids) including an old-body-style server. Reasons for using this over an Apple TV include the ability to play any video format that QuickTime can play; it also handles ripped VIDEO_TS folders perfectly. (Hint: drop in a picture named 'Preview.jpg' and it'll appear in Front Row's listings.)

I put together this timeline two years ago for its fifth birthday if anyone wants a stroll down memory lane: http://pixelcity.com/macmini/

I use a pair of them as XSAN controllers for a massive 36 TB Fibre Channel VTRAK x30.

I also drop them into environments with Apple Remote Desktop installed so I can do workstation level support at client locations from anywhere using my iPhone, I remote into it and can control any desktop/notebook on that network. It also doubles as the Music-on-hold system for the phone system.

I forgot....mac mini is perfect solution under big screen tv as a media Center due to very silent and small footprint. Also it's great to video chat at big screen via mac compatible webcam with my family when I far away home.
Also it's great for watching YouTube and Facebook videos with big screen.

I use Automator inside macmini by using dropbox in order to send printout from anywhere in the world to the my printer at home while connected to macmini via airport express as wireless connection. I don't have to place printer near macmini while its located under TV.

I don't need magic mouse. Magic trackpad and lion OSX are perfect solutions together.