@stevesong said:
Before committing to the Mac Mini take a look at the RAM and hard drive installation videos available at Other World Computing. Not, I think, for the faint of heart.
Actually, it's extremely easy. I looked at those videos and had an easy time changing everything in 15 mins. :-)
As for the noise remarks, I suddenly agree that PCs can be just as quiet as the Mac Mini, and especially the Intel processors have done their part to make it easier to build a virtually silent PC rig. But, right out the box you will get a silent slave with the Mini, with no soundproofing or special attention to obtaining silent HDs, PSU and casing fans.
But then again, if you need 3 or more Minis to do your job it might be a more noisy solution than a single PC rig to handle it all. Haven't tried the comparison.[;)]