Apple makes different adapters if yours is ancient enough to not have DVI, check with the guys at the Apple store if you have questions. If you don’t have a monitor, you can buy one cheap from Amazon: here’s one for $39 used. The monitor needs a DVI input (or HDMI) which most in the last 5-years have. To set this product up you will need an old monitor, USB keyboard and mouse (any brand will do). It does have a fan inside but you’d never know it. Measuring a mere 1.4″ tall and 7″ wide and deep, this little faceless unit weighs in at 2.7 lbs, is machined from a solid billet of aluminum and is about as elegant a “computer” as you can get. Retailing for $599 with a 500Gb storage drive inside, this little baby is all you need. In fact, they are so easy, many Windows users don’t like them because of their simplicity. Say what you will about Apple products, they are dead easy to setup and use. Why? Well, if we ignore my dislike for Windows and Windows based machines and focus back on our design goals that include ease of use and setup, that really narrows the choice down. I don’t want a computer, I want a dedicated music server.

Even a small 13″ laptop is huge, relative to what we have in mind for our project, and doubles in size when you open it up exposing the screen and keyboard. I nixed this choice immediately because of size.

With the goal of a small, quiet, affordable, lightweight box without a keyboard, mouse or screen, the choices available to us narrow down quickly. This article is distilled from Paul’s Post series, starting here.

easy to use Music Server for less than $1,000. Here are instructions on how to build a high quality.

Is mac mini good for recording studio