Hmm, so I mentioned earlier I was feeling a bit down about Apple TV due to its video outs, limited format playback, and unrealized potential.

Now it seems some of those issues can be addressed by hacking Apple TV to run a modified version of OS X. Yeah, really. That’s some pretty slick stuff. There’s a lowdown to loading OS X on there, even after booting up from a USB drive.

Surprisingly, Apple doesn’t seem to care all that much that people are hacking the television device, gaining people’s respect.

However, I’m still taking the objective step back. While it sounds like a fun challenge to take apart an Apple TV and bend it to your geeky will, let’s just state the obvious:

• For $599, you can get a Mac Mini and hook that up to a television. It has a faster processor (good for video playback), a bigger hard drive (good for storing more files), plus you can play DVDs. You can use VLC, a remote control, games, basically anything you can currently run on a desktop Mac - because it is a desktop Mac.

True, a Mac Mini is twice the cost of an Apple TV and not as geeky-cool as streaming video from your desktop via iTunes, but I’m asking how much the time spent hacking is worth.

For additional reading, here’s a good comparison of Apple TV vs Mac Mini and what you’ll get for your money. Tunequest has a pretty good series of posts (1, 2, 3) regarding Apple TV. And here’s an insanely detailed Apple TV review from Engadget.

I’m leaning heavily in the Mac Mini direction.

Disclosure: I own a tiny amount of Apple stock.

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