so my Roommate has decided to upgrade her computer, she lives in a small one bedroom apartment and would like a small form factor PC that she plans on using as her media center. Of course the first thing in my mind was the Mac Mini. It's small, has a number of video outputs [but no HDMI! DRAT!] and its relatively well priced at 599. so as the mini as my control group, would anyone suggest any other small form factor PCs that might be equal or better? for a better price? Here are three I've come across, but feel free to bring up more..

Apple Mac mini
$590.56 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping



Dell Inspiron Zino HD Piano Black Desktop PC (Windows 7 Home Premium)
$432.39 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping.



Acer AspireRevo AR1600-U910H Black/White Desktop PC (Windows XP Home)
$199.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping

Is she going to stream directly to a television or is she going to do something like my setup where I stream from my PC to other devices?

First of all, I don't like the mac minis. They are underpowered and overpriced. Also apple-tv is a standalone project, and like most macs, upgrades are one pricey bitch. Plus there is not HDMI or blue-ray.

If I were her, I would buy a good atom chip-based netbook and use it as both a personal pc and set top box. It's cheaper, better, and more affordable. Also look for netbooks that offer mass-online storage.
i like this book: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834220659

well she already has a laptop, so mobility isn't an issue. Also she already has an HDMI tv which she will use as her primary monitor. I see what you're saying about the Mac mini's being overpriced but I like how simple and functional the OS is. She isn't gonna be pirated warez or playing computer games so I feel that OSX would be ideal.
I just want to know if she can get something cheaper [albeit with windows 7] that will allow her to watch HULU and netflix/browse the web on her television without any problems.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/NewProduct.aspx?Item=N82E16883103235



how do you feel about this?
Acer Aspire Revo AR3610-U9022 Intel Atom 330(1.60GHz) 2GB DDR2 160GB NVIDIA ION graphics Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit - Retail (more details below)

329.99

that actually looks pretty sweet.

also window 7's media center has pretty badass setup for all things tv. including hulu and netflix.
it also makes it really simple to use your pc as a dvr

oh yeah, here is the hulu desktop integration .msi

http://huluwmc.teknowebworks.com/

oh man, this is exciting!