Placing a 42 inch 1024x768 Panasonic plasma above a fireplace. All of the audio components will be in the basement (whole house audio setup), but I like the idea of having a DVD handy near the TV to avoid the trek to the basement, but I want it completely out of sight (and access from toddlers). Been thinking of putting an Apple Mac "Mini" on the mantle and using it as both a DVD player and to turn the plasma into a computer. Since the Mini is same color as mantle (white) and smaller than the mantle is deep, it would be hardly even noticed. My main question is how well a DVD will perform with a DVI output from the Mini vs. a regular set-top DVD player using RGB.

A second related question is regarding the sound. I can get the stereo output of the Mini down to my A/V setup in the basement (I pre-ran lots of wires), so I am wondering if my A/V receiver will be able to pick up any Dolby, DTS, etc. coding from the Mini? Though I would still have my higher-end DVD player with Toslink down there if I preferred, I am curious how much I would preserve simply running the Mini's stereo audio into the receiver.