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Interesting, you highlighted the OP's question, while I would highlight his *reason for asking* the question.

...would cause the Mac mini's fans to spin up like turbine engines — much too loud for my liking. I ask, therefore: What hardware would you recommend for building a...?"

The answer to controlling how loud your Mac is, something which Macs are infamous for, is to install a 1.3MB utility that gives you control over the various fan speed presets. Sometimes the Mac's fan controller goes too fast or too slow for the heat generated. Sometimes the sensor gets crammed in the wrong place. It's important to monitor and control it. Meanwhile, the Mini will sit happily on a netbook cooling stand, and you can buy whatever size fan you want for that. Problem (potentially) solved for $40.

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/23049/smcfancontrol
http://www.123macmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=196467&sid=94a8929424920b9e36f8bb2131c58d48#196467

Sometimes the engineer way to solve a problem solves the wrong problem. But it sure does use up a lot of energy, time and money. Which young men seem to have rather a lot of.
OP: Try cooling off yourself before you decide to throw out the problem before even finding a solution. ;)

Does anyone hear use it on their computer, I sincerely do not get why anyone would (unless they changes it radically since the last time I used it).

I do, but the computer I am using it on (Mac mini) is designated as an HTPC, and home file server. The computer is plugged into my TV and I use a Logitech Harmony remote for controlling it. I did recently get a wireless keyboard for dealing with the things the remote couldn't handle.

People tend to start off with basic expectations of their HTPC, and then end up piling on what they want to do with it. Sure you could have a separate media server and have a thin client connected to your TV, but in many cases having one small computer fill both tasks is actually and simpler set up.

While I use a Mac mini, other solutions I have looked at are the Shuttle X27D and the Dell Inspiron Zino.

In case you are interested there is whole community dedicated to the Mac mini, whether using MacOS X, Windows or Linux: http://www.123macmini.com/ - you can also check out the gallery to see some of the HTPC setups.

http://www.macfixit.com/
http://www.macintouch.com/
http://123macmini.com/

Lacie actually has a disk designed for Mac Mini but it is missing from their store or products now. Perhaps they are upgrading it to fw800?

Here is the page mentioning it, note the date is 2005

http://www.123macmini.com/news/story/326.html

Or just plug in an external drive. I use an external firewire drive and it performs extremely well. Use a mobile drive and you won't need an extra power source, either. I don't see the need to upgrade the internal drive.

In fact, you can get something like these, so your external drive fits precisely underneath the Mac mini. I don't know if any of these support FireWire 800 yet, but obviously new versions will (the new revision of Mac mini has a FireWire 800 [IEEE1394b] port; previous models had FireWire 400 [IEEE1394a]). An external enclosure can use a faster, cheaper, and larger capacity 3.5" drive, so there's pretty much no downside, unless that extra inch and a half of vertical space is really that important to you.

The USB spec only requires a USB port to provide 100mA at 5V. It is normal for computers (even laptops) to provide at least 500mA at 5V, which supports an unpowered USB hub and 4 devices (the most an unpowered hub is allowed to support), and many devices draw more than 100mA... particularly when charging. Depending on the model, a Mac mini may only provide 300 mA for both ports. This satisfies the USB specs, but it means that once you have a mouse and a keyboard plugged in you're pushing the edge. It definitely can't handle an unpowered hub, and it can't handle an iPod shuffle.

There are a couple of companies that make an "unpowered" hub for the Mac mini that pull extra power from the Firewire port to make up the difference. I bought one of those and used it for a while, but eventually broke down and bought a powered hub.

Mac mini can't power a keyboard, mouse, and thumb drive: http://www.123macmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=18710

Why would anyone over the age of 25, that doesn't have children, and already has a mac, need (or even want?) an Xbox 360?

No children, over 25, already owns a mac - that's a relatively tiny market. In fact, I know of only two (including myself). But let's assume I'm wrong, for the moment. Those types are also the kind who have already purchased Tivos, or they're the type who have already toiled away at their 1337 HTPC / MythTV boxes. Typically, they've already filled the niche that Apple has been too lazy to fill for the last 5 years.

Apple has a long uphill battle creating a system as seamless as Tivo.

The other problem is FrontRow eating into the ITV's market: why would people spend $300 on a "dumb" ITV box when they can spend $600 on a much more capable Mac Mini HTPC that also serves as a "dumb" FrontRow box at the touch of a remote? There are some technophobes in your defined market, but a lot of those "childless professionals" are technically inclined, and like flexibility. A number of people have already created a comunnity around this, and there are products like DistantDVD and EyeTV that make the Mac Mini even more fully-featured.

I purchased a very inexpensive Vantec Nexstar USB2.0/Firewire enclosure, and have been very impressed. The plastic of the enclosure feels cheap, however it comes with rubber HD mounts so that you isolate any drive vibrations from the desk/ground.

For any enclosure, the two things to look for are: type of bridge i.e. Oxford900/911/922, and whether there is an integrated fan.

The Oxford900 is the legacy chip, do not buy one. The Oxford911 is compatible with large HDs and the 922 is Firewire800. I use my enclosure for backup so heat was not an issue, however if you plan on using the drive full time, or as a boot drive, look into a more expensive enclosure that comes with a fan.

If you want to keep with the Mac Mini styling and have extra $$ to burn, consider these: http://www.123macmini.com/accessories/guide/enclos ures.html

otherwise the Vantecs are fine: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Subm it=Go&DEPA=0&type=&description=nexstar&Category=0& minPrice=&maxPrice=&Go.x=0&Go.y=0

Check out the M9-DX...

http://www.123macmini.com/accessories/images/m9dx2 .jpg

You can barely fit a USB and FireWire hub in the size of a Mac mini, and you want it to have a 3.5" HD?

Everything is ok Mail/iPhoto seem faster. Overall no big changes to notice, I'm still waiting on Tiger! http://www.123macmini.com/