I am thinking of getting a new mac to run my Indigo / Insteon /Global Cache set up with and was wondering if anyone had any power consumption comparisons or feedback between the available options?
I have an old MBP running now fine but was thinking a Mac Mini would be more convenient - size wise. On the other hand a Macbook air may be lower power consumption.
Probably my driving criteria is power as I use a remote keyboard, and cinema screen - so what is under the desk doesn't really matter.
Any feedback or data on different options much appreciated.

The mini's advantages - it's less expensive (by half), more compact, and uses very little power when idle (~10 watts I believe). Not sure how much the Air uses but it's probably comparable when idle but not asleep and with the display off. It also has more USB ports (many home automation interfaces that connect with USB need to connect directly rather than through a hub) so if you end up with more than 2 USB devices that may be a problem with the Air.

The Air's advantages - it has a built-in UPS, keyboard, trackpad, and display if something happens and you need direct access to it (network not working, etc.)

I'm about to switch my home server over to an older MacBook Pro I think - though the lack of built-in USB ports may be a problem. But I also happen to have one that I'm not using enough to miss so it's free...

I caught a great deal on a used 1.6 Core Solo mini when I was transitioning to Indigo. It was on geeks.com and I got it for somewhere around $160. From eBay I found a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo and 2 GB of RAM separately for about $50-60 total. I added a 120GB SSD (new from newegg) and it has been an awesome box. Super low power consumption, extreme reliability and surprisingly a lot of speed/power for less than $300. I couldn't be more happy with it. It runs Indigo, iTunes, 3 instances of airfoil, and several supporting scripts and applications 24/7.

Terry

Thanks Guys - I think the mini has got the vote.......

I'm probably not adding a lot to this thread, but...

I have a Mini running as a media server, and I just added Indigo to the mix. I honestly couldn't be happier. It's a dual-core 2.3GHz with 8GB RAM, a 500GB HDD, and it's running stock OS X Lion (not the Server version). I am using an external Drobo (4-bay) for my media storage. It's been a great box, has the power I need, and is relatively quiet (unfortunately I can't say the same for the Drobo, but it's not too loud I guess). It's connected directly to my television also via HDMI; I watch video on Plex, Hulu Desktop and iTunes on a regular basis, and sometimes Safari for web content.

Anyway, yeah, I would highly recommend the Mini for Indigo, and as an all-around home server/media machine.