Mac Mini + Live Multitrack Recording Options

[Quintron]

Hi All, glad to have found this knowledgable spot!
First off I know hardly anything about Macs except they have a good track record as stable units good with audio applications.

As I'm sure is the case with many others I have become enamoured with the new Mac Mini but am wondering if it will be sufficent for what I need.

I run a small Jazz CLub in Ireland and for a long time was considering a laptop to record live gigs there. I was looking at Macs and PC laptops, but on a budget of next to nothing with the venue, all desirable options were off limits.

With this new machine there is some hope. I am looking at the 1.4Ghz mac mini with 512MB RAM option. I would also get an Edirol FA-101 usb capture card and was wondering how good these would be at live multitrack recording using Logic or Cubase (Have both). I would need to record usually up to 6 Mic imputs or 4 MIc ins with maybe 2-3 Line ins at a push. The usual setup for a night is about that. Sometimes less. Mix it down when I get home. What can I expect from this box with the FA-101 (or indeed a cheaper alternative if anyone knows??)?

Any options / help / advice greatly appreciated!

One of the sellers of this for me is that it would also be an excellent replacement for my ailing PC at home.
Adding a KVM switch I'd have the best of both worlds. Not a laptop, but a unit in the two places I need it most. (Its' lighter to transport than a lot of Laptops) and a hell of a lot cheaper!

If my above expectations are unrealistic then caould anyone suggest the max abilities of this unit for live recording. I could work something out.

Sorry for the barage of questions.

Cheers in advance,
Quintron.

[Quintron]

Cheers again for all posts,
@ editbrain, Yes you are correct that all these extras add up. I have at least two extra monitors and a bunch of Keyboards lying around so no added costs for me thankfully. I have an external HDD also so I jyust have to worry about the mini.
@ Marcia: Good to read that. 10 tracks! Nice to know they are available if needed... ON the issue of Ram I'm going to wait and see what others do when they get their Minis shipped. There are conflicting reports online as to whether or not you actually void your warrenty by installing more ram yourself. (the e430 asking price for 1gig apple installed ram is a bit rich). After reading reports it is still unclear if you will void warrenty simply opening the box or void warrenty if you break one of the clips while doing so. I feel you should be able to upgrade yourself, if not it will I presume become a talking point about possible underhand tactics by Apple to lure unsuspecting customers into unnecessary upgrades once on site. You can get 1gig ram online in the US for about e150 bring the total cost of a mini to e700 approx. Still reasonable. I guess they will be opening them up and disecting them within days so we'll know soon. From what I can see the ram upgrade is a pinch once the case is opened. I think it should be simple regardless. If its easy I'll get a base spec then do upgrade myself if not I'll have to suffice with 512MB.
@ Tree Leopard: The MOTU you and others mentioned sounds excellent. The whole audio capture card thing is a grey area for me at the moment so suggestions like these are welcome. I chose the FA101 as I've seen a few in action and they come highly recommended but I'm sure threre are quite a few that would suit. RE Budget, Yes its a concern but upgrade options are something I'll have to bear in mind. With savings on a mini I could stretch to a better audio unit I suppose... The math looms.... :-)
The venue is The Boom Boom Room, Dublin.
I don't know the rules on hotlinking but a bit more info can be found here.. A fledgling site I should add.. something else I have to work on
hxxp://www.theboomboomroom.tv
All the best,
Q.