1. How easy is it to remove the hard disk? 2. Will the 12.5mm 1TB hard drives fit inside? The 'plural' comes from thinking...

I just purchased the MacMini (mid-2010) Server edition. I have the exact same question about 12.5mm 1TB drives fitting or not. it surely would be nice to up the ante on the internal space from 1TB to 2TB, albeit a drop in speed from 7200 to 5400rpm. Nonetheless, the higher data density I think will sufficiently offset the somewhat loss in rotational numbers. As for the optical drives, there is a very easy solution (at least for me). Just purchase an external model. simple. Done! Given the fact I have the server model there is no slot to accommodate the internal for one. My external Buffalo Blu-Ray drive not only handles Blu-Ray but is also backward compatible with DVDs anyway. I have it primarily for archival purposes anyway moreso then watching movies. As pointed out elsewhere in this thread, you can convert / downsize Blu-Ray movies from 50GB or whatever to a more manageble, less overhead, but still very good quality, say, 8GB, .MP4, .MOV, .MKV or whatever you might like. DVDs? Just ISO them to an image...

I have an inquiry not so much related to fixing procedures but to functionality. The important question for me is, if it is compatible with Apple Mountain Lion-based computer equipment? I had a Western Digital WDTV Live Plus I recently sold on auction because Apple mucked around with the network layer stack, or some unfamiliar jargon like that as explain a while back by WD support staff. Other then that, if the Vizio Co-Star does functionally work similar to an Apple TV, but provides greater connectivity in home network with Apple computers and more versatility in video codec playback I may want to get one of these.

Thanks for the guide teardown. You folks do a terrific job at ifixit.