I have a MAC in the kitchen for just the purposes you describe. Unfortunately the stand doesn't come off so we couldn't mount it to the wall as originally intended but it fits under the upper cabs if we need to tuck it away otherwise it sits on the bar so the kiddos can do their homework.

The nice thing about the Mac is that the hard drive is in the flat panel screen so there is no need to hide a huge tower or have extra cords.

We have it set up with a wired keyboard and a wireless mouse.

We also have the eyeTV module attached so we can watch TV on it and I use MacGourmet as a recipe manager tool which I really love.

It's also networked wirelessly to all our other computers in the house (none of which are MACS BTW) so the kiddos can print from it for homework or we can share info between all the computers.

My only suggestion is that whichever computer you put in the kitchen make sure the keyboard can handle a spill. Our wireless Dell does.

We did exactly this is our old kitchen. We built a small desk area and DH ran all the wires behind the cabs to a PC tower in a lower cabinet. I found it very useful when we did it but, for several reasons, we will not be doing this in the new kitchen.

Just keep in mind the increased traffic to the computer if DH (or DW) or the kids are going to be using it regularly. If you have a kitchen big enough then I would say go ahead. There are lots of different size computers - try the Dell website to get an idea. Even a laptop that is properly set up might serve your needs.

Good luck.

I put a previous generation Mac laptop (Powerbook G4) in the corner of our kitchen. It's on a sturdy stand so it's up out of the way yet we can still easily use the keyboard & trackpad, & it's wireless. I plugged in a speaker system, so I can listen to my stored music or internet streaming radio without interfering with the rest of the house audio system. I too use MacGourmet for recipes--it's the best I've found.

Here is a link that might be useful: Laptop stand

Have you considered going wireless? I have a small laptop which I tuck into an island drawer when not in use, which is so much nicer than storing a tower and keyboard, etc. And I can take it elsewhere if I want. :o) My laptop has a tv tuner in it as well...it's an HP Pavilion dv4-1225 entertainment notebook pc.

I have a wireless laptop that I use in my kitchen, but I designed my butlers pantry to have a hardwired Apple. We have a wireless printer hidden in a cabinet in the pantry and a wireless keyboard and mouse. I also designed a cabinet for the hard drive and cable hook up though Apple's hard drive is in the monitor now. Printer cabinets also hold paper and ink -Here are pictures.

Here is a link that might be useful: Computer in Pantry

The link is for mounting a TV monitor or a Computer monitor under cabinets.

I think it's a great idea!

You could go with a wireless monitor but that's an expensive way to go. I would think how you could hide the cable to the monitor and put the hard drive in a bottom cabinet. I'd also buy a HD TV monitor and connect it to cable & a hard drive and use it as a pc monitor (rather than a pc monitor used as a TV). The HD TV's now come with adapters for computers.

Here is a link that might be useful: OmniMount

I guess I'm old school. I just lug the laptop into the kitchen when I want to use it there. :)

Me too on the computer but one day we were painting a room and had to place the TV from that room on the island - swore I would never have a TV in the kitchen but boy, it was great to watch the game with the TV right there :-) I sort of changed my mind about the TV in the kitchen that night. Nice to have the news or something on while you are cooking. Plus, if you have kids, it is nice to monitor their computer use - easy to do with the pc in the kitchen. I use recipes from allrecipes.com all the time and I am always running back and forth from the kitchen to the room where the pc is to double check the ingredients.

Some people don't have laptops and if you are putting a TV in the kitchen, why not make it do double duty? Probably cheaper than buying both a TV and a laptop.

I, too, use my computer for recipes (epicurious.com, mostly) and it's a pain running back and forth to the BR. Or worse, printing out three or four that I'm planning to combine and improvise on, and then having all that paper in the kitchen and trying to decide whether to save it or recycle it.

A few weeks ago, DH traded an old inflatable dinghy for an older-generation Mac Powerbook, which has a wireless card so we can use it anywhere in the house.

I'm planning to put a plug in one of the 12" deep base cabs under my island. The laptop will live in there, and (I hope) be easy to pull out and use on the island when needed. It seems like a reasonable low-budget way to be able to use a computer in the kitchen.

we have wireless internet, so my laptop NEVER leaves the countertop!! The family room and kitchen are connected and open, so if I want to watch something I will be able to. I love having the access to recipes, GW, facebook and email!

DH uses his laptop in the kitchen (unfortunately, cuz it's taken the pressure off his having to 'finish' his den). We put in an internet connection- we have wireless, but he seems to have some problems with reception in the kitchen and so prefers to have it plugged in.(Hey, we went for YEARS with everyone having to negotiate around all the wires/cables he used to run from den to kitchen before the reno!)

Just remember to allow for ventilation, if you put the PC tower in a base cabinet.

He takes the laptop back to work every day- sure would be nice not to have to run to the den to look for recipies- but then guess I'd want a printer in the kitchen too... we'd never leave... :>)

We looked at embedding the computer into the cabinet layout and decided by the time we paid for all the components, we were better off just buying a laptop to sit locally on the countertop where we would be using it (wireless already set up). I have a couple of different prep areas, so it helps to be able to pick up the laptop and move it. We aren't TV watchers tho...
Have you looked at the LG fridge that has it embedded in the door?

Thanks for all your posts - it is fun and helpful to hear all your ideas. While I am not sure what to do, I now have options.

playxbox

We put a flatscreen on the wall opposite the peninsula bar, and ran conduit in the wall to run the cables to connect it to a digital cable box and a receiver in the pantry. We ran the cable wires from the cable box thru the basement ceiling back to the cable panel in the basement. We also ran speakerwire thru the walls when we framed, and so we have wall speakers that are connected to the receiver in the pantry, and that allows us to play music from the ipod, listen to the radio, or hear the TV in stereo thru the speakers.

DH bought a doohickey that allows the infrared tv remote to convert to a radio frequency signal (that's what he says, for all I know, it's elfin magic) and that lets us change channels on the cable box and adjust the volume on the receiver even with the pantry door closed.

While we had thoughts of hooking the tv to the computer, we just use the laptop on the peninsula counter, which connects to our wireless network. Works good enough.

I didn't think I'd care so much, but I love the TV in the kitchen. Makes the lonely meal prep much less lonely when I can have HGTV, DIY or the Food Network keeping me company.

I have Windows Vista on my laptop (most of them probably come with that operating system now) and it allows you to watch TV and do the other things you mentioned.

I waivered for a long time before buying a laptop but am sooo glad that I did. I use it all over the house and out on the porch in the summertime too.

I too went the wireless laptop route but did have the electrician run cat5 jacks to two locations within the kitchen, co-located with phone jacks and electrical outlets, within base cabinets and accessible through grommets in the counter. Now, if my wireless reception is sketchy I can still plug in conveniently. Also can charge and store the laptop in the same location. But of course, if you want more than one person to also be able to watch TV, that's different and your idea is a great option.

loves2cook4six says:

"We also have the eyeTV module attached so we can watch TV on it and I use MacGourmet as a recipe manager tool which I really love."

What's the "eyeTV" module? What kind of Mac is it that you have?

You're all making me drool -- like berf, I also had two cat5 + cable locations set up in the kitchen so that I could set up a small TV/DVD player in the kitchen. We haven't moved in yet, so I don't know if that bright idea worked yet or not!

I've never heard of MacGourmet though, and having access to recipes while cooking would be a dream. A computer that does TV, DVD, Internet and applications to manage recipes, and stays out of the way, would be ideal. (And it'd be MINE -- no kids allowed!)

Specifics, please!

Okay, for all of you who say you have tv tuners or computers that allow you to watch tv - where is the tv signal coming from? Do you plug the tuner on the the computer into a regular cable tv connection? Do you watch tv from a site on the internet? (I figure not, since you don't need a tuner for that.)

Please clue me in!

just go to www.eyetv.com for more info.

It's a stick, about the size of a large flash drive, that plugs into a USB port and you then plug the cable into the module. We got it thrown in as a freebie when we purchased the Mac which is the cheapest of the ones currently available. The nicest feature, other than watching TV on your computer, is that it acts as a DVR so I can record programs as well and watch them later.

MacGourmet is one of THE best recipe management software programs I have ever used. You can search by ingredient, recipe name, author, you name it and it's easy to import recipes in from any site on the internet. Most of the cooking sites are a click away.

richpoor, it was supposed to be MINE! hahahah, I have to fight the kiddos for it. If I want to use it I h ave to sign up for time and I'm not allowed to go over LOL. BTW the office/study is RIGHT next to the kitchen but they'd all rather be with me. Which is a good thing actually - it was one of the reasons we redid the kitchen

We have a Mac on the end of the kitchen island. It was an after thought. DS reads about football while eating and points things out to me. I use it for recipes also. Grandma uses it to look up her e-mail while I'm cooking.