Mac mini and compatibility of peripherals

Displays and mice are no big deal, they do not have to be Mac specific to work with the mini. The only concerns with those are that the mini still have it's DVI to VGA adapter, and you'll have the best results using a USB mouse (which are cheap and easy to come by). The keyboard is the only device which may present some issues. I originally used very cheap generic USB PC keyboards, but they do not perform well with the mini in my experience. Spending a little for a Mac specific USB keyboard, or an official Apple keyboard is worth the money in my experience. It's only a difference between about $5 and $30.

Welcome to the Apple discussions.

Mouse, I prefer a wired mouse so not to worry about, or use, batteries. I wouldn't bother with the older style mouse that uses a rubber ball to know where it's located. A number of manufacturers have an optical mouse which uses light to determine location. Mouse USB cable plugs into the back of the Apple keyboard.

Monitor, although most any will do, if you're buying new, get an LCD widescreen with DVI input. That way you can use the digital signal output from the mini direct to the monitor, without converting to an analog signal. The Samsung 940BW we have came with the DVI cable.

Keyboard, again most any will do, however, we have a wired Apple keyboard. For those times when you need to use alt/option or control, it's right there on they keyboard. Haven't tried the newly redesigned Apple keyboard.

I agree. I've found compatibility to be pretty good with my old existing pc hardware but if you are going to spend alot of time in Macos x you definitely want to spend a bit of extra for the apple specific keyboard. After a while using a pc keyboard will drive you nuts trying to remember which key maps to the apple and option key not to mention if a disc gets stuck there is no eject key on the pc keyboard!