Apple TV VS Mac Mini

jpfahy

I'm considering getting an Apple TV to play all my music/videos on my tv.
But with the Mac mini only a little dearer would I better off with that
Is there anything AppleTV can do that the Mac mini cannot

Cabaal

Apple TV won't play Divx, Xvid etc without software/hardware mods, to be honest i'd go with Mac Mini

The media center on the AppleTV is nicer but its not wroth it just for that imho

setanta5

I would say to you it depends on who will be using it. I had the same problem when trying to decide what to get and was kinda leaning toward the MacMini, except for couple of things. I won't always be there to use it and i would like my Girlfriend to be able to watch it without having to go through all the hassle of starting up/operating the Mac first. And also there is the issue of wireless mouse and keyboard solution for using the Mini in OSx mode.

What i will say though is it owuld be nice to be able to surf the net from the TV and do basic things like convert files for the apple tv without having to open up the laptop. If i had the MacMini i wouldn't have to convert anything. The other thing is space. I have a 160Gig Apple tv but i could see the 40gig one filling up quickly so would recommend going for the bigger one if you have a laptop which is not necessarily always there/switched on, so that you can stream from the machine when the HD is full.
That said i have all my music and photos and movies on there and i'm not much over the 40 Gig mark. But when i get my Laptop back i'm gonna start ripping DVD's for the Apple TV so will increase that some.

jpfahy

It would be the 160gig AppleTV if I was getting it.
Does the Apple TV start up instantly ?

gor

Not really answering your question but might be of interest, describes how to run the apple tv software on a mini.

http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2007/03/how_to_run_appletv_on_a_m.html

setanta5

It starts up almost instantly...about as long as it takes my DVD player to start up. there is no on off switch for the mini. You can put it to sleep but it can constantly sync with your computer even if you have it in sleep.

Makes it handy for people with slower network as you can leave it to sync overnight and all your shows/movies will be there in the morning. Although my brother has a Wireless G network and for the most part he can stream programs no problem over G, but his router is only a couple of feet from his Apple TV

jmck87

Interesting thread.... Ive never really put much thought into the tv or the mini....

Is there really a comparison? From what I thought the apple tv is just a hard drive that can only play media through your tv... whereas the mini is a complete, all be it not as powerful, mac computer??

Is the apple tv only useful if you buy videos/music off iTunes though? Or can you play any videos you may download/rip from other sources?

Cabaal

jmck87 wrote:

Interesting thread.... Ive never really put much thought into the tv or the mini....

Is there really a comparison? From what I thought the apple tv is just a hard drive that can only play media through your tv... whereas the mini is a complete, all be it not as powerful, mac computer??

Is the apple tv only useful if you buy videos/music off iTunes though? Or can you play any videos you may download/rip from other sources?

The AppleTV really comes into its own in the US as it integrates with content (movies/tv) bought off iTunes, unfortunately thats not yet the case in Europe which is abit of a shame

Although I've not tried it, if you have other content ala you've ripped a DVD you own to a Xvid file then you'll need to re-encode it to iTunes can handle it and stream or upload it to your AppleTV.

I have seen threads on Somethingawful.com regarding modding the AppleTV, but these affectively turn it back into a normal Mac in order to get it to play standard Divx/Xvid files, although last time I looked into this was some months back and I'm sure things have improved since.

Out of the two the MacMini would be the more powerful and will give you more options to play content, at the end of the day you do get frontrow and a remote so all you need to do is install the correct codecs and you can play any Xvid/Divx content through your MacMini with frontrow on your TV once you get the correct cables etc to connect it to a TV

imho its the better option as it gives you more options going forward

setanta5

Its true that you need to encode movies to get them to play through Apple tv, unless you can hack into it and install the codecs manually. Although i heard talk that Apple will release software updates (such as the Youtube one) which will reset the codec;s to the standard Factory Codecs.Not sure this is true though.

As for encoding, i bought the Elgato Turbo.264. It really speeds up the encoding process by about 4 to 5 times normal. And thats on a C2D MBP 2.33ghz. A tv show xvid of 45 minutes is incoded in about 10 minutes. Its a little limited in that it only works with programs that use Quicktimes encoding but to be honest i just use the software that came with it and send a batch off to be recoded at night time. They automatically appear on Apple TV when they're ready.

I do agree the MacMini would be the more flexible device and would be much closer to a Media Centre machine, allowing you to use it like a computer also for the web and even for watching DVD's, but i can't say i really have any regrets having bought apple TV because its totally silent and you'd hardly know it was there. All the configuration is done for you so you just turn it on and go.

jpfahy

Was thinking about the Elgato too, where did you get it, as a matter of interest ?

setanta5

I picked up my Apple TV and Elgato in Scotsys in Glasgow. They gave me a deal for buying both together and they are throwing in free HDMI cables worth £30 . I would say go for it. It sounds pricey but it does work very well, i'm told it makes an even bigger difference to lower end or older machines. Tried it out on my brothers G4 Powerbook and was about 10 or 12 times faster than without it.

But it also leaves the machine largely free to do whatever you want. He was able to work away in Photoshop while the movie was encoding with no noticeable slowdown. You'd normally notice when switching between apps, but it was fine.