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Mac Mini as a HTPC

  • 29-11-2008 8:38pm
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6


    Hi,

    I'm in the middle of renovating my house (which is sucking my money and life out of me in equal measures) and thought about buying a mini as a HTPC. I'm pretty clueless when it comes to Macs but from what I have seen anybody with a Mini as a HTPC seems fairly satisfied with it. I have a couple of quick questions, sorry if they were asked before:

    There hasn't been an update to the Mini in some time and I've read conflicting reports whether it's being discontinued or not. Is it worth waiting to see if anything happens in this regard?

    I would pretty much only be using it for watching movies..etc and music, what spec should I be looking at? Would the 1.83GHz model be enough? I'm also assuming it can handle 1080p content OK.

    Thanks for any input.


Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,906 ✭✭✭J-blk


    I've been using a Core Duo Mac Mini 1.66Ghz as an HTPC for some time and would highly recommend it - get yourself a copy of the free Plex application and it can handle just about anything.

    The conflicting reports are just that at the moment - there is no clear indication of either an update or discontinuing them completely so it's hard to tell what the right move may be.

    The Core Duo I have cannot handle 1080p .mkv files but can play anything up to 720p just fine. The Core 2 Duo processors are meant to be a lot faster, so the 1.83Ghz Core 2 Duo should have no issues (I've tried 1080p .mkv on a 2.0Ghz Core 2 Duo MacBook and it's fine).


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6 zagreb


    I think I might hold off for a month or so, from what I've been reading there is rumoured to be a either an update for the mini or a replacement product line launched at some Macworld expo thing early January 2009. I'll wait and see what happens then, if there's an update great, if not I'll probably still pick one up.

    Cheers for the advice though.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,906 ✭✭✭J-blk


    Yep, Macworld in January is the next big Apple event and we could see new hardware announced - it'll be interesting to see what (if anything) happens with the Mini. It's long overdue an update...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,187 ✭✭✭ondafly


    I bought a 1.83ghz model about a month ago. Delighted with it, installed XBMC onto it, and its become a lovely replacement for my modified xbox. I've played 720p flawlessly, my TV doesn't support 1080p so I can't test that.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,906 ✭✭✭J-blk


    You can play back the 1080p files even though your TV does not support the resolution (they'll just be scaled to 720p in applications like Plex, so there's no benefit) in case you want to check that your Mini can play them back smoothly. I'm pretty sure any Core 2 Duo should be perfectly fine though.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 535 ✭✭✭Dorsanty


    Got my EyeTV Hybrid tuner recently. Picking up Irish DVB-T channels, RTE 1,2, TV3, TG4. Recording and exporting for iPod, WiFi streaming, etc are all cool features.

    Now to have this replace my Windows HTPC I need to be able to change channels on my NTL/UPC set-top box. Is there a solution for this on Mac?

    Got an IR blaster with my WinTV HVR-1300 card for windows. Google hasn't lived up to it's usual all knowing standard when searching for Mac IR blasters.

    So hopefully someone here is doing it. Help.

    Edit : Much googling later I found http://www.irtrans.de/ do a usb module and ship with iRed software.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,428 ✭✭✭randombar


    What about streaming to ps3 + xbox from the mini?? Do you have a portable hd for extra mem?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,906 ✭✭✭J-blk


    Dorsanty wrote: »
    So hopefully someone here is doing it. Help.

    I gave up on this some time ago... I knew about the iRed but the problem is integration with Eye TV - there isn't any. So unlike Windows Media Center, you can't set up the Eye TV EPG with NTL Digital or Sky and have the software change the channel as needed for scheduled recordings. Even getting the damn EPG for the channel line up is almost impossible - for some weird reason, Eye TV only support cable/satellite boxes for US providers and nothing at all for Europe, yet alone Ireland. The iRed will allow you to change the channel when watching live, but it still does not solve the recording issues.

    Since I didn't care too much about recording, etc, I simply use a Slingbox Classic now to send the NTL box's signal to my Mac, whenever I want to watch live - the Slingbox can control the NTL box just fine, but again, no PVR/recording capabilities :(.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,187 ✭✭✭ondafly


    Dorsanty wrote: »
    Got my EyeTV Hybrid tuner recently. Picking up Irish DVB-T channels, RTE 1,2, TV3, TG4.

    can you explain how you have this working ? Is it literally the EyeTV plugged into the USB slot of the mac and it picks up the channels, or does it need an aerial lead plugged into the EyeTV ?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 535 ✭✭✭Dorsanty


    ondafly wrote: »
    can you explain how you have this working ? Is it literally the EyeTV plugged into the USB slot of the mac and it picks up the channels, or does it need an aerial lead plugged into the EyeTV ?

    The tuner plugged into USB slot and the little mini aerial that comes in the box with the device plugged into the tuner. 5 minutes to setup from box.


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