Mac Mini for Media Player setup

barryd09

Any Mac Mini users using their machines for home entertainment purposes?

Im considering buying one in place of my ATV3 as a super dooper home entertainment/media type setup along with a 1TB external drive.

What is required on the television end for a comfortable Mac Mini setup?
My current tv is about 6-7 years old, only 1 hdmi port, 1 pc input & 2 scarts.
Is this enough to be able to run a mac mini or should i invest in a newer tv with more hdmi ports first? I also have a PS3 that requires me to change over the HDMI lead when i want to use it with my current TV and thats a (slight) pain in the ass. fiddling with leads or hdmi switchers is something i want to avoid where possible.
the tv i have is a 37" hd ready tv, will there be any issues with how the mac will be displayed on a 37" tv? Will it be distorted in any way if its not going through the HDMI port?

What do people use to control the mac mini? Again i would really prefer to not use a keyboard & mouse after the inital setup, there are ipad apps that can control a mac?

has anyone ever bought through apples uk site & had stuff delivered through parcel motel? From what i can see there is a nice difference between buying in sterling & euro on a most of the stuff. The guts of €75 on the mac mini €659 on the irish site, £499 (€584) on the uk site.

One last question, is a mac mini as a media centre a bit over the top? Is there a better value option that i should be considering instead?

squonk

Newer MacMinis have HDMI out so if you're buying new then this is what you'll get. It's more convenient to connect up the TV anyway using HDMI. There is a DVI conversion cable you can get but I'm not sure if your TV has DVI? I haven't used the Mini on a TV via computer port but I don't foresee any major problems. If in doubt, use the HDMI and just unplug for when you want to use the PS3. I'm using HDMI for my Mini with zero issues.

I use Plex as my media server on the Mini. There are apps for iPhone/iPad that can allow you to control the Plex server from your iDevice. I happen to have a keyboard and mouse lying around and to be honest it's useful as you need to resort to those at times. I'm not really convinced you could completely get by without a keboard and mouse tbh especially if something goes wrong. Normally I control the system using my apple remote. I can also use the iPhone Plex app to choose what to watch.

There are cheaper windows systems out there that will do a lot of what you want. Of course you lose the access to OSX on those systems which is an advantage to have I think. The Mini hardware is nice also and looks well under a TV. It's also quiet. A Raspberry Pi with XMBC will also do what you need. If all you ever want to do is watch some TV shows and films from your drive, the Mini might be overkill. If you want to do transcoding for watching remotely on another device, like watching in bed or whatever, then the Mini starts to come into it's own. Similarly if you have other household members who want to use the server at the same time, I'd go with Mini.

If you've a UK credit card and can buy from the store then Parcel Motel will work for you for the size of the MacMini. It's a good service.

barryd09

squonk wrote: »

Newer MacMinis have HDMI out so if you're buying new then this is what you'll get. It's more convenient to connect up the TV anyway using HDMI. There is a DVI conversion cable you can get but I'm not sure if your TV has DVI? I haven't used the Mini on a TV via computer port but I don't foresee any major problems. If in doubt, use the HDMI and just unplug for when you want to use the PS3. I'm using HDMI for my Mini with zero issues.

I use Plex as my media server on the Mini. There are apps for iPhone/iPad that can allow you to control the Plex server from your iDevice. I happen to have a keyboard and mouse lying around and to be honest it's useful as you need to resort to those at times. I'm not really convinced you could completely get by without a keboard and mouse tbh especially if something goes wrong. Normally I control the system using my apple remote. I can also use the iPhone Plex app to choose what to watch.

There are cheaper windows systems out there that will do a lot of what you want. Of course you lose the access to OSX on those systems which is an advantage to have I think. The Mini hardware is nice also and looks well under a TV. It's also quiet. A Raspberry Pi with XMBC will also do what you need. If all you ever want to do is watch some TV shows and films from your drive, the Mini might be overkill. If you want to do transcoding for watching remotely on another device, like watching in bed or whatever, then the Mini starts to come into it's own. Similarly if you have other household members who want to use the server at the same time, I'd go with Mini.

If you've a UK credit card and can buy from the store then Parcel Motel will work for you for the size of the MacMini. It's a good service.

Hi,

Thanks for your reply squonk.
I will be using the mac mini for transcoding & streaming to the iphones & ipads in my house alright, wont be solely for tv viewing which i suppose means that its not complete overkill as such in terms of price and i cant rule out ever using it as an actual desktop in the future either.
Also while i understand i will need a keyboard & mouse at least on standby in case of issues i will pick up a relatively cheap combo to begin with.
Any experience of Logitechs diNovo controller?

As far as Apples UK site goes, you definetly need a UK credit card to purchase even if its going to the NI address? Seems a bit harsh does it not?
Surely living in the EU entitles to to purchase anything you want from any other EU country?
No way around this other than go to one of the stores?

I doubt my card would be refused in belfast or anyplace with an apple store if i went in person?

Another example of us Irish being ripped off i suppose.

Sad Professor

Irish VAT is higher than UK VAT which accounts for a lot of the price difference.

Personally I think the Mini is overkill for a media centre. It was different when it was cheaper but Apple have killed its appeal with the various price increases over the years. And afaik you'll still encounter the same 24p frame rate related issues with OS X that plagues most cheap media players, though that may not matter to you.

If I were you I'd hold out for the next Apple TV. Once Apple open it up to third party apps it should become far more appealing.

culabula

barryd09 wrote: »

Hi,

Thanks for your reply squonk.
I will be using the mac mini for transcoding & streaming to the iphones & ipads in my house alright, wont be solely for tv viewing which i suppose means that its not complete overkill as such in terms of price.
Also while i understand i will need a keyboard & mouse at least on standby in case of issues i will pick up a relatively cheap combo to begin with.
Any experience of Logitechs diNovo controller?

As far as Apples UK site goes, you definetly need a UK credit card to purchase even if its going to the NI address? Seems a bit harsh does it not?
Surely living in the EU entitles to to purchase anything you want from any other EU country?
No way around this other than go to one of the stores?

I doubt my card would be refused in belfast or anyplace with an apple store if i went in person?

Another example of us Irish being ripped off i suppose.

I use a Mac mini as my media centre at home; it has a supported TV tuner plugged into the back of it and I use eyeTV software to both record programmes and to stream to my iPad and iPhone whether at home or while out and about. I now question the need for same, in these days of players from all major channels but it does allow me, while abroad, to tune in to a given channel if I need to see something without recourse to VPNs.

I also have large external hard drives connected to it containing thousands of tracks and have created several online libraries of 20k tracks each streaming music to my iPad at will.

To buy from apple.com/UK you will need a sterling credit card. Any credit card will be accepted in the Apple Store in Belfast subject to available funds. You can also pay in cash, in sterling, but may not pay in Euro.

culabula

squonk wrote: »

Newer MacMinis have HDMI out so if you're buying new then this is what you'll get. It's more convenient to connect up the TV anyway using HDMI. There is a DVI conversion cable you can get but I'm not sure if your TV has DVI? I haven't used the Mini on a TV via computer port but I don't foresee any major problems. If in doubt, use the HDMI and just unplug for when you want to use the PS3. I'm using HDMI for my Mini with zero issues.

I use Plex as my media server on the Mini. There are apps for iPhone/iPad that can allow you to control the Plex server from your iDevice. I happen to have a keyboard and mouse lying around and to be honest it's useful as you need to resort to those at times. I'm not really convinced you could completely get by without a keboard and mouse tbh especially if something goes wrong. Normally I control the system using my apple remote. I can also use the iPhone Plex app to choose what to watch.

There are cheaper windows systems out there that will do a lot of what you want. Of course you lose the access to OSX on those systems which is an advantage to have I think. The Mini hardware is nice also and looks well under a TV. It's also quiet. A Raspberry Pi with XMBC will also do what you need. If all you ever want to do is watch some TV shows and films from your drive, the Mini might be overkill. If you want to do transcoding for watching remotely on another device, like watching in bed or whatever, then the Mini starts to come into it's own. Similarly if you have other household members who want to use the server at the same time, I'd go with Mini.

If you've a UK credit card and can buy from the store then Parcel Motel will work for you for the size of the MacMini. It's a good service.

There's also the "Mobile Mouse" app for iOS devices -particularly good on iPad.

jester77

I have a mac mini as a HTPC running plex client and eyetv. It used to run as my plex server with sabzzbd and sickbeard. I've since moved those three to a linux server/nas so that I odn't need to run the mini 24/7. I bought it in 2008, so it's a relatively oldish model but it still runs everything I throw at it.

You also don't need to have a keyboard/mouse. You can access it using screensharing from another mac, or any vnc client on windows, ipad, iphone, android phone etc. Or if you just need to restart you can ssh in and restart from the terminal.

culabula

barryd09 wrote: »

Any Mac Mini users using their machines for home entertainment purposes?

Im considering buying one in place of my ATV3 as a super dooper home entertainment/media type setup along with a 1TB external drive.

What is required on the television end for a comfortable Mac Mini setup?
My current tv is about 6-7 years old, only 1 hdmi port, 1 pc input & 2 scarts.
Is this enough to be able to run a mac mini or should i invest in a newer tv with more hdmi ports first? I also have a PS3 that requires me to change over the HDMI lead when i want to use it with my current TV and thats a (slight) pain in the ass. fiddling with leads or hdmi switchers is something i want to avoid where possible.
the tv i have is a 37" hd ready tv, will there be any issues with how the mac will be displayed on a 37" tv? Will it be distorted in any way if its not going through the HDMI port?

What do people use to control the mac mini? Again i would really prefer to not use a keyboard & mouse after the inital setup, there are ipad apps that can control a mac?

has anyone ever bought through apples uk site & had stuff delivered through parcel motel? From what i can see there is a nice difference between buying in sterling & euro on a most of the stuff. The guts of €75 on the mac mini €659 on the irish site, £499 (€584) on the uk site.

One last question, is a mac mini as a media centre a bit over the top? Is there a better value option that i should be considering instead?

Smart HDMI switchers automatically choose the active device -what's wrong with that? Some others come with a remote control. It's either that or buy a receiver or TV with more HDMI INs.

I have a 3-way switcher into my router and it's ideal for me, given that I have 8 HDMI devices but only three HDMI INs on my receiver.

TBi

It's a bit pricey as a media center. I built a full machine from an ISK-300 and Llano AMD processor for less than you'd pay for a mac mini, much faster and cheaper but bigger.

I also built a media center around a Zotac ID-81 for a friend, cheaper still and very capable. You can mount it to the back of your TV and it comes with a remote control.