anyone gonna use the new mac mini as htpc?

U

UT-Jackal

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 2, 2004
Messages
373
My work mates are wanting to get the new mac mini for an htpc. The lack of bluray support and lack of hdmi keeps me away. But the small form factor is attractive. Not to mention they only play .mkv's.
 
For $600 you can build a damn nice media PC... or build one for $400 and spend the other $200 on beer. :D Another example of overpriced nonsense from Apple, imo.
 
No, I can building something better for cheaper, and I can make it look not like a piece of Chinese molded plastic.
 
I don't see the point in getting a HTPC that is smaller than a regular standalone dvd player if it's going to be placed in among other home theater equipment, like a receiver, satellite/cable decoder etc. If your TV is 40"+ then why get the smallest and subsequently non-upgradable system possible?
 
No, there is nothing mac in my house now. Nor will there be in the future.
 
No word if the included mini display port will carry multichannel audio. The spec for display port supports it but it hasen't been enabled on apples other products.

But with an adapter the mini display port will send video and audio to HDMI.

They can also play alot more than .mkv's. It all depends on the codecs.

I already have an HTPC but it would be tempting if it met all my requirements. Just for the small form factor, lower noise and less power needed to operate. In the meantime I just boot into my hackintosh.
 
Needs to be a hundred lower and the entry needs to have the specs of the higher end model; otherwise it's utterly useless as an HTPC.
 
I like the size but the price and the only option for for audio out being a headphone jack makes a no way in hell.

If it shipped for $400 with 2gb ram, with optical out at least, and no OSX I would buy two and throw Vista or windows 7 on it but no go at this price and its lacking features.
 
SC385 said:
I like the size but the price and the only option for for audio out being a headphone jack makes a no way in hell.

If it shipped for $400 with 2gb ram, with optical out at least, and no OSX I would buy two and throw Vista or windows 7 on it but no go at this price and its lacking features.
Click to expand...

It does have optical out.

And the jury is still out on whether or not the display port will carry multichannel audio. It does carry 2 channel audio.
 
You know I had high hopes for these because I always wanted to make a MAC htpc even though I hate them with a passion.
But theres no way I would pay that much for something that sucked so bad.

No HDMI
No BluRay
No 7.1
$700 are you crazy?

Holy shit I could build two HTPC's the same size as the mac mini that did way more for $700.
This is just another prime example of how Apple fucks people.
Is this *new* mac mini any different? I mean 0o0o0 it has display port Who Cares, because not many tvs or monitors have it.

God I hate Apple.
 
nitrobass24 said:
You know I had high hopes for these because I always wanted to make a MAC htpc even though I hate them with a passion.
But theres no way I would pay that much for something that sucked so bad.

No HDMI
No BluRay
No 7.1
$700 are you crazy?

Holy shit I could build two HTPC's the same size as the mac mini that did way more for $700.
This is just another prime example of how Apple fucks people.
Is this *new* mac mini any different? I mean 0o0o0 it has display port Who Cares, because not many tvs or monitors have it.

God I hate Apple.
Click to expand...
Bit off...
Displayport --> HDMI adapter is available in 10 days: http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10428&cs_id=1042802&p_id=5311&seq=1&format=2
Blu-ray, well, you can swap out the drive if you desperately want it.
7.1? HDMI adapter fixes that (and don't forget that it has SPDIF too).
$700? It is $600 (less if you have discounts).

If you try building something that is similar in size (emphasis on that) and specs, you'll be paying a lot more.
 
Blue Fox said:
If you try building something that is similar in size (emphasis on that) and specs, you'll be paying a lot more.
Click to expand...

No. You won't. That's the problem. You can build a complete system with higher specs, and similar size for quite a bit less. Look around the forum for mini systems based on the Zotac mini-ITX board. Here for example: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1399378

As for the assurance that the mini-displayport will carry audio, I think it's a pipe dream. The connector is capable of audio, but everything I've read says no hardware solution actually sends audio through the connector.

I also notice there's no mention or picture of the power brick that the apple mini uses... The original one was 1/4 the size of the whole case. External power bricks aren't aesthetically pleasing, imo. Just more cables to deal with.
 
Well, I'm one of the folks that DID go out and try the new Mac Mini's as an HTPC.

The base model, 2.0ghz cpu, upgraded ram to 2gig. Ripped off OSX and threw on Vista.

To clear up the hdmi audio question: Audio out today is limited to stereo out of the headphone jack, or TOS out of the optical jack. HDMI does NOT carry audio. It's been confirmed the mini-displayport is pinned for it, but it's not enabled yet.

The CPU, with 2gig ram, is plenty capable of playing 1080p blu-ray ripped DVDs, in either ISO or folder formats, with no hitching at all. I haven't tried any other encoded formats (other than ripped DVDs) as that's all I own and care about.

At $570 shipped for the 2gb model (use the education discount), you're hard pressed to build this machine for anywhere near the quality. Motherboard/CPU/Memory/Hard Drive/ODD are going to run you $350-$400 minimum, and you still have to find a case that's even close to as small and decent looking.

But, all that aside, the main selling point for me was the build quality. This is a very nice piece of hardware, that's SILENT and cool. I've spent the last 6+ years building media center boxes, and they all come down to one thing: cooling:noise ratio. I figure I spent a $100 premium for the hardware, but Apple already solved the cooling/noise problem, and it's all under a warranty, so easy to get repaired/replaced.

There are a few things I wish they'd done different, not least of which is the HDMI audio, but for an off-room media center device, they are perfect.
 
^^ fan boy.

HDMI does carry Audio... at least the cable.

I use it for my Xbox360 HDMI to HDMI full Audio...

If you were saying it doesn't carry audio, then you're wrong, because it does. Now if the MINI supports it...? Then I doubt it.
 
Yes.

New 2.26GHz model + Plex. No dropped frames even with 1080p h.264 video that peaks @ 65Mbps.
 
Prelector said:
Well, I'm one of the folks that DID go out and try the new Mac Mini's as an HTPC.

The base model, 2.0ghz cpu, upgraded ram to 2gig. Ripped off OSX and threw on Vista.

To clear up the hdmi audio question: Audio out today is limited to stereo out of the headphone jack, or TOS out of the optical jack. HDMI does NOT carry audio. It's been confirmed the mini-displayport is pinned for it, but it's not enabled yet.

The CPU, with 2gig ram, is plenty capable of playing 1080p blu-ray ripped DVDs, in either ISO or folder formats, with no hitching at all. I haven't tried any other encoded formats (other than ripped DVDs) as that's all I own and care about.

At $570 shipped for the 2gb model (use the education discount), you're hard pressed to build this machine for anywhere near the quality. Motherboard/CPU/Memory/Hard Drive/ODD are going to run you $350-$400 minimum, and you still have to find a case that's even close to as small and decent looking.

But, all that aside, the main selling point for me was the build quality. This is a very nice piece of hardware, that's SILENT and cool. I've spent the last 6+ years building media center boxes, and they all come down to one thing: cooling:noise ratio. I figure I spent a $100 premium for the hardware, but Apple already solved the cooling/noise problem, and it's all under a warranty, so easy to get repaired/replaced.

There are a few things I wish they'd done different, not least of which is the HDMI audio, but for an off-room media center device, they are perfect.
Click to expand...


LOL @ 6 years of building HTPC's and all you do is play dvd's you downloaded from torrents... bsbsbsbsbsbsbsbs


WTF is a blu-ray ripped dvd ?
 
Blue Fox said:
Bit off...
Displayport --> HDMI adapter is available in 10 days: http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10428&cs_id=1042802&p_id=5311&seq=1&format=2
Blu-ray, well, you can swap out the drive if you desperately want it.
7.1? HDMI adapter fixes that (and don't forget that it has SPDIF too).
$700? It is $600 (less if you have discounts).

If you try building something that is similar in size (emphasis on that) and specs, you'll be paying a lot more.
Click to expand...


Apples can play Blu-ray discs... really ?
 
The mini doesn't carry audio over the display port. Even with an HDMI adapter. You have to use optical. So the mini is out for me as a HTPC as I want multichannel uncompressed audio. The 9400m with the right software will handle all the HD so it doesn't need much of a CPU at all. You can build a better HTPC for the same price or less. Though the form factor of the mini is quite nice.
 
You can do pretty close in size with an ITX build depending on the case, but with better compatibility/performance/options. The variety of cases to choose from is pretty vast. There's a lot of nice options out there.

atech_itx.jpg


43088.jpg


itx-m2-bb.jpg


itx-m2-ws.jpg
 
A lot of small cases are very limited however. The first one pictured will only work with a few VIA board because it is passively cooled for example.
 
I think it's a HFX Micro case, but a generic one. I ran across them a while back on some European site that sells them. I don't have the link or the store name. Sorry. =(
 
AMDXPCottonFire22 said:
^^ fan boy.

HDMI does carry Audio... at least the cable.

I use it for my Xbox360 HDMI to HDMI full Audio...

If you were saying it doesn't carry audio, then you're wrong, because it does. Now if the MINI supports it...? Then I doubt it.
Click to expand...

Actually, I hate Apple as a company, and their OSs, but I'm becoming a fan of some of their hardware. They do a nice hardware build, and some of them aren't out of line pricewise.

And if you actually read my post, and took it in context, I said that the HDMI ON THE MINI didn't support audio today; I'm fully aware the HDMI cable and spec allows for audio.
 
Verge said:
LOL @ 6 years of building HTPC's and all you do is play dvd's you downloaded from torrents... bsbsbsbsbsbsbsbs


WTF is a blu-ray ripped dvd ?
Click to expand...

What's the bs part? For me, the purpose of a HTPC is the Theatre part, which is movies. And I don't pull off torrent actually, I've ripped all mine myself.

And, seriously, you're going to criticize my GRAMMER?! If you can't figure out what I meant by "blu-ray ripped dvd" from the post, I seriously question how long you've been wroking with HTPCs...
 
Prelector said:
What's the bs part? For me, the purpose of a HTPC is the Theatre part, which is movies. And I don't pull off torrent actually, I've ripped all mine myself.

And, seriously, you're going to criticize my GRAMMER?! If you can't figure out what I meant by "blu-ray ripped dvd" from the post, I seriously question how long you've been wroking with HTPCs...
Click to expand...


No, i cannot figure out what you meant. You rip blu-ray's to dvd format... Why?


I'm not trying to be offensive or start a flame war, but i have to question somebody who claims to build HTPC's all the time, and claims to be an HT enthusiast, yet doesn't have an HDTV or any HD sources.
 
Prelector said:
What's the bs part? For me, the purpose of a HTPC is the Theatre part, which is movies. And I don't pull off torrent actually, I've ripped all mine myself.

And, seriously, you're going to criticize my GRAMMER?! If you can't figure out what I meant by "blu-ray ripped dvd" from the post, I seriously question how long you've been wroking with HTPCs...
Click to expand...

Its GRAMMAR. :p

And still, what do you mean by "blu-ray ripped dvd"? That is a contradiction of terms.
 
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