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blu-ray on mac mini? maybe?

J

jlreed1

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 20, 2009
35
0
Paris, TX
I know there's been some talk recently about the iMacs possibly getting Blu-Ray functions, and that iTunes 9 might support it. Do you think Mac Minis might get this also? I realize everything is purely speculation just curious what you guys think, because I'm planning on buying a Mac Mini soon, but I don't want to get one then they release a Blu-Ray capable one a month later. I know there is supposed to be a keynote coming up soon, just curious what you guys think.

thanks,
JLR
 
DoFoT9

DoFoT9

macrumors P6
Jun 11, 2007
17,586
99
London, United Kingdom
rgarjr said:
What would be cool is if you can just swap out the SuperDrive with a one that can play Blu-Ray on it if Apple ever supports it.
Click to expand...

its not always that simple :rolleyes: if the Mini uses the 9.5mm slot loading drives then you cant do it, because the BR 9.5mm slot loaders dont exist AFAIK.

if they do exist, then yes - it would be that simple..
:cool:
 
J

J the Ninja

macrumors 68000
Jul 14, 2008
1,824
0
Cave Man said:
The GMA950 Minis shipped with 12.7mm matshita drives, so unless there's been an engineering change in the current Minis it shouldn't be a problem. Of course, it would have to be a SATA drive.
Click to expand...

Panasonic UJ-235 is a slot-loading SATA blu-ray burner. It's a 12.7mm drive though. Anybody have an Nvidia Mini want to check if the stock drives are 12.7mm?
 
DoFoT9

DoFoT9

macrumors P6
Jun 11, 2007
17,586
99
London, United Kingdom
J the Ninja said:
Panasonic UJ-235 is a slot-loading SATA blu-ray burner. It's a 12.7mm drive though. Anybody have an Nvidia Mini want to check if the stock drives are 12.7mm?
Click to expand...

can they also check if the new mini's use a SATA or PATA optical drive interface ;) the new unibodies FINALLY changed to SATA, i just wanna see what the new Mini's use.
 
DoFoT9

DoFoT9

macrumors P6
Jun 11, 2007
17,586
99
London, United Kingdom
Cave Man said:
The new Minis use SATA for both the hard drive and optical drive. Previous gen was SATA HD and PATA OD. I'm waiting for WD to ship their 1 TB 2.5" drive so I can put two of them into a Mini. ;)
Click to expand...

argh wish i had money to burn! how much would two of them babies set you back?

i have an optibay ebay thingo on the way in the post - that will give me much more storage in my laptop :D:D i cant wait! (OD is dead anyway, no loss)
 
B

Baron Aloha

macrumors newbie
Aug 19, 2009
12
0
I've been contemplating getting an htpc setup and the mac mini really appeals to me. The only thing preventing me from pulling the trigger is the lack of an internal Blu-Ray drive and no HDMI output. The lack of HDMI output isn't a deal breaker because there are easy work arounds but I'd really like to see them add a Blu-Ray drive. A Blu-Ray-writable drive would be the bees knees but just regular old Blu-Ray playback would be quite nice.

I checked the buyers guide and it said that the mac mini was in mid-cycle and that I should buy one, but if I were to buy one without Blu-Ray and they announced one with it I would really be upset. The thing is, it might be another year before a new mini gets released since it took Apple like 17 months to update the mini the last time. I really hope we hear something from Apple soon. I would easily pay $1000 for a mac mini with a writable Blu-Ray drive in it.

Does anyone know if you can modify the mini to put an internal Blu-Ray drive into it (preferably writable)? If so, can someone please provide me with a link? I know that an external drive is an option but I'd prefer to have everything in one box.
 
DoFoT9

DoFoT9

macrumors P6
Jun 11, 2007
17,586
99
London, United Kingdom
Baron you can most certainly put your own BR writeable drive in there - provided that the Mac Mini's use 12.7mm drives (as 9.5mm are not available atm).

to be honest: apple will not release BR into their macs for a good 2-3 years, and even then the mini will be the last of their computers to get the support.
 
O

old-wiz

macrumors G3
Mar 26, 2008
8,331
228
West Suburban Boston Ma
Even with a blu-ray drive (internal or external) you won't be able to play commercial movies (with copy protection) under OSX; code is not present to support HDCP. It can be done under windows though.
 
B

Baron Aloha

macrumors newbie
Aug 19, 2009
12
0
DoFoT9 said:
excellent!! are you going to get it??
Click to expand...

Most likely, yes but not right away.

I'm definitely going to pull the trigger on the mini now though since I know that I can put the drive I want in it in the future. I'm going to buy the $599 mini, upgrade the CPU to 2.26GHz, upgrade the ram to 4 gigs, upgrade the HDD, get EyeTV, and get a Logitech DiNovo-Mini so I'm going to be shelling out a lot of money up front. In maybe a month or two I will get the drive.

I'm pretty psyched now actually. The only thing that has been holding me back is the Blu-ray issue.
 
chrisliv

chrisliv

macrumors member
Jun 28, 2009
38
0
Midwest, North America
Gee,

There is a current and limited ability to burn HD content on the Mac with Toast 10 Pro.

And, if someone was using a cheap LCD monitor (or HDTV), like a Dell SX2210, which has DVI and HDMI, they could use their Mini for general purposes via the DVI and connect a cheap HDMI Blu-Ray player to the monitor, too, for watching commercial Blu-Ray DVDs. Although, it would be nice if there were some more compact-styled Blu-Ray players that had HDMI.

I mean, that's a tack I'm currently looking at, in an effort to combine computing and multi-media into one potent little package.

Or, I may just connect the 2009 Mini to a 32" Toshiba Regza for a monitor via a PC/VGA connection, which is what it likes better than trying to go through HDMI. I currently have a PPC Mini on the Regza, as a music and music video player with iTunes and for web browsing with a lap-style RF keyboard/pointer. But it just doesn't seem fitting to use such a big screen, and use VGA, along with the distance that is needed to do computer work. Plus, I'd rather use a wired keyboard on a desktop surface for computer work.


So, who knows, maybe I'll get rid of the TV, and get a compact little El Gato tuner for the Mini and a monitor, so that I can do it all in one place, yet still create a smart blend of an entertainment center and desktop area.

Peace to you all,
C. Livingstone
 
DoFoT9

DoFoT9

macrumors P6
Jun 11, 2007
17,586
99
London, United Kingdom
Baron Aloha said:
Most likely, yes but not right away.

I'm definitely going to pull the trigger on the mini now though since I know that I can put the drive I want in it in the future. I'm going to buy the $599 mini, upgrade the CPU to 2.26GHz, upgrade the ram to 4 gigs, upgrade the HDD, get EyeTV, and get a Logitech DiNovo-Mini so I'm going to be shelling out a lot of money up front. In maybe a month or two I will get the drive.

I'm pretty psyched now actually. The only thing that has been holding me back is the Blu-ray issue.
Click to expand...

im phsyced for you too!!!! let us know how everything goes then!!!!

chrisliv said:
Gee,

There is a current and limited ability to burn HD content on the Mac with Toast 10 Pro.
Click to expand...
its better then nothing i guess..

Or, I may just connect the 2009 Mini to a 32" Toshiba Regza for a monitor via a PC/VGA connection, which is what it likes better than trying to go through HDMI. I currently have a PPC Mini on the Regza, as a music and music video player with iTunes and for web browsing with a lap-style RF keyboard/pointer. But it just doesn't seem fitting to use such a big screen, and use VGA, along with the distance that is needed to do computer work. Plus, I'd rather use a wired keyboard on a desktop surface for computer work.


Peace to you all,
C. Livingstone
Click to expand...

now why on earth would you want to use an analogue connection when a digital one would work just fine??
 
michael.lauden

michael.lauden

macrumors 68020
Dec 25, 2008
2,326
1
on my 1080p 37" TV, from more than 2 feet away i literally can't see a difference between the PS3's blue ray and the Mac mini's 1080p output.

in my opinion you are wasting your time.
 
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