Will it play DVD's smooth at full screen on Leopard?? I Got a projector and want to make an HTPC.
It'll play DVD's fine, but you can get a DVD player cheaper than a G4 Mini. Don't waste you money. It will not play anything HD, believe me I've been down this road.
Well I Got a blueray player for the HD Videos. Its Just cool having a full blown Desktop OS On your wall
The Core Duo (Not core 2 duo) Mac Minis cost around the same as the G4's, Would they play HD??
I was just about to say this, C2D updates can be had cheap.You can get a core duo and upgrade the CPU in it to a core 2 duo (up to like 2.3 GHz)
I use a 1.83GHz core 2 duo hooked up to a BenQ 1080p beamer. I can play 720p movies just fine (they look amazing), I haven't tried Full HD movies yet.
i might play them. The CPU isn't the problem, its the Intel GMA 950, which just sucks.
I was just about to say this, C2D updates can be had cheap.
The GPU isn't a problem at all because it's not utilised for video decoding.
In fact, you can play full 1080p of a Mac Mini Core Solo if you install a Broadcom Crystal HD card (where the wifi card currently is). It will cost you less than a Core2Duo upgrade, and it will play any (raw, not x264) blurry you can throw at it, even a 2.3GHz C2D will choke on some high bitrate stuff.
It's installed in a mini PCI-express slot, but since the mini only has one slot and the wifi card is currently situated there, you can only have one or the other. Not a big deal since you can get a usb wifi adapter for ~$10 these days.Interesting product, and that replaces the wifi card? where and how is it connected?
It's installed in a mini PCI-express slot, but since the mini only has one slot and the wifi card is currently situated there, you can only have one or the other. Not a big deal since you can get a usb wifi adapter for ~$10 these days.
Applications need to be built to utilise the card though, and I believe the only one that does currently is XBMC.
I wouldn't recommend using a G4 mini as a home theater PC. I have one that I bought when they first came out and the only thing it's useful for as far as HTPC is to play standard def .avi's. It plays DVDs just fine, but I'd rather use a DVD player as the mini doesn't have digital audio out. Also, the mini isn't powerful enough to use Netflix, Hulu or YouTube most of the time, and that alone rules out a lot of the reason to have a HTPC in the first place.
Honestly, you'd probably be better off with an AppleTV or an Xbox 360. What's your budget anyway? The Xbox 360 can do Netflix and Hulu Plus, and it can also be set up to stream movies and shows from your PC or Mac. Right now I use my Xbox to watch Netflix and to stream shows downloaded and stored on an external hard drive connected to my G4 Mac mini.
Well, what is it exactly you'd like to be able to do with a HTPC? If it's Hulu, Netflix, HD video or anything else that's even remotely demanding, you're going to be disappointed with a G4. I would recommend you spring for anything Intel or later. I don't know how much better a slightly newer Intel mini will perform, but the G4 mini won't be worth the effort IMO.
Yeah, Hulu, Netflix, iTunes (HD Movies and TV Shows I Buy), and some YouTube. It would be running at a resolution of 1920x1080
Group #3
* HDTV possess HDMI ports
* wants to play SD movies (DivX, XviD)
* wants to play DVD movies
* wants to play 720P movies
* wants to play 1080P movies
* wants to stream 1080P Hulu content
Best Served By?
* AppleTV1 + Broadcom Crystal HD
(sole way for playing 1080P via purely Component HDTV's)
(Hulu requires Bluecop's XBMC Hulu add-on or the use of a Linux distro)