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Who's interested in a Mac Home Theater forum?

Should we have a Mac Home Theater forum?

  • Yes, I've always wanted to use my Mac for a home theater

    Votes: 160 82.1%

  • No, the Apple TV is enough for me

    Votes: 25 12.8%

  • Macs can do home theater stuff?

    Votes: 10 5.1%
  • Total voters
    195
Cave Man

Cave Man

macrumors 604
Original poster
Feb 12, 2007
7,178
362
Neander Valley, Germany; just outside Duesseldorf
OK, I think Macrumors ought to devote some its space to a new forum, perhaps:

Special Interests: Mac Home Theaters

Sure, we have the Apple TV (which is great, by the way), but many people do not realize that Macs can make fabulous home theater PCs. Or, they have trouble understanding what they need to buy and how to configure their Macs for use with a home theater.

What say you?
 
I think this is a very interesting idea for a subforum. There are many people out there who have a passion for their dream setups at home and I'm sure they would be happy to help others set their's up.

Good idea.
 
Maybe an expansion or re-assessment of the Apple TV forum could be in order, but a forum unto itself seems unnecessary. Maybe Apple TV & Home Theater Discussion?
 
I admit I chose the 'Don't Know' option. I'm not even sure what the Apple TV does, but I'd be interested in knowing more about home theatre setups if there was a forum.

As long as we agree to spell it correctly. ;)
 
OutThere said:
Maybe an expansion or re-assessment of the Apple TV forum could be in order, but a forum unto itself seems unnecessary. Maybe Apple TV & Home Theater Discussion?
Click to expand...
If any change were implemented, this seems to be the most logical choice in my opinion. I don't think there is enough discussion regarding home theater systems to warrant a separate forum, or even sub-forum for that matter, but I could certainly see adding "and other home-theater discussions" into the description for the Apple TV forum.
 
It seems the ATV forum is really limited to (1) the ATV as a device and (2) how to get content properly transcoded for it. I have and ATV and it is convenient, but my Mac Mini-based home theater is really a much nicer experience.

What is missing from the ATV forum are questions pertaining the home theater experience, particularly how to build a home theater, how to integrate your Mac into the equation, how to get Blu-Ray video on your Mac, how to choose a receiver (i.e., optical port), how do you get digital surround sound (i.e., Dolby Digital, DTS), why Quicktime sucks at 1080p playback (and why XBMC is so good). There are lots of others. Most of these issues are not relevant to the ATV. I cannot tell you how many times I've had to explain how you can get 5-channel surround sound out of left and right stereo channels. Many people just don't believe it.
 
Probably the questions asked in the "Apple TV" sub forum are limited to what you say because of the Subforum name. The things you name sound interesting, so i would like to hear about this in the Apple TV & Home Theater or Apple Home Theater thread. :)
 
I've been using a Mac Mini as a media server (named Mini Me, of course) for over a year now, and would find such a forum of great interest. Things like background hum, true HD content (from the hard drive), Front Row issues, etc would be good to find without wading through :apple:tv threads.
 
I'd love one. The mini is the best Mac I've ever owned. Apple could really make it the center of your media universe if they wanted to. I am anxious to see what they will do.
 
OutThere said:
Maybe an expansion or re-assessment of the Apple TV forum could be in order, but a forum unto itself seems unnecessary. Maybe Apple TV & Home Theater Discussion?
Click to expand...

I agree, maybe we don't need an entire new subforum but just an expanded appletv one. I am still very excited about the possibility because there are so many devices and ways to set up a digital entertainment system in your home.
 
It's not that difficult.

DVI to HDMI.
Optical out to surround sound.

That's it.

I have a PowerMac G4 as storage device and stream via Gigabit ethernet.
 
Consultant said:
It's not that difficult.

DVI to HDMI.
Optical out to surround sound.

That's it.

I have a PowerMac G4 as storage device and stream via Gigabit ethernet.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your uber creative solution to a Mac home media setup :D

There are more setups out there and when you get into serving your content up to multiple machines from a central location in your home it gets to be a very diverse conversation.
 
I'm definitely in favor of it. I have next to no interest in appletv. I've been holding out for the next generation mini to run plex (formerly osxbmc) into my crt projector.
 
Cave Man said:
Why not just use the current Mini for it?
Click to expand...

Mostly because I'm pretty sure the update has to come around soon, after more than a year. Don't want to have buyers remorse when there's an update, and I'm not in a big hurry to do this. I haven't been waiting for a year - my plan has been in the works for about two months.
 
macworkerbee said:
Thanks for your uber creative solution to a Mac home media setup :D

There are more setups out there and when you get into serving your content up to multiple machines from a central location in your home it gets to be a very diverse conversation.
Click to expand...

Server with storage.
Gigabit ethernet.
 
I'd like to see a mac-as-home-theater forum. I know the idea's mixed in with a lot of other forums here; :apple:TV, Digital Audio, Digital Video, Hardware, Peripherals and probably several others; but this a major reason why it should be put in its own category. You really have to pay attention to many forums and many more threads to gather the information you're looking for. Many people only cruise certain forums, but have a good deal of info that may add to a discussion in another. Plus the search feature here is not at all intuitive (Sorry Arn and mods, love the site but search is very frustrating). This makes repetitive threads keep popping up all over the place because nobody's willing to put in the effort to dig up the right thread.

Apple is making a move to the living room and I'd like this place to follow. I don't see this issue going away, either. As the :apple:TV progresses, mini-modders continue to explore the possibilites and Airport Express users want to take the next step, they will need a place to talk. I hope it's on this board.:)
 
Consultant said:
Server with storage.
Gigabit ethernet.
Click to expand...

OK, I give up, we don't need to add to the Apple TV forum at all, you have just written every piece of information that anyone ever needs to discuss on a home media setup. Thank you for that, I can go live my life now.
:p:D
 
I voted yes I'd like to learn more about using a Mac (Mini with upgrades would be my choice due to size) as a home theatre & I'm sure people can give pointers on what to buy:D.
 
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