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Just picked up a Mac Mini

K

kevmcintosh

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 16, 2009
20
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Sold my AppleTV last week and picked up up a Mac Mini on Craigslist for $350! C2D 1.83 2 GB ram, Leopard. I'm running Plex on it with the computer hooked up to my HD TV via DVI to HDMI converter and an optical line to my surround sound. I can play 1080P movies (MKV's mostly) with DD/DTS flawlessly. I don't know what I was thinking buying that apple TV. I've also got an app for my iphone that lets me use the iphone as a trackpad for the Mac Mini, so I don't need a keyboard or mouse hooked up with it. So cool!

Anyways, just so excited about it, I had to post something about it.
 
Highly recommend it. And don't listen to those guys that say you need to have a 2 GHZ C2D mac mini to play 1080P. I have blu-ray rips that are 40-50 gigs that play back fine in both plex and quicktime. Now, I don't have anything else installed on the mac... in fact, I removed just about everything out of the applications folder, so I don't know if that has anything to do with making the system run better. Anyways, it's really the best setup. I'm even considering selling my DVD player and my PS3 (use only for blu-ray... no time for games).
 
Now all you need is about another 10TB of storage and call it good. That would be 10TB Raid 1 (20TB total), for safety of course.
 
kevmcintosh said:
Sold my AppleTV last week and picked up up a Mac Mini on Craigslist for $350! C2D 1.83 2 GB ram, Leopard. I'm running Plex on it with the computer hooked up to my HD TV via DVI to HDMI converter and an optical line to my surround sound. I can play 1080P movies (MKV's mostly) with DD/DTS flawlessly. I don't know what I was thinking buying that apple TV. I've also got an app for my iphone that lets me use the iphone as a trackpad for the Mac Mini, so I don't need a keyboard or mouse hooked up with it. So cool!

Anyways, just so excited about it, I had to post something about it.
Click to expand...

whats the name of that app you are referring too?
 
Yeah that sounds like a killer little app. I have Rowmote and love it for simplicity but it is a very basic program.
 
That is pretty awesome having that app on your iphone. does that mean that you could also hook it up to an imac? That would be pretty sweet.
 
I would like to do that too... since we have a failing DVD player and no form of media downstairs. But the issue is that the ATV is so much cheaper!
 
Ha, sorry if I confused everyone. I don't use the iphone as a keyboard. Since Plex works off of the remote, I barely use any input devices. Plex is set to startup full screen when the computer turns on, so I never see leopard. If I really need to get onto the computer, I use screen share from my Imac. I think there is an app to turn your iphone into a keyboard though...
 
brn2ski00 said:
I would like to do that too... since we have a failing DVD player and no form of media downstairs. But the issue is that the ATV is so much cheaper!
Click to expand...

The extra hundred bucks (in my case on craigslist) was well worth it for 1080p playback, DTS, and the extra horsepower to run better apps like Plex which blows front row out of the water. Not to mention you can playback any format on the mac mini with no hacking needed. I simply was not happy with my apple tv. It was a good move and I'm not looking back! Weeeeee!!!!
 
I bought airmouse for my mini too. It's fairly expensive, compared to free ($5.99?), but it does work well, especially after they re-did the entire interface so it now has app switching/media keys/etc. It meant that I have now pretty much stopped using my BT keyboard with my mini on my TV, and just use a normal mouse for general usage/navigation, and the airmouse app if I need to occasionally type something in.
 
Best app is itap, thats the one the poster is refering to, it works amazing, has multitouch gestures and everything
 
Congrats on the Mac mini. I am a big fan too. I need one of those apps for my 2g touch. Are they hard to setup? I am afraid of screwing up our network 'cause my wife kinda counts on her internet working when she needs it. The mini is dedicated to the hdtv but we have 3 computers.
 
kevmcintosh said:
The extra hundred bucks (in my case on craigslist) was well worth it for 1080p playback, DTS, and the extra horsepower to run better apps like Plex which blows front row out of the water. Not to mention you can playback any format on the mac mini with no hacking needed. I simply was not happy with my apple tv. It was a good move and I'm not looking back! Weeeeee!!!!
Click to expand...

thats true -- it would act just like a DVD player as well.

whats the deal though? does it play HD content in HD?
 
kevmcintosh said:
Highly recommend it. And don't listen to those guys that say you need to have a 2 GHZ C2D mac mini to play 1080P. I have blu-ray rips that are 40-50 gigs that play back fine in both plex and quicktime. Now, I don't have anything else installed on the mac... in fact, I removed just about everything out of the applications folder, so I don't know if that has anything to do with making the system run better. Anyways, it's really the best setup. I'm even considering selling my DVD player and my PS3 (use only for blu-ray... no time for games).
Click to expand...

Where do you get your BD rips from or do you rip them yourself.. If so what app do you use?
 
The mac mini plays full 1080p content. Set your resolution to 1920 x 1080 and you're full HD ready! Anything played full screen will be HD.

I actually only have done the blu-ray rip twice. I used my PS3, then transferred the files onto the Mac.
 
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