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Mac Mini to Launch at Macworld San Francisco?

not that i think any of apple's products don't have a chance to successful, but if they were to make the mac mini a home entertainment system like an appleTV, you would have a great product. Where I feel they won't succeed as well as they could is if they leave out the necessary connectivity to TVs and monitors. Have the displayport, but an HDMI output would almost alone make this thing sell so much better.

discs are in the process of being dead media, that was before Blu-ray, now at $30 a dvd and expensive players that just fuels the digital media movement. Mom will never have blu-ray, thats just my guess, what mom will have is this new mini with a netflix subscription or rent from iTunes, thats the future. They already have an optical drive that you could add via usb for the Macbook Air.
 
xhambonex said:
not that i think any of apple's products don't have a chance to successful, but if they were to make the mac mini a home entertainment system like an appleTV, you would have a great product. Where I feel they won't succeed as well as they could is if they leave out the necessary connectivity to TVs and monitors. Have the displayport, but an HDMI output would almost alone make this thing sell so much better.

discs are in the process of being dead media, that was before Blu-ray, now at $30 a dvd and expensive players that just fuels the digital media movement. Mom will never have blu-ray, thats just my guess, what mom will have is this new mini with a netflix subscription or rent from iTunes, thats the future. They already have an optical drive that you could add via usb for the Macbook Air.
Click to expand...

I don't think discs are in the process of being dead media at all. If that were the case we wouldn't hear about Blu-ray Disc A selling 600,000 units in a single day. Or DVD Disc B selling 1 million units in a day or two. Sorry but I don't think we are there yet. Can you imagine the bandwidth problems for this? Aside from folks on this board, how many have dsl/cable/fios etc? Not many. How many have download limits? A lot more then you think.

Just take a look at the sales figures for dvd and blu-rays:

http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2008/12/11/the-dark-knight-fastest-selling-blu-ray-of-all-time-over-25-fo/

http://www.the-numbers.com/dvd/charts/annual/2008.php
http://www.the-numbers.com/dvd/charts/weekly/thisweek.php

I have a feeling hard media will be with us a little longer.
 
eSATA is a connector/cable spec, otherwise same as SATA

VoR said:
You can't really find any modern computer without a chipset full of sata connections, I doubt apple will, but I think it would be silly not to give the mini a nice selection of internal and external ports.
Click to expand...

Just to emphasize - "eSATA" is not a different protocol. It is just a standard for connectors and cables to be run outside the box. (Better shielding, grip, etc)

If you have SATA ports on the chipset, the "extra" ones can be run to external eSATA jacks without much trouble. (And no new devices, drivers or whatever.)

You can even buy simple adapters to make your own:

thumb.php



VoR said:
I hope I was quoted to emphasize your point and not because you misunderstood mine :)
Click to expand...

Yes, I wanted to make sure that your reference to chipset SATA links would be understood by anyone who might think that eSATA and SATA were different protocols.
 
I hope I was quoted to emphasize your point and not because you misunderstood mine :)
 
rhett7660 said:
I don't think discs are in the process of being dead media at all. If that were the case we wouldn't hear about Blu-ray Disc A selling 600,000 units in a single day. Or DVD Disc B selling 1 million units in a day or two. Sorry but I don't think we are there yet. Can you imagine the bandwidth problems for this? Aside from folks on this board, how many have dsl/cable/fios etc? Not many. How many have download limits? A lot more then you think.

Just take a look at the sales figures for dvd and blu-rays:

http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2008/12/11/the-dark-knight-fastest-selling-blu-ray-of-all-time-over-25-fo/

http://www.the-numbers.com/dvd/charts/annual/2008.php
http://www.the-numbers.com/dvd/charts/weekly/thisweek.php

I have a feeling hard media will be with us a little longer.
Click to expand...

you are right, we aren't there yet, but we are going there and apple has been pushing it, AppleTV is the example. My point was they don't need to include a ODD in a macmini, they could run the system just like the Air. But I think we can agree that it most likely won't have a Blu-Ray drive. And yes Blu-rays and Dvds will be with us for awhile, that doesn't mean apple focuses on it though. They push itunes, thats their product, and the media they want to support over blu-ray. just my opinion.
 
If there is build-to-order quad core mobile intel chips and more than 4gb's of ram then I will def buy. I was considering a Mac Pro before but if there was quad core...:D
 
All I want from apple

I would like to see apple keep the apple tv, mini and time capsule division, but perhaps add the server function to time capsule. It would be good to have an internet hub and massive amounts of storage that could stream to your computer or your apple tv. I am not sure how many people use a computer on their tv as a computer and not as a media server. Perhaps I am wrong.

I need a place for my digital content and things to play it on.
 
rhett7660 said:
I don't think discs are in the process of being dead media at all.

Just take a look at the sales figures for dvd and Blu-rays:

http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2008/12/11/the-dark-knight-fastest-selling-blu-ray-of-all-time-over-25-fo/
Click to expand...


From your first link....

12-11-2008 @ 10:44PM

Jason said...
This was my first Blu-ray Movie. And I will be buying a whole lot more after watching this. BD Live and all the special features are just awesome! And the picture and audio was just as good or better as the theater. ...


12-11-2008 @ 10:50PM

Bill said...
Same here DK on Blu-ray was my first Blu-ray and after watching it I can see all my movies from here on out being Blu-ray.


12-11-2008 @ 11:02PM

Nick said...
After watching my Blu-ray copy I watched the digital copy version. WOW! I'm so glad I got this on Blu-ray. The movie is fantastic as it is but the quality achieved on Blu-ray is just outstanding.

(edited -as)​


So, it does look like the "Youtube-quality" version on Itunes might not kill the physical media quite yet... ;)
 
Porco said:
Again, I'm really not going to purchase TBs of storage just to back up several hundred DVDs (which would frankly take months to do on its own). I struggle to manage to deal with all the captured TV and music I have on my drives now without adding my entire back catalogue of movies.

As far as Blu-ray goes, it's already more successful than Laserdisc IMHO. Dead end? well only like any format that will be superseded in time. Vinyl, tape cassettes and CDs are a 'dead end' if you like. I think 2009 will be the year when we finally see how hollow the promises of downloads solving everything are, and Blu-ray will really gain traction. I even expect Apple to capitulate finally, though it might not be with the Mini, or in January. But I'd like it to be.



One day, when storage is even more plentiful and cheap, and when downloadable content is actually feasible for everyone because we have a proper fast internet without silly caps and bandwidth limitations to all but city-dwellers you're right, it'll be silly to keep using discs. But just because it's possible to spend loads of money on ridiculous amounts of storage and network it to a media playing device like an AppleTV etc, that doesn't automatically make it a better option than an optical drive, at least not in the next week :p

But hey, make it an option to have an optical (preferably Blu-ray) drive or additional hard disk like the rumour says, by all means.
Click to expand...

Not really as big a deal as you think...I bought a Time Capsule and an extra 1 TB drive, and spent maybe two weeks archiving my DVD library of a few hundred movies (you basically rip a bunch and batch them to run overnight; rinse, lather, repeat). Same thing with my CD library.

Until you've done it though, don't underestimate the advantage of not having to deal with discs any more...between the Apple TV and AirTunes, we've got a home media/content ecosystem that is miles ahead of what we were doing before we took the plunge (it's great to be able to hand the kids the Apple remote and give them access to an entire TV/movie/music library...my wife loves that she can listen to anything from anywhere in the house, etc.)...most of the recent TV/movie content we're watching is 720p/5.1, so it's not like you have to rough it.

Yup, encoding all your old discs is a hump to get over before you can really enjoy the benefits of a central media library, but once it's done it's like finally shedding that old 8-track machine :cool:
 
AidenShaw said:
So, it does look like the "Youtube-quality" version on Itunes might not kill the physical media quite yet... ;)
Click to expand...

The point is not which has better quality, of course 30gb discs produce better quality, the point is, what is apple going to do, and apple is sold on that "youtube-quality" you refer to and not to blu-ray just yet.
 
KindredMAC said:
The only thing that stops me from dropping Blu-Ray is that movie purchases are only SD quality. I don't understand why we can have SD vs HD rental options, but no option to buy the HD version of a movie.

Can anyone enlighten me on that one?
Click to expand...

Because in order to purchase an HD movie you'd need to be able to copy it to iTunes on your Mac (would you trust a purchased movie to ONLY exist in your AppleTV?). But since Macs don't have any DRM on the video out (well, the mistaken activation of it on the new MB/MBPs notwithstanding), the movie studios would never all an HD movie to be copied to iTunes. HD movie are allowed on the AppleTV because the HDMI port support the HDCP DRM standard.

But it appears things are changing. The new laptops have the mini DisplayPort which supports DRM. The internal screens in the laptops is also based on the DisplayPort standard, so the video signal there can also be protected if needed. It's a fair bet that the new mini will also be based on mini DisplayPort; and even though it has not yet been mentioned anywhere, I bet the new iMac will also only have mini DisplayPort for driving an external monitor.

Once Apple has "secured" the video signal for the movie studios, we will hopefully begin to see HD movies, rentals and purchases, via iTunes on a Mac, and not just on the AppleTV.
 
What's all this talk about media support? The Mini is a desktop computer first and foremost. All this extra media stuff should be just icing on the cake for those who want to go that route. Just because it's small doesn't mean it should be used a home theater device. There are devices for that already.

As far as I'm concerned, the Mac Mini needs a speed boost and a graphics card boost and I think it will get both of those this time around. A Display or Mini Display Port addition won't matter since I'm sure they'll include a DVI adapter for free like they included a free DVI to VGA adapter in older Minis. They may be cheap, but I don't think they're stupid. I'm sure the idea for the Mini will be ease of use and it works right out of the box as long as you have a keyboard, mouse, and monitor. Not including an adapter would go against that idea.

I know there are people out there who need Firewire and I agree that it should be added. Honestly, I don't see any reason NOT to add it. This isn't a notebook computer, it's a desktop and there's plenty of room on the back to add it in. However, if they don't add it, then it won't matter to me since I never use the one I have now. Sure, it stings a little to think about, but I don't recall PCs having them either. We'll all just have to accept the fact that Firewire is on the way out...just like any other electronics device or port. We'll get over it and move on to something else.

Anyway, I was expecting this thread to be full of excitement that we're finally getting a Mini update all I read is complaints about things we don't know anything about. Can't you guys ever be happy? Sheesh.
 
EDarkness said:
Sure, it stings a little to think about, but I don't recall PCs having them either.
Click to expand...

Actually, I think you'd be surprised. Many PCs, including basic laptops, have Firewire ports. They call them 1934a ports (or iLink to use Sony's label) and they are typically unpowered, but they have Firewire ports. Two of my nieces purchased $600-700 PC laptops (against their uncle's advice!) because that's all they could afford. Both have Firewire. My work Lenovo laptop has Firewire, and there is no way my company would have paid for that if it was an option.

I'm convinced that Steve Jobs' lame excuse for not including Firewire (that cameras have USB) on the MacBook was simply because they couldn't give the real reason...that they needed to differentiate it from the MacBook Pro to be able to upsell customers to the more expensive model laptop. Firewire is used for a lot more than cameras, so to say that cameras was the reason for dropping it is just ridiculous.
 
Wiggin said:
Actually, I think you'd be surprised. Many PCs, including basic laptops, have Firewire ports. They call them 1934a ports (or iLink to use Sony's label) and they are typically unpowered, but they have Firewire ports. Two of my nieces purchased $600-700 PC laptops (against their uncle's advice!) because that's all they could afford. Both have Firewire. My work Lenovo laptop has Firewire, and there is no way my company would have paid for that if it was an option.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I recently purchased a sub $500 lap top from HP, it has Firewire. I just think for the mini, it would be a real mistake to not include Firewire. Too many mini users have Firewire drive(s) they want to hang off of it.
 
Blue-ray and DVD's will disappear as soon as everyone has access to high speed internet. My gf's parents house only has dial-up. Tried to find out if 3G might work but they only get 1 bar usually. It's more convenient to have an online movie service but it's still not very practical for a lot of people.
 
I just decided on a PS3 for my Blu-Ray solution since Sony was offering a special for $249 on the PS3. I figured for that price I get a decent blu-ray player and a good game player.

as for the mini, I can't wait! I've had my PPC g4 mini since early 2005 and even though it still does well, I would like to enjoy editing my 20,000 digital photos instead of dreading it. If available, I will be ordering it the first day!
 
dwl017 said:
No it does not run OS X any thoughts?
Click to expand...

I'm sure it will run osx if you're willing to do a little reading and moral bending.

Better than commenting/complaining to apple/microsoft on a forum/feedback page too :)
 
penguy said:
I just decided on a PS3 for my Blu-Ray solution since Sony was offering a special for $249 on the PS3. I figured for that price I get a decent blu-ray player and a good game player.

as for the mini, I can't wait! I've had my PPC g4 mini since early 2005 and even though it still does well, I would like to enjoy editing my 20,000 digital photos instead of dreading it. If available, I will be ordering it the first day!
Click to expand...
Depends on the specification.
 
Holy cow.

So we have ALL THIS coming in a weeks time?!?

- Mac Mini
- iMac
- Mac Pro
- Displays
- iPhone Nano
- Netbook
- Snow Leopard (announcement[?])
- And more

All without Uncle Steve........

Methinks not.

Unless Steve REALLY wows us with a surprise appearance............ Maybe....

Time will tell!
 
Well, more like:

- Mac mini
- iMac (possibly, more likely announced and shipping later)
- Snow Leopard update discussion
- iWork/iLife (possibly)

The best way to go about predicting for a Keynote address is to take the list of things rumoured to be coming out and dividing that by about 3. Then lower your expectations to only a fraction above what the current products are.

SuperMacMan said:
Holy cow.

So we have ALL THIS coming in a weeks time?!?

- Mac Mini
- iMac
- Mac Pro
- Displays
- iPhone Nano
- Netbook
- Snow Leopard (announcement[?])
- And more

All without Uncle Steve........

Methinks not.

Unless Steve REALLY wows us with a surprise appearance............ Maybe....

Time will tell!
Click to expand...
 
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