Mac mini to Sony Bravia questions

[DHagan4755]

My parents bought a Sony Bravia HDTV last week. They need to buy a DVD player that has better output than S-Video! So my initial inclination is to buy them a Mac mini so they can watch DVDs, use the TV as a giant monitor for getting online, etc.

My questions are this: The TV has a PC connection on the back. I hooked up a MacBook Pro to it and it doesn't look as clear as I think it should at the HDTV resolution! And older PowerBook G4 doesn't go further than 1440x900 but looks great even though it won't fit to the screen. Will the Mac mini work well for this? Should I get a DVI to HDMI cable instead?

Does the the Mac mini output surround sound? The audio receiver has an optical input that looks like an RCA type of connector.

So any advice / help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[ADent]

Many, many DVD players have component, DVI, or HDMI output.

I would think you should be able to hook up the mini as a 720p source (or even a 1080p source if the TV can handle it) - look at a HTPC forum on how to do that - instead of just settling for the computer input.

The only surround sound output is via optical. There are optical to coax converters for not too much money.

 

[kermit4161]

My parents bought a Sony Bravia HDTV last week. They need to buy a DVD player that has better output than S-Video! So my initial inclination is to buy them a Mac mini so they can watch DVDs, use the TV as a giant monitor for getting online, etc.

My questions are this: The TV has a PC connection on the back. I hooked up a MacBook Pro to it and it doesn't look as clear as I think it should at the HDTV resolution! And older PowerBook G4 doesn't go further than 1440x900 but looks great even though it won't fit to the screen. Will the Mac mini work well for this? Should I get a DVI to HDMI cable instead?

Does the the Mac mini output surround sound? The audio receiver has an optical input that looks like an RCA type of connector.

So any advice / help would be greatly appreciated!

You should be able to go directly from the Mini to the Sony via a DVI-HDMI cable (DVI out from Mini to HDMI input on Sony). I did that with my Samsung TV and things look great.

For sound, Im just connecting from a mini headphone jack to an RCA splitter and running it to an auxiliary input on my home entertainment receiver. It isn't very high end (no optical input).. but I think both sound outputs on the Mini are optical... you probably could run an optical cable directly from the Mini into your surround sound receiver.

Good luck. I think you'll be happy with the results

 

[DHagan4755]

Well after using the feature with my laptop to get an idea of the look and feel, I don't think that my folks would use it like I would. So I bought them a Sony DVD player on Amazon with HDMI out just to KISS.

Thanks for the input!!!