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please help asap, about to buy mac mini

Y

Yaja123

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 19, 2005
164
0
im about to mac mini, waiting for sales guy to call me back.

what i want to know is : after the initial setup of the mac on a monitor can i remote view/use the mac mini from my powerbook, thereby eliminating the need for a monitor?

or can i use the mac mini with a TV.

basically i want to save money and space by not wanting another screen in my room.

thanks for you help. much appreciated.
 
Mmm lets see how to go about answering this. No, you can not use your PowerBook display as a monitor for the Mac mini as far as i know... Furthermore, I don't see why you would want to if you could. Yes, you can use a TV as a monitor, but it is really not a very good option, that's not what TVs are designed for, unless you have like a 20''ish HD LCD TV.
 
Chaszmyr said:
Mmm lets see how to go about answering this. No, you can not use your PowerBook display as a monitor for the Mac mini as far as i know... Furthermore, I don't see why you would want to if you could. Yes, you can use a TV as a monitor, but it is really not a very good option, that's not what TVs are designed for, unless you have like a 20''ish HD LCD TV.
Click to expand...

basically i want to mac mini for burning dvds and the odd download, easing the processing power on my powerbook.

but i just thought i could remote desktop from the powerbook couldnt i? im sure i could.

i dont need to do anything significant on the mac mini so using via tv isnt a big deal... i just want to spread/reduce the processor usage on my powerbook so i can use it without trying to manage it. And i can leave the mac mini all the time to download stuff or convert video files etc etc...

remote desktop anyone? surely this is the solution?!
 
there are jillions of vnc-like remote softwares available on the net. check out chicken of the vnc as a client - you'll need to find a vnc server

that will be ur cheapest option.
 
I believe that the newest Remote Desktop server in OS X is VNC compliant, so you don't need to install a server on your mini, but simply enable remote control and use a VNC server such as Chicken of the VNC on your laptop. I did this on my mini under Panther, but that required an updated Remote Desktop patch (free). I assume that Tiger already has this update.
 
A few warnings:
  1. if you are going to use your mac mini remotely, are you using it as a server? Little else makes sense... Game and app performance will not be acceptable.
  2. Make sure the desktop of the mac mini is set to a flat color; not even a picture of a flat color. This will improve VNC performance.
  3. Set the mac mini to auto-login to whatever account; this will simplify recovery from a power outage etc

Just re-read your post; using the mac mini w/ a TV and a bluetooth keyboard/mouse should work fine.

-RS
 
thanks for your help so far.

Ive ordered a mac mini today :D - Superdrive Bluetooth WiFi version.

Ive been admiring the iMac all week but i couldnt justify spending that much after buying my Powerbook G4. And i dont have a desk in my room.. just a little table that my powerbook sits on. So Mac 'DONKEY' Mini it is - its gonna be working its little ass off... alot! :)

Using the TV is an option but id prefer to remote desktop from powerbook.

Basically, i dont want another screen in my room. So i want to be able to switch the mac mini On (itll be on prob be on alot downloading stuff) then control everything from my powerbook.

To be able to control it via my powerbook is perfect! But i wont be doing much with it.... just starting and monitoring progress of stuff and transfering files to powerbook so not too worried about performance.

Ill research the VNC thingy once ive setup the mac mini and done a clean install of my powerbook.

From what ive seen and the replies it looks like it wont be problem

thanks for your help.

and if u know of a walk through on how to do what i want them pls let me know. cheers :D
 
danny_w said:
I believe that the newest Remote Desktop server in OS X is VNC compliant, so you don't need to install a server on your mini, but simply enable remote control and use a VNC server such as Chicken of the VNC on your laptop. I did this on my mini under Panther, but that required an updated Remote Desktop patch (free). I assume that Tiger already has this update.
Click to expand...
Yeah enabling Remote Desktop in Tiger works out of the box with VNC clients. I've used it with Chicken of the VNC. However, it isn't all that responsive. I use my PC from my Mac Mini and from my PC at work all the time using Windows Remote Desktop that is built into XP Pro and it is much more responsive and fluid. The VNC solution on my Mac Mini is feasible but not an enjoyable experience at all. I wish Apple offered a peared-down RD solution that was built into OS X like Windows does. It is one of the few things that I think is way better about XP Pro than OS X.
 
Yes, I agree that VNC is slow, and that Windows RDC is much more responsive. I hope Apple comes up with something similarly as useful, without charging a ton.
 
Apple Remote Desktop is supposed to be quite good - it just costs money. I'm under the impression that it is not just VNC repackaged; while the server is indeed VNC compatible (and so is the client I suppose) when used together they do have some additional logic to improve performance (and a lot of other features to boot!)

I wonder, is there a student discount on ARD...

-RS
 
ard is awesome. You can view, control, share control, generate reports, perform instllations of packages and software, and everything in between. The viewing is a little slow, and direct control is only available I believe to networked Macs (through ETHERNET, not WIRELESS).

It's a very very cool program. Expensive? Yus. Worth the money? For some.
 
Onizuka said:
ard is awesome. You can view, control, share control, generate reports, perform instllations of packages and software, and everything in between. The viewing is a little slow, and direct control is only available I believe to networked Macs (through ETHERNET, not WIRELESS).

It's a very very cool program. Expensive? Yus. Worth the money? For some.
Click to expand...
I've no doubt that ARD is a worthwhile program for many. It probably has many features I'd never be interested in. Microsoft has a similar product called Terminal Server that allows multiple connections, software installation, management and probably quite a few more things I am unaware of. However, it's nice that they included a less feature-rich version right into XP, the Pro edition at least. XP Home has the same technology built-in too, but it is strictly for their Remote Assistance feature that allows someone else to control your computer via MSN Messenger to help you out. You cannot directly remotely connect like you can in XP Pro.

I wish Apple would follow suit and include a stripped down version of ARD in OS X for a single, basic remote connection... and of course create a Windows client. Maybe someday - a guy can hope. :)
 
Ya, VNC is your best bet, unless you want to waste $$ on ARD. I have the exact setup you are describing. I run a Mini headless (under my desk), and VNC into it for anything I need. No need for a extra keyboard or mouse or monitor. VNC is very slow, It takes a while for screen refreshes, but it gets the job done.
 
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