Power PC mini HTPC

[jmor]

I'm planning on using an older power pc mac mini as our HTPC. It won't need to do anything to complex, just hopefully some hulu and play the things out of itunes and netflix? I'm going to try but I was wondering what wires I would need to connect it to the TV and also how much and what kind of ram do these older minis take? If you have any other opinions or input of how to get this working to the best quality, let me know, thanks

 

[itickings]

You can put a maximum of 1 GiB of memory in. DDR 333MHz should work fine I think, check with Crucial's configurator for example. 1 GiB is not an astonishing amount, but for media playing it should be enough. It is far more likely that the CPU proves to be the proverbial bottleneck. I'm not really sure you can expect Hulu/Netflix even...

Are you going to run the sound through the TV as well, or do you have a separate receiver for that?

What connections do your TV offer? A PPC mini can do VGA, DVI or (via an adapter and without sound) HDMI. Digital connections such as DVI or HDMI are usually preferable, but due to technical reasons VGA can be better with some TV sets.

 

[bizzle]

Netflix streaming is not supported on PPC. Also, you'll barely be able to play Hulu. I have a PowerMac G5 Dual 2.0 ghz with 6GB RAM and it can barely play some higher resolution Youtube, so don't count on a great Hulu viewing experience.

 

[chrismacguy]

While PowerPC is great for some things, Id agree with the above - aim for a Early Core 2 Duo mini - their not that expensive, and they will let you play Hulu etc in HD (Even if PowerPC meets your needs now, its likely youd have to replace it in about 6 months), as for video it just cant hold a candle to Intel, and cant really handle HD - even die-hard PowerPC users tend to have a single Intel Mac as their HTPC, just as its not something PPC can handle well anymore.

 

[MacForScience]

I'm planning on using an older power pc mac mini as our HTPC. It won't need to do anything to complex, just hopefully some hulu and play the things out of itunes and netflix? I'm going to try but I was wondering what wires I would need to connect it to the TV and also how much and what kind of ram do these older minis take? If you have any other opinions or input of how to get this working to the best quality, let me know, thanks

Sorry to pile on: but I have actually tried this, and essentially a PowerPC at this point is good for a DVD player and SD iTunes movie player and that is about it.

Cheers

 

[VanneDC]

i disagree, the early mini's are great for a mediaplayer. Sure it wont do HD, nor netflix, but does DivX just fine. Also the colour reproduction quality for the ati card in the early G4 mini's beat the crap out of the early core/Core2 mini's with the internal GMA card which utterly suck balls..

I sold mine and would much, much prefer a G4 mini over the ***** early core Mini's with GMA.

Go with the G4 as long as your play requirements allow it

 

[jmor]

Unfortunately when I had made the post I had already purchased the mini, at this point I'm kind of stuck. I still haven't had time to even turn it on or look at what wire I'll need but from the sounds of these posts, it's trouble. Well, it sucks because now I've paid for it and I can't just go out and get another (core 2 duo) so it seems I'm kind of stuck unless I can sell this one without a loss and find a really cheap duo? Any suggestions? And I'm still looking at what wire I'll need but I have to check my tv first