So I recently purchased a Mac mini to use in my "office" at home to use to keep all my media. I have a drobo plugged into it which has all my movies, music and pictures etc. The reason I did this was because I also have the new Macbook pro with Retina display and I did not like having it to leave it in the other room to be plugged in to the drobo so I can watch movies in my living room. Now im wondering if its even worth having the ipad 2 any more. My wife has a macbook air and a ipad 2. So I am wondering if I should give up my ipad since I practically only used it to play magic and read some magazines. I also have an iphone 4s and I have a psp vita to play games.
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Too many apple products
- Thread starter enioface
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Def keeping the apple tv since I went to the trouble in making all my media mp4, wondering if having an ipad when all ready having a mac mini and macbook pro is too much
I think I see where you're going with this. I feel similarly about my iPad at the moment. The novelty has worn off and I literally haven't used it in a week. I mainly use my Apple products to occasionally watch TV shows and movies with my wife through the Apple TV or my MacBook Pro for graphic, photographic, and architectural creations. The iPad is fun but doesn't really fit into my daily routine very well as it just can't compete when it comes to anything beyond consumption. I have better things to do than just consume media in my precious spare time.
I completely understand people who can't live without it. Its a wonderful device and incredibly useful if you're on the go and need to keep in touch and don't want to lug around a notebook. Its also great for lounging around and browsing websites. I just don't find myself doing either often enough to bring my iPad over my MacBook. If I'm sitting around waiting for something to happen I will typically grab my MacBook and work on something.
I'm certainly going to keep my iPad around as it comes in handy now and then and is fun to let my little brother play with when he visits but if I needed the money I would sell it in a heart beat.
I completely understand people who can't live without it. Its a wonderful device and incredibly useful if you're on the go and need to keep in touch and don't want to lug around a notebook. Its also great for lounging around and browsing websites. I just don't find myself doing either often enough to bring my iPad over my MacBook. If I'm sitting around waiting for something to happen I will typically grab my MacBook and work on something.
I'm certainly going to keep my iPad around as it comes in handy now and then and is fun to let my little brother play with when he visits but if I needed the money I would sell it in a heart beat.
sounds good, I guess you guys are right, knowing me, the iPad 4 will come out and I would prob get that just to have one.
I'm considering AppleTV. When you say "making all your media mp4", do you also have to import all your movies into iTunes and leave iTunes running for ATV to work? For me, I got a TV that has built in "DLNA" support and all I have to do is turn on the DLNA server in my Synology NAS box and all my movies "just show up" on all my internet-aware TVs. The menu systems on those TVs are a pain and that's why I'm considering ATV. I just want to know what kind of hoops I would have to jump through to get my movies to show up on an ATV.
BTW, to answer your question, I would sell off anything you don't use as quickly as humanly possible. These gadgets tend to lose value and it's better to have the money in hand now rather than a gadget you don't really need.
I have a Macbook a Mac mini, an iPad 1 and an iPhone 4. I keep all of them because they all address specific needs that I have. If I were to replace one, I'd sell or give away the old one right away lest it add to my pile of retro-junk (which includes blackberries, palm pilots and dozens of feature phones that I held onto too long and which are now mostly landfill fodder).
This is an interesting question for me, because right now I have the new iPad and a Macbook Pro and want to get a Mac Mini as a media server for my house. I am tired of having to keep plugging in and unplugging hard drives into my MBP so that I can have access to my movies.
As for the iPad/MBP question, I think I could get by with just a Mac Mini and the iPad, but I know my wife would prefer to get by with just the Mac Mini and MBP. I suppose that means I will need all three, and therein lies my dilemma as these things are not that cheap.
As for the iPad/MBP question, I think I could get by with just a Mac Mini and the iPad, but I know my wife would prefer to get by with just the Mac Mini and MBP. I suppose that means I will need all three, and therein lies my dilemma as these things are not that cheap.
I have a MacbookPro and an iPad 2. I think I would like to have an MacbookPro Retina display instead, but I have a MacbookPro and an iPad 2 I eat hamburgers each day but I want a cheeseburger instead. I reckon you should sell your iPad 2 if you don't do anything on it.
What's cheaper than a Mac Mini? At $149 or less, a Synology DS112j NAS drive. You can then pop in a $99 1 TB or a $149 3 TB drive and you have an awesome media server that speaks DLNA. AppleTV wants you to leave iTunes running but more and more TVs are "internet ready" and can play movies directly from a NAS drive through DLNA. The Synology NAS runs Linux on an ARM processor so the thing only draws 12 watts if you put a "green" (slow) HDD inside. Don't worry, a green HDD is plenty fast enough to keep up with movie streaming over gigabit ethernet or 802.11n wifi.
Another alternative, since you are talking about a media server, is to get a used Mac mini. The new ones don't have optical drives but a used one with an optical drive but still new enough to run Mountain Lion can probably be had for under $500. I know because I got one from the Apple refurb store for $469 but that was a few months ago.