Mac mini: The perfect media PC that no-one needs

Very expensive for what you get....rather buy a good Core i5 desktop and load Ubuntu 10.04 on it - you'll still have spare change!

The form factor is nice, but that's about it.

*I'm using my PS3 as my media center - it rocks my socks off. :)
 
It's a beautiful machine, with decent specs, and uses less power than any other desktop on the market. If I could afford one I'd buy it.
 
compact and good-looking
very quiet
very low power consumption
front row means your mom can work it and get use out of it
can also work as a desktop if you need it now, or may need it in future
works well as a fileserver for non-media content, again with fairly easy setup.
especially in respect of previous point, relatively secure, virus-free and so on. Fewer concerns about remembering to protect your media box as well as other computers.
works brilliantly as a back-up server (time machine) for other macs in your house. Can also act as backup server for windows / linux machines
can act as a software update server for macs in your household to reduce total bandwidth usage or to make downloading more convenient.
can very easily run websites for your internal network (personal or business) or external websites. Yes, so can other computers, but for a basic setup this is about as easy as it gets
great if you want a development platform for OSX / iOS if you just want to play around a bit before you go the whole hog with a mac pro.

So, while it isn't for everyone, and not everyone will agree with all of my points above, there is a market for it and I get an enormous amount of use out of mine.
 
the only problem i have with the mac mini is the price,

If i could get one from the US it would be cheaper than a PS3 or Xbox.
 
rpm said:
The perfect media PC that no-one needs

Almost lost in the craziness that was the launch of the iPhone 4 and (more importantly for me iOS4) was the release of Apple’s new and revitalised Mac mini.
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I wish this Ben Kelly bloke (who the hell is he?) would not call me no-one

I bought the previous Mac Mini as a media centre about 2 years ago.
I couldn't be happier.

I convert all my content to mp4 and then place it on a central disc.
The family including a tech illiterate wife and 8 year old daughter use Front Row to access all the content.
It really works well.
The test of a good solution is how easily no-techies can use it.

Furthermore apart from the file conversion to mp4 (which is really simple) I have zero maintenance or setup. It just works.

Sure there are other solutions and sure the Apple Mini is relatively expensive but some of the views above lack objectivity. I am lucky enough not to have to worry about a thousand or 2 so a premium does not trouble me. Aesthetics, size, ease of use are important though.

I am not a gamer so I don't need the less elegant PS3
 
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Maybe they should have kept the size and put better graphics in it. Good thing they made it easier to upgrade the ram at least.
 
They did put better graphics in it. Also, it looks thinner, but it's wider too, so it's actually the same size. Good thing is they got rid of the power brick.


Aargh it's so sexy!!
 
Not sure if it should be recommended as a PC but for a starter to get into Mac, For someone who needs to take a desktop somewhere, or for a media centre it doesn't matter if there are cheaper options. People know when they buy Apple they buy something that just works, and works easily. My mother who is clueless as they come wrt to technology can work my Macbook Pro. There is no clutter or folders that pop up and you never get a windows like error box and unlike my wondows machine I have never had it freeze or randomly crash ever.
 
I'm looking at what is available on the market for use as an HD Media player. Not sure the PS3 would really cut it (Does it even play h264 .mkv's without conversion?). The Mac Mini seems perfect for the job.

The article mentions small form-factor PC alternatives but I couldn't find a PC alternative that is low power, low profile and low-noise with similar specs. Does an alternative really exist? The bottom line is that I don't want to have to convert any of my media.
 
psichron said:
I'm looking at what is available on the market for use as an HD Media player. Not sure the PS3 would really cut it (Does it even play h264 .mkv's without conversion?). The Mac Mini seems perfect for the job.

The article mentions small form-factor PC alternatives but I couldn't find a PC alternative that is low power, low profile and low-noise with similar specs. Does an alternative really exist? The bottom line is that I don't want to have to convert any of my media.
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For what it's worth, I've been, like so many of us, trying to find the perfect media player for the last few years. And put a lot of effort (and unfortunately money) into the process.

The bit that was a no-brainer was to store all media on a multi-terabyte RAIDed Ubuntu server. Although the newer generation NAS systems are beginning to make sense thought they don't support enough disks in one array yet.

The media renderers were not so easy. All seem to have some difficulty. And I tried most of them, including MCE on Linux, Windows Media Center with XBox as extenders, Apple/Frontrow, a number of different brand-name media renderers (MViX, D-Link, Netgear, etc.) to the popular gaming consoles. Support of relevant protocols, Elegant UI menu systems, file formats supported, etc. are all at different levels with the different solutions.

At one point I had a stack of Netgear EVA-8000's for their excellent file support and the fact I could control them over IP.

But eventually I settled on PS3's as media streamers. For R3000 you get a kick-ass gaming console, a Blu-Ray DVD and a media player that has a simple but elegant UI. And it's all 1080p over HDMI. Aesthetically it looks good and is quiet. So, unlike the X-Box or a PC, you can put it next to your TV.

As the DLNA server streaming the media, I use the excellent PS3 Media Server (http://code.google.com/p/ps3mediaserver/). I run the Linux version on the media server itself, but have used the Windows version without any problems. It will do real-time conversion if needed and can support concurrent streams to multiple consoles. At the moment I have 3 consoles at 3 different TV's (2xPS3's and 1x 360) and stream concurrently to all of them without any problem.

This is the most seamless and elegant setup I've found so far.
 
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But eventually I settled on PS3's as media streamers. For R3000 you get a kick-ass gaming console, a Blu-Ray DVD and a media player that has a simple but elegant UI. And it's all 1080p over HDMI. Aesthetically it looks good and is quiet. So, unlike the X-Box or a PC, you can put it next to your TV.
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True, the PS3 is the best Media centre PC, come to think of it. The Mac Mini is more of a general purpose PC in comparison.
 
This mac mini is fantastic... This author just seems to hate apple, writes bad reviews on all their products... I will be picking one of these up to use as a Desktop, the thing can run final cut quite smoothly, very impressive. Its look elegant, i mean a case that looks that nice with a Micro ATX ends up costing over a 1000 bucks just for the casing. Also in true mac fashion it has wireless n and bluetooth, making it very diverse.
 
jannievanzyl said:
As the DLNA server streaming the media, I use the excellent PS3 Media Server (http://code.google.com/p/ps3mediaserver/). I run the Linux version on the media server itself, but have used the Windows version without any problems. It will do real-time conversion if needed and can support concurrent streams to multiple consoles. At the moment I have 3 consoles at 3 different TV's (2xPS3's and 1x 360) and stream concurrently to all of them without any problem.

This is the most seamless and elegant setup I've found so far.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the excellent advice! Would you mind elaborating on the kind of streaming setup you're talking about? How do you control what gets streamed, ie which interface/control do you use?
 
I have a Zotac Mag with a dual core 1.6ghz atom, 250gb hdd, 1gb ram and a nvidia 9400M

It plays full hi def mkv blu ray rips flawlessly, has wireless n and hdmi + spdif.

I paid R3500 for it. It's tiny and near silent - R7k for a Mac Mini? No thanks.
 
Biscuit1018 said:
I am not a gamer so I don't need the less elegant PS3
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Sorry, but the mac mini does not look as cool as a PS3. And it will never be able to play Killzone 2. :p

Mac mini is an entry level desktop pc, but it seems the slim look is clouding some people's judgment.
 
It seems to me that this MYBB site is degenerating into an Apple-slamming site. I never see posts slamming Dell, or Acer or Windows...or much else. It seems a pity, it WAS really a useful and interesting site..... Is it me, or is there really a trend towards Apple bashing ? RPM, care to comment ?
 
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