Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

jjlannoo · Dec 9, 2005, 10:30 PM

ok?

slugslugslug · Dec 9, 2005, 10:38 PM

Too bad about how we're all gonna force you to buy one if they ever come to fruition..

mduell · Dec 10, 2005, 01:35 AM

A mini as an HTPC doesn't make sense with a 2.5" hard drive. With a 3.5" hard drive it makes a lot of sense.

ghporter · Dec 10, 2005, 08:58 AM

With a large, fast hard drive and a 1.5GHz processor, the Mini would be FANTASTIC as a media center machine. (I had to Google "HTPC" to figure out what you were on about...too many acronyms give me headaches!) It's small, it's quiet, it's powerful, it's inexpensive, and it's a Mac! What's the problem with that?

jamil5454 · Dec 10, 2005, 09:19 AM

It would be garfabulous as a media center machine, but then I'd just need 4,000 for the rest of my media center.

tooki · Dec 10, 2005, 12:36 PM

Biggest problem: it can't handle HD. A G4 at that speed simply can't decode high definition video fast enough

.

tooki

slugslugslug · Dec 10, 2005, 02:02 PM

Well, the Think Secret prediction of the Living Room Mini said that it'd be an Intel-based thingy. So perhaps they'd be using an Intel chip that could handle HD? I don't really know enough about Intel's offerings to know which'uns would be appropriate, but it seems a distinct possibility that whichever chips work would also drive the price above properly Mini levels..

Anyway, the OP and his/her post seem to have gotten eaten by the forum zombie, so who know if it was about the TS rumor or the current Mini. I'd have to agree that the G4 one isn't useful on the high end.

mduell · Dec 10, 2005, 06:24 PM

Originally Posted by slugslugslug

Well, the Think Secret prediction of the Living Room Mini said that it'd be an Intel-based thingy. So perhaps they'd be using an Intel chip that could handle HD? I don't really know enough about Intel's offerings to know which'uns would be appropriate, but it seems a distinct possibility that whichever chips work would also drive the price above properly Mini levels..

Everything from about a 1.5-1.6Ghz Pentium M or Celeron M on up can handle 720p. 1080p might be do-able on a 2.26Ghz Pentium M, but it may require a dual core Pentium M (Jonah/Yonah).

ghporter · Dec 10, 2005, 09:51 PM

I think an Intel-based machine would work fine, but what about a PPC-based computer with hardware encoding/decoding? That's quite feasible and doesn't depend on any programs being ported to native Intel code. I'm really concerned about how much of the Mac program base was ported when the first Intel Macs come out.

mduell · Dec 10, 2005, 10:08 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

I think an Intel-based machine would work fine, but what about a PPC-based computer with hardware encoding/decoding? That's quite feasible and doesn't depend on any programs being ported to native Intel code. I'm really concerned about how much of the Mac program base was ported when the first Intel Macs come out.

VIA already has some C3 miniITX/nanoITX platforms with onboard MPEG4 encoding/decoding chips... upgrade that to MPEG4 Part 10 (H.264 AVC), and you've got the right size board with a very low power CPU.
Based on SJobs offer to put OSX on the $100 laptops, the x86 port can easily be run on more than just Intel x86 chips.

JMII · Dec 12, 2005, 12:26 PM

Originally Posted by tooki

Biggest problem: it can't handle HD.

And it's missing an optical audio link for Dolby or DTS surround sound.
And it's missing component (RGB) video outputs to run a HD TV set.

If the mini is going to be a HTPC is needs some serious upgrades... thus I just don't see how Apple can pull it off at a $500 price point.

However maybe this what the whole "Asteroid" breakout box rumor was about - a Mini add-on that contains all the necessary audio/video input and outputs to turn a Mac mini into a HTPC. You connect this box (which sells for $200-$300) via Firewire (or USB or Ethernet) to a mini and an then use an updated version of Front Row to control it. This box could also have a built-in iPod dock so you could stream music or videos without digging around behind the unit for the necessary connections.

hmurchison2001 · Dec 12, 2005, 12:38 PM

Here's how Apple pulls it off for $699

Increase the size of the mini to support 3.5" drives.
Utilize the ATI GPU that supports hardware assist h.264 accleration
Add HDMI 1.2 for support for video and audio
Add a TV tuner to the mobo or externally.

Bam! it can be done. Media Centers won't come at $500 on either platform. But Apple can do it for $699

dale · Dec 13, 2005, 05:16 AM

I think the "Asteroid" add on unit would be the easiest way to achieve HTPC, connecting to a Mac Mini. I would suspect Ethernet would be the connector to allow communication via a short crossover cable or wirelessly via the Airport Express/Extreme units. This will allow the asteroid unit to work with all other Mac's also.

This leads me to believe that Apple will not take this route, but produce a stunning single box device. Two boxes would be too easy for them, they like to do the unexpected and wow everyone with the amount of functionality they cram into beautifully formed, rounded-edged shiny white boxes