[tomkos123]

im thinking about getting a mac mini to use with my tv
i will be using a dvi to hdmi cable and using the hdmi socket on the tv

i was just wondering if anyone has experience of this setup
and how well it works, maybe with an eyetv?

also id like to use the mini for playing dvds,
so would like to know how noisy it is?

thanks for the help/opinions!

[SoBayJake]

Originally Posted by tomkos123

also id like to use the mini for playing dvds,
so would like to know how noisy it is?

I don't have any information about the other questions, but you can certainly here the mini reading a disc (or at least, I can!)

Granted, I'm sitting right there in front of it, not back far enough to watch a DVD and listening to the soundtrack.

I'll try it out tonight and see how loud it is when watching a movie.

-J

[tomkos123]

that would be a great help!
as its one of my main concerns

[harrisjamieh]

If the optical drive is similar to that on an iBook (im assuming it is, as they are both slot loading, and the mini is basically an iBook), then the initial insersion of a disk is loud, i was surprised at how loud, and so too is the initial read of the disk, but once the main DVD feature has started, its pretty quiet, and theres no way you will hear it when sitting away from it and with the volume cranked to a reasonable level

[tomkos123]

previous to my PB i had an ibook and noticed the same thing
but never actually watched a dvd on it

[SoBayJake]

Well, so far, its not too loud. Its not like when the disc is spinning at a really high speed grabbing data as fast as possible. That being said, it is loud to insert/eject a disc. And you can hear, especially when seeking to start a movie, or jumping chapters.

It's not super loud, tho. I used Salling Clicker across the room, and don't really hear the drive while the movie is playing. I do hear the drive when seeking. I've got a 1.42 GHz, and haven't heard the fan kick up in playing the movie ("Meet the Fockers"). The CPU is at 30% or so for DVD Player, so I doubt the fan will kick in any time soon.

Hope this helps!
-Jake

[bembol]

Originally Posted by tomkos123

im thinking about getting a mac mini to use with my tv
i will be using a dvi to hdmi cable and using the hdmi socket on the tv

i was just wondering if anyone has experience of this setup
and how well it works, maybe with an eyetv?

also id like to use the mini for playing dvds,
so would like to know how noisy it is?

thanks for the help/opinions!

What HDTV do you have? I have a 30" Panasonic Direct View HDTV and used the DVI-to-HDMI...at first it was alright but it started bothering my eyes, especially late nights on the forums and when I used the split feature on my HDTV.

I don't think I would've bought an LCD but I got a sick deal on my new 19" ViewSonic VA912b...!!!

About watching DVD's, it's not bad...I love that it has the De-Interlacing...!!

[tomkos123]

SoBayJake, thanks for checking that out for me,
much appreciated!

im planning on picking up a good quality dvi to hdmi cable first (probably made by QED) and trying it out with my powerbook to check picture quality first, but its great to know what it will be like with a mini

bembol, i have a toshiba 27WL56 lcd, what aspect was bothering your eyes?

[dannyillusion]

I've got a Philips 26" LCD hooked up to my Mini and overall it's working great.
Initially the Mini didn't recognize the TV as a widescreen display and only offered 4:3 resolutions but a third party software fixed that (don't remember the name of the app but will check once I'm home).
Additionally, if I put the Mini to sleep it messes the resolution settings up but I'm not really bothered with this as I don't really see any reason to put it to sleep.

Hope this helps...

[tomkos123]

dannyillusion, thanks for the info

ive been doing a little bit more reading up
and ran across this article, mainly interested in the bit at the bottom about the dvd player:

http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.aspx?i=2349

how do you think the dvd player handles pictures overall?

[tooki]

I think it looks good overall. You have to remember that ALL the defects shown are the result of defective discs. If a disc has been properly mastered, it will display correctly.

A standalone DVD player often handles bad discs better; I suggest using one.

tooki

[tooki]

P.S. See my first post in http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.php?t=275080 to see why a standalone player is better.

tooki

[dannyillusion]

I agree with Tooki, a standalone dvd player seem to be more forgiving with "bad" dvds.
The app I used is called DISPLAYCONFIGX

good luck!