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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Desktops > Mac Mini as a complete home theatre system?

Mac Mini as a complete home theatre system? (Page 2)
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ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Apr 21, 2012, 01:31 PM
 
Okay, so, I installed Plex on my existing iMac just to check out how it works, and how it interfaces with the iPad.

Holy shit. This thing is damn cool. I'm pretty blown away to be honest - I like the layout a lot better than the AppleTV GUI at first blush. I can't seem to get Netflix to work though - it may be restricted to US residents only at this point, I'm not sure.

Wow. Impressed thus far.
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ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Apr 21, 2012, 09:25 PM
 
Hmmmm, haven't yet figured out how to search within iTunes - must be a way, but it's not obvious. And I guess the iTunes store isn't available via Plex?
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ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Jul 16, 2012, 10:59 AM
 
Just to resurrect a zombie thread:

Remote-sized wireless keyboard

Mobile Mouse: use your smart phone as mouse/keyboard

It looks like we're getting progressively closer to controlling a computer with a remote. I still can't believe Apple hasn't made a iLifestyle-themed home theatre headless computer such as a more-powerful AppleTV.....but it has to happen very soon. Right? This is so obvious it's not even funny, right?
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subego
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Jul 21, 2012, 08:54 AM
 
Obvious enough I think they may not be interested.

You still can't even use a Mac as an AirPlay client.
     
ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Jul 21, 2012, 10:17 AM
 
But they have to be interested. A multimedia home hub, which will have to have a great, usable GUI? Everyone can see it's going that way.
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subego
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Jul 22, 2012, 03:00 AM
 
Yeah, but they've displayed their interest as the AppleTV.

They're right in the middle of transitioning the MacOS into the iOS. In other words, making the MacOS better suited for portable devices which are in close physical proximity to you. This is the kind of computer hardware they're focusing on, to wit, laptops with resolutions so high you need to put your face three inches away to make use of it all.

Your TV is the odd man out in this equation. It's a UI you need to use from two meters away. If Apple wants to do anything with that they'll keep it in the teeny-weeny little sandbox they've built for it.
     
subego
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Jul 22, 2012, 03:12 AM
 
Another reason they want to keep it separate is as negotiating leverage with content providers. With the AppleTV they can offer a walled-off, DRMed to **** and back ecosystem.
     
cgc
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Jul 22, 2012, 02:44 PM
 
Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton View Post
Okay, so, I installed Plex on my existing iMac just to check out how it works, and how it interfaces with the iPad.


Holy shit. This thing is damn cool. I'm pretty blown away to be honest - I like the layout a lot better than the AppleTV GUI at first blush. I can't seem to get Netflix to work though - it may be restricted to US residents only at this point, I'm not sure.


Wow. Impressed thus far.
Plex is outstanding...I've been using XBMC (same thing but they're forks of the same project or one's a fork of the other) for a while and love it. BTW, Boxee uses a different fork that's equally as good.
     
ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Jul 24, 2012, 04:29 AM
 
Yeah, I really enjoy the GUI of Plex. Unfortunately, apparently the AppleTV version is fairly old. I haven't bothered to install XBMC.

There's still no jailbreak for the AppleTV 3, either - so everyone who wants to use more than the "standard" ATV features is still stuck on 720p output using the older model. The processor is also getting a little long in the tooth and doesn't seem to have the horsepower to play some 1080p movies (which it outputs as 720p) without hiccups.

Would be nice to see a jailbreak for the new ATV3, but apparently it's a tough slog.
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infoleather
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Aug 13, 2012, 01:54 AM
 
If you what to do in the browser, or try to run webapps, Internet radio, it is quite difficult without a keyboard.
     
abbaZaba
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Sep 10, 2012, 06:46 PM
 
whenever I plug or unplug my tv into the mini (one HDMI port) sometimes applications windows get pushed to the edge of the screen and I can't pull them back- they end up just snapping back to the edge. how can I remedy this?
     
ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Sep 12, 2012, 01:57 AM
 
Has anyone here heard anything about or tried the Pulsebox?

It's an PC built specifically to be an XBMC-based home theatre hub. Not much in the way of functionality but the Premium version has bluetooth, wireless, SD reader, and one eSATA port; I would imagine getting the 64gig SSD and using an external hard drive to keep it as quiet as possible (or perhaps ordering the 320gig hard drive and switching it to external later by adding a larger SSD in its place?).

Anyway I haven't seen any reviews of this thing in action yet - but for $600 including remote and shipping, it looks to be the rough equivalent of a Mini except fully set up to act solely as a home theatre hub....
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robertjj
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Sep 19, 2012, 08:03 AM
 
Try out VLC- it's available for the mac mini (OS X) and IOS- which I assume is what Apple TV runs. You can set up streaming servers with it and connect to them. We use them all the time at home to stream movies and music across our network.
     
ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Sep 19, 2012, 09:43 AM
 
I'm not sure how that would help me from an interface perspective....
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Eug
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Sep 19, 2012, 10:03 AM
 
I use a Blu-ray player:

1) Costs $80.
2) Plays BDs.
3) Plays avi, mp4, mkv.
4) Plays Netflix.
5) No software and codecs to fiddle with.
6) Works great with my Logitech Harmony remote.
     
abbaZaba
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Sep 19, 2012, 05:20 PM
 
Eug have you given Plex a try? does your Blu-ray player pull down episode titles and information, series air dates, ratings, series theme songs, series artwork, keep track of watched/unwatched/in progress shows or episodes? does the Blu-ray player read network media?

I don't use Netflix as I have my own library of TV/Movies for Plex to parse and present to me in a presentable manner.
     
Eug
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Sep 19, 2012, 07:45 PM
 
Originally Posted by abbaZaba View Post
Eug have you given Plex a try? does your Blu-ray player pull down episode titles and information, series air dates, ratings, series theme songs, series artwork, keep track of watched/unwatched/in progress shows or episodes?
No, and I don't care. I just want to watch my selected shows.

does the Blu-ray player read network media?
Yes and no. Mine supports network media via DLNA, but mine doesn't do DLNA well. However, apparently others have more flexible DLNA support. (I hate DLNA though.)

I don't use Netflix as I have my own library of TV/Movies for Plex to parse and present to me in a presentable manner.
Netflix is absolutely necessary for me.
     
cgc
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Sep 20, 2012, 05:30 AM
 
Originally Posted by Eug View Post
No, and I don't care. I just want to watch my selected shows.
Yes and no. Mine supports network media via DLNA, but mine doesn't do DLNA well. However, apparently others have more flexible DLNA support. (I hate DLNA though.)
Netflix is absolutely necessary for me.
I don't think anyone does DLNA well (or can as I think DLNA sucks). I have a $350 HTPC I run with XBMC and an IR remote (and my iPod Touch sometimes) and can play everything...all updates are disabled. I'd recommend a Popcorn Hour as it's got the benefits of a great media center, no updates, and it's relatively cheap.
     
abbaZaba
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Sep 20, 2012, 10:19 AM
 
as far as I can tell, Netflix is a burden to get working on Plex. Can't say for certain on XMBC, others may be able to chime in on this. If I used Netflix, I'd be more inclined to experiment finding an elegant couch solution.

As my mid-2006 Mac mini becomes more and more outdated, I am keeping my eye on an Apple TV (most likely would have to jailbreak for all I'd want to do) or a Roku of some sort. The mini will probably stay in service but be relegated to a headless server as something newer replaces it. I do prefer having a full OS X, but the cost/use ratio is hard to justify.
     
Laminar
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Sep 20, 2012, 11:38 AM
 
Originally Posted by ShortcutToMoncton View Post
Yeah, I really enjoy the GUI of Plex. Unfortunately, apparently the AppleTV version is fairly old. I haven't bothered to install XBMC.
There's still no jailbreak for the AppleTV 3, either - so everyone who wants to use more than the "standard" ATV features is still stuck on 720p output using the older model. The processor is also getting a little long in the tooth and doesn't seem to have the horsepower to play some 1080p movies (which it outputs as 720p) without hiccups.
Would be nice to see a jailbreak for the new ATV3, but apparently it's a tough slog.
And it's really driving up the price of the ATV2. I listed my ATV2 on Amazon for $165 and it sold within an hour. I took that and bought two refurb ATV3s so now I have one in the living room and one in the bedroom. I haven't noticed any difference when going from 720p to 1080p, but my main TV is only 42".
     
ShortcutToMoncton  (op)
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Sep 24, 2012, 04:48 AM
 
Yikes!

I might end up listing mine now and seeing what happens with the ATV3 - hopefully they break it....
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