Comments on: The New Mac Mini is Still Best Choice for the Living Room http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/ Feeding Your Gadget and Tech Obsessions Thu, 17 May 2012 17:46:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Shankar Raj http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-204650 Shankar Raj Mon, 23 Apr 2012 21:30:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-204650 Anyway when it comes with DVD you will cry it does not have Blue Ray. If it had BRay you would cry it didn’t have 3D, and tomorrow there would be several questions as to why its not DVD- , then it should be DVD Writer, BlueRay Writer, and everyone’s expectation keeps growing. Better is what you have in Mac Mini, I plugged in a DVD Writer and my very own choiciest 3D BlueRay player. Now everything is in. No other box would have done this better for me.

]]> By: Guest http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-197666 Guest Wed, 28 Mar 2012 23:25:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-197666 I hooked a 2.3 GHz mini (an i5 with 4 Gb of ram and the Intel HD Graphics 3000) to my Sony Bravia, via the HDMI and it couldn’t deliver HD content without constantly dropping frames. So I hooked up an external drive and tried a DVD. The same results, dropped frames and nothing smooth. I returned the Mini.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-157572 Anonymous Mon, 28 Nov 2011 12:54:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-157572 So how much did you get paid to write that drivel?

How much did this “columnist” get paid to write this article?

]]> By: Myron http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-157567 Myron Mon, 28 Nov 2011 12:21:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-157567 Rich, I just wanted to let you know that you can use USB TV tuners with this (and any computer). I have 2 of them in the back of my mini and use the EyeTV software. This gives me dual tuner DVR functionality, a TiVo-like guide to schedule recordings, the ability to export recordings to iPhone and iPad, and the ability to access my recordings from outside my network.

I agree it is expensive, but it was worth it to me. I’ve never had a problem with the mini. And, thanks to Remote Buddy, I can run everything from silver apple remote. Also, it is wife approved, in that she can work everything as well, which is huge.

]]> By: 5263511231 http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-126387 5263511231 Thu, 28 Jul 2011 01:37:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-126387 monster energy caps

New york yankees caps

MLB hats

Adjustable Baseball caps
vs

]]> By: Steven http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-126069 Steven Tue, 26 Jul 2011 20:13:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-126069 I don’t really see why the size matters.  Anyway, this htpc should be more powerful and cost $230 less.  http://www.brownbox.com/gateway-sx2841-dual-core-6gb-1tb-hdmi-desktop-htpc-win-7/

]]> By: Ruben Martinez http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-125905 Ruben Martinez Tue, 26 Jul 2011 13:00:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-125905 Problem being they’re all insanely under-powered. This sports a 2nd gen i5 at minimum.

Find me a desktop, any desktop, in a similar compact form-factor, with that processor, and for less than that price. Then we’ll talk.
This coming from a desperate college student trying desperately to avoid buying an OS X machine :/ This is honestly the only computer that meets my needs…

]]> By: Ruben Martinez http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-125903 Ruben Martinez Tue, 26 Jul 2011 12:56:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-125903 Yeah. Except it’s significantly more expensive than a similarly configured Mac Mini :/

]]> By: Ruben Martinez http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-125904 Ruben Martinez Tue, 26 Jul 2011 12:56:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-125904 Yeah. Except it’s significantly more expensive than a similarly configured Mac Mini :/

]]> By: rich http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-125569 rich Sun, 24 Jul 2011 15:42:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-125569 “Best choice for the living room”?  Is this a joke?  You should at least define the requirements before making such broad, grandiose assertions.  Where do you put the TV tuner?  How can you watch/record shows?  By paying by the episode?  What about live sports?  I’ll stick with my HTPC+Ceton InfiniTV HDDVR+Bluray, using xbox / PS3 as extenders.   I’m not an Apple hater, I have most of the products.  If the mini could work with a TV tuner and extenders, I’d consider it, although it’s more expensive than a well-built HTPC.  

]]> By: Al Ward http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-125514 Al Ward Sun, 24 Jul 2011 11:59:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-125514 Offence intended , PS3 FTW

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-125404 Anonymous Sun, 24 Jul 2011 02:08:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-125404 It’s cheap to Don, he gets all this crap for free to test out… Personally I think the above poster had it right, calling it a $600 Apple Cash Register.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-125240 Anonymous Sat, 23 Jul 2011 12:51:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-125240 I just perused Newegg.com right now and they’re running upwards to $400. Ofcourse these ones are all beefed up, some with Core i3/i5 CPUs and the cheaper ones are on Dual Core Atoms (with Nvidia ION gpu) or AMD’s Bobcat E series (with AMD HD gpu).

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-125238 Anonymous Sat, 23 Jul 2011 12:48:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-125238 External USB powered DVD drives are cheap, $30 – $50 price range ( i have a Pioneer model), so it’s not that bad. I’ve even come across USB powered BluRay drives for about ~$150. Shame there’s no native BluRay playback on Mac but at least you can use the drive to rip the BluRay to mkv or mp4 on the Mac (using Mac BlurayRipper Pro).

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-125239 Anonymous Sat, 23 Jul 2011 12:48:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-125239 External USB powered DVD drives are cheap, $30 – $50 price range ( i have a Pioneer model), so it’s not that bad. I’ve even come across USB powered BluRay drives for about ~$150. Shame there’s no native BluRay playback on Mac but at least you can use the drive to rip the BluRay to mkv or mp4 on the Mac (using Mac BlurayRipper Pro).

]]> By: Steven http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-125234 Steven Sat, 23 Jul 2011 12:37:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-125234 Saw a nettop on G4 for $150 about a year ago.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-125153 Anonymous Fri, 22 Jul 2011 19:45:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-125153 disagreed…

cheap htpc for 600 USD??? eeeh, i can see the ease of use and the powerful hardware, but a good htpc is also silent, low-power, cheap, and of course ready for a blu-ray…

]]> By: Jeremy http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-125025 Jeremy Fri, 22 Jul 2011 06:31:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-125025 Don Reisinger…seriously stop contradicting yourself with every post. You wrote an article about how it was stupid for the Wii U not being able to play DVDs or Blu-rays, but you’re perfectly fine with the fact that the Mac Mini doesn’t have a drive. But still, I agree that Mac Mini would be a great addition for the living room

]]> By: Jeremy http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-125026 Jeremy Fri, 22 Jul 2011 06:31:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-125026 Don Reisinger…seriously stop contradicting yourself with every post. You wrote an article about how it was stupid for the Wii U not being able to play DVDs or Blu-rays, but you’re perfectly fine with the fact that the Mac Mini doesn’t have a drive. But still, I agree that Mac Mini would be a great addition for the living room

]]> By: Yannis Gkaragkanis http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-125017 Yannis Gkaragkanis Fri, 22 Jul 2011 04:29:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-125017 (This article looks like an advertisement or not?).

]]> By: James Matthews http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-125016 James Matthews Fri, 22 Jul 2011 04:23:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-125016 lmao… for that price? You must be joking.  There must be dozens of HTPC configs one could build that would be better and cheaper then this. 

BTW, as far as best media player for the living room.  XBox 360 says hi.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-125006 Anonymous Fri, 22 Jul 2011 02:35:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-125006 Agreed.

]]> By: Geoff Fieldew http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-124998 Geoff Fieldew Fri, 22 Jul 2011 01:24:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-124998 No Blu-ray = lounge room fail, particularly if you want the best your big screen & speakers can deliver. I could scarcely use this Apple cash register for any of my normal viewing habits.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-124987 Anonymous Fri, 22 Jul 2011 00:33:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-124987 I don’t know about the author but $600 is not cheap. I consider that quite a tidy sum of money.

]]> By: Dev http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-124983 Dev Fri, 22 Jul 2011 00:03:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-124983 I agree.  I bought a Mini in 2008 and it has been powered on 24/7 since then for my media center pc.  Never a single problem.  I think I have used the optical drive once in it’s lifetime and that was to install SL.

]]> By: Anonymous http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-124980 Anonymous Thu, 21 Jul 2011 23:27:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-124980 Yeah, no. I could see it being DECENT before, but now without an Optical drive it’s absolutely useless as a media center.

]]> By: Skizztle http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-124978 Skizztle Thu, 21 Jul 2011 23:04:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-124978 I think the Dell Zino HD’s for the price far out do the Mac Mini especially if you combine Media Browser with Windows Media Center!

]]> By: msonoth http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-124947 msonoth Thu, 21 Jul 2011 21:11:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-124947 “Do you really need another drive in the Mac mini?”—>If it had a drive, you would be saving $$ to buy a drive.

]]> By: Idon't Know http://www.slashgear.com/the-new-mac-mini-is-still-best-choice-for-the-living-room-21166609/#comment-124946 Idon't Know Thu, 21 Jul 2011 21:09:00 +0000 http://www.slashgear.com/?p=166609#comment-124946 Disagree.  Must play DVD and Blu-Ray to make it worthwhile.  I use a PS 3 to play media for this reason.  It can play streaming movies, blu-ray, dvd, and movies on a usb key.

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