Comments on: Why I’m buying a Mac mini to replace my Apple TV

By: Raideen

Raideen — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 17:55:07 +0000

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/networking_security/avastantivirusmacedition.html

Apple recommends running antivirus…don’t fool yourself into thinking your mac mini is virus proof.

/facepalm

By: UnderDoc

UnderDoc — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:34:31 +0000

Cool story, bro.

By: nurotic

nurotic — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 13:10:35 +0000

I have been using a 2009 intel mac mini + 4GB + 1TB HDD External Storage as a media centre in my bedroom for the past year. It’s great connected to my 24in Samsung HD TV. Plays 1080 Movie great

I use Plex to manage my media. And I have been using sabnbz news reader to download tv shows which can be scheduled.

I use my iphone as a remote, keyboard and trackpad.

total setup £900 excluding iphone. Pricey, yes. But well worth it.

By: Gabik123

Gabik123 — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:43:55 +0000

This is because, for whatever reason, the default configuration on a Mac running 1080p is to run it at 24 hz, so it looks super choppy. Go ahead and change your resolution back to 1080p, then before you close the display preferences window, to the right of the list of resolutions you will see “refresh rate” and a pull-down box, select 60 hz from there, and all your choppiness problems will disappear. The new graphics can EASILY handle 1080p

By: UnderDoc

UnderDoc — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 20:53:41 +0000

For the Ken Burns effect, Avisynth — the best video editor possible. Works on any cheap PC.

By: vconcepts29

vconcepts29 — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 19:11:16 +0000

Where’d you find this kid. Job’s nephew? Sounds like he gets an allowance only to buy apple product. What crap. Kudos yo Acer Revo. Way better

By: DanH

DanH — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:38:23 +0000

This may be just a bit off subject, but I am also considering a Mac Mini. Main purpose: I want to view my photos AND video clips (together w Ken Burns effects) on the TV. Can’t figure out any better way to do this then to use iMovie & a Mac to play it. Any less expensive suggestions?

By: Josh Mellicker

Josh Mellicker — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 17:48:07 +0000

We got a new Mac Mini yesterday and already it blows away our DirectTV for quality of content. Remember to set it at 1080i for smooth playback, we tried 1080p and it was choppy video playback, even with the new Mac Mini with beefier graphics.

By: Nevest

Nevest — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:12:14 +0000

Ever since I got a modern TV with a computer input I’ve had my rather powerful desktop PC hooked up to it. I stream shows from Hulu and other networks as well as music from Pandora. I play video and music files from it. All directly onto my TV. This article seems very old hat and very Apple-biased.

By: pierre_menard

pierre_menard — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:23:46 +0000

This is possibly the most hilarious (ie worst) tech article i’ve read recently. The alternative title could be, “or Why a $600 computer designed to do a lot of things is better than stuff that is designed to do less things for a third of the price and/or doesn’t exist yet (but will probably also be a third of the price, or at least much cheaper)”. not to mention mac/windows virus trolling plus the giddy schoolgirl delight of apple finally putting a hdmi port on something. hell hath frozen over etc etc… To put things in an australian perspective, the mac mini is $1000. an apple tv is au $329, and is hamstrung by format limitations. I can buy an asus o’play or the like, with a hdmi connection, that will play virtually any video (and i assume music) file format under the sun, for under a couple of hundred. and what are these things missing? the ability to run “microsoft office”? i’m not really sure that’s what the kiddies are clamoring for. the internet, though, yes. hence, one would assume, the market for google tv. but a mac mini is not a competitor for either of these solutions until it costs, oh, i don’t know, at least a third of the price. which is what one would hope is what google would be trying to sell their tv stuff for. if not, sure, they may have priced themselves out of the market. But seriously, “it adds full computing functionality that Google TV devices won’t be able to muster”? If people want a “full computing functionality” at full computing price on their tv then of course they’ll buy a computer for their living room, or just connect their couple of year old non-mac laptop which has an hdmi connection to their tv. If they just want video and internet at a third the price, they’ll buy a google tv.
if you wanted to right an actual, informative article, you would have spent some time on why full computing functionality is worthwhile in the living room, and make some arguments for why google etc are wasting their time providing cheaper, less feature packed solutions. eg, i don’t know, steam for mac (gaming! on an apple! come on, it’s a gimme, do i have to write this thing for you?) and then, if you ARE going to troll those nasty virus-protection needing PC’s (i’m sure not forgetting that the more people you convince to buy macs the greater the target market for mac viruses, hence the greater the potential return for hackers, the more likely the not particularly secure mac you are not virus protecting will catch a virus) you would have made some actual comparisons between windows based media pc’s and the mac-mini.
instead, the entire substance of your article seems to be that the apple tv is useless (we know) hence being a mac-addict you’re forced to buy a mac mini instead, at an exorbitant price for a living room solution, which you then try to justify by comparing it to non-competing products. well played…

By: andyjm

andyjm — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:53:28 +0000

I have Acer Revo 3610 with upgraded RAM 4GB and old Mac Mini also with upgraded RAM. With Adobe flash graphics acceleration the Revo rivals if not surpasses the old mac mini and was less than half the price. THe Revo is comparable in price to the Apple TV with funtionality of a Mini.

By: Mathieu

Mathieu — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:45:32 +0000

Mac mini is the right choice for you because you use iTunes for music, movies, tv shows, podcast …
Mac mini is still a computer so it’s not comparable to Google TV that will provide … well… TV.
Unlike Google TV, you’re Mac mini require a full keyboard to be usable.
Google TV boxes will cost much less than a Mac mini.
Google TV experience will be available in TV and blu-ray player for “free”.
Last and not least, you’re Mac mini won’t run Android Apps and TV optimized web sites and we all know that Flash is not running very well on Mac.