Need a compact HTPC for your room?

[Kaido]

I used an Intel Mac Mini to make a tiny home theater system for my 27" TV. Perfect for dorms, bedrooms, and people who just want a nice, compact system. You can certainly add 5.1, since the Mini has digital audio output, as well as a nice video system (DVI/VGA/s-video/composite output available), but if you just want something small that can play your networked stuff as well as discs, this is a nice option. In addition to a TV, it requires an Intel Mini and about $75 worth of aftermarket parts. I posted more of a writeup here:

http://www.123macmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6255

There's a photo over here if you'd like to see the minimalist-ness:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11405752@N00/163278012/

It acts as a CD & DVD player and also plays all of my music & movies (iTunes TV shows mainly) from iTunes across my network (can be wired or wireless). You can use a Mac or PC to stream music & movies; just enable iTunes sharing - that's it!

 

[LikeLinus]

I think you mean HTPC, NOT a "home theater". You still have to have speakers and a receiver. You'd end up spending more money for the Mac Mini than you would a decent DVD player.

 

[Excelsior]

Can the Mini's passthrough Dolby Digital 5.1/DTS through the digital-out?

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Excelsior
Can the Mini's passthrough Dolby Digital 5.1/DTS through the digital-out?

Yup

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: Excelsior
Can the Mini's passthrough Dolby Digital 5.1/DTS through the digital-out?

Yup

How much did you pay for the mini mac? It might be a fun little toy just to play with.

Edit: Nevermind, it's in that other thread. $579

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: LikeLinus
I think you mean HTPC, NOT a "home theater". You still have to have speakers and a receiver. You'd end up spending more money for the Mac Mini than you would a decent DVD player.

Ahah, changed the title to reflect that. Couldn't remember the acryonm lol. Yes, the Mini is about $300 more than a nice DVD player, but it gives you access to your networked material, plus has a nifty GUI

 

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: Excelsior
Can the Mini's passthrough Dolby Digital 5.1/DTS through the digital-out?

Yup

Not bad then.

Itll be interesting to see what the future holds for the Minis now that Apple has Intel hardware at its disposal (I am speaking of future Intel Minis..I know that the first revisions are already out).

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: LikeLinus
I think you mean HTPC, NOT a "home theater". You still have to have speakers and a receiver. You'd end up spending more money for the Mac Mini than you would a decent DVD player.

Ahah, changed the title to reflect that. Couldn't remember the acryonm lol. Yes, the Mini is about $300 more than a nice DVD player, but it gives you access to your networked material, plus has a nifty GUI

It's ok Just thought I'd point it out.

It does sound like a fun project and it looks like a nice little unit.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: LikeLinus

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: Excelsior
Can the Mini's passthrough Dolby Digital 5.1/DTS through the digital-out?

Yup

How much did you pay for the mini mac? It might be a fun little toy just to play with.

I actually did a trade plus cash in the FS/FT forums here. Brand-new, the basic Mini goes for $599. If you're a student, they knock $20 off to bring it down to $579. They offer refurbs occasionally and of course there's always eBay and FS forums.

The Mini is a lot of fun because of both the hardware and the software. Hardware-wise, aside from the small size and low noise (fan only kicks on occasionally), it has wireless b/g, Bluetooth, 4 USB ports, a Firewire 400 port, optical/analog audio input/output, a DVI connector that comes with a VGA adapter (and you can get an s-video/composite adapter, which I have), and is expandable for up to 2 gigs of ram, a Core Duo processor (currently up to dual-core 2.16ghz), a 7200rpm internal hard drive, etc. Software-wise, it's essentially UNIX with a nice shell. There's a lot of tinker room, like if you want to setup a file/web/ftp/mail server while having it act as your HTPC.

 

[loup garou]

Now get yourself a USB TV tuner and Windows XP Media Center loaded on it, and you'll have something good going.

 

[BigToque]

Doesn't everything look like crap on your TV? What's the resolution?

 

[Tu13erhead]

If only it had TV input...

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Excelsior

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: Excelsior
Can the Mini's passthrough Dolby Digital 5.1/DTS through the digital-out?

Yup

Not bad then.

Itll be interesting to see what the future holds for the Minis now that Apple has Intel hardware at its disposal (I am speaking of future Intel Minis..I know that the first revisions are already out).

Definately! I hope they open up Front Row for developers. A company called Elgato makes some great TiVo-like software that is rapidly evolving (they make PVR software/hardware). Their software, EyeTV, is fantastic; aside from a full-screen remote-driven interface, all it's really lacking is iTunes export. It can export to iPod format, which shows up in Front Row, but iPod format is pretty small (like 320x280 or something), so it doesn't look too hot on a TV. Once they get automatic iTunes integration in it will be a great product for a project such as this one. You can check out their website here:

http://www.elgato.com/

If you're looking for a TV tuner that matches the Mini a little better, Miglia just released an under-unit add-on tuner:

http://www.miglia.com/products/video/tvmax/index.html

The Mini comes with it's own remote, which is decent, but I wanted something I could also use for PowerPoint/KeyNote presentations. The Mini's remote can eject discs via the Front Row software menu and also put it to sleep by holding the Play button (or is it the Menu button?), but I thought it would be more convenient for my wife to have dedicated buttons. The Mini will also work well with ATI's Remote Wonder line of remotes. You can also get external hard drives that fit under the Mini, such as the ones from NewerTechnology: (up to 750gb now!)

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ministack/

I'm pretty interested in what Apple is going to do too; I think they have a lot of potential with the Mini. It's kind of a bad time to be getting into the HTPC market I think - SDTV is supposedly going to be phasing out, while HDTV is phasing in - so should they release an SD/HD Mini? What about hard drive space? There are a few questions that need some careful consideration before releasing an actual Mac HTPC, but I'm sure they could pull it off quite elegantly (and expensively lol).

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: BigToque
Doesn't everything look like crap on your TV? What's the resolution?

No, it's an SD television. iTunes TV shows are about the same resolution as broadcast cable shows. Resolution is 800x600 via s-video. Front Row is designed to have the "10-foot" interface, so it looks great on the TV:

http://www.apple.com/imac/frontrow.html

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: loup garou
Now get yourself a USB TV tuner and Windows XP Media Center loaded on it, and you'll have something good going.

That is definately doable. The Intel Mini can boot Windows XP directly now with Apple's Boot Camp software. Although MCE isn't officially supported, a number of people have installed it to the Mini. I'd hestitate to put Windows anything on something that will be on pretty much 24/7 tho

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: loup garou
Now get yourself a USB TV tuner and Windows XP Media Center loaded on it, and you'll have something good going.

That is definately doable. The Intel Mini can boot Windows XP directly now with Apple's Boot Camp software. Although MCE isn't officially supported, a number of people have installed it to the Mini. I'd hestitate to put Windows anything on something that will be on pretty much 24/7 tho

My dedicated Media Center box is incredibly stable. My cable box crashes more often. As a matter of fact, I don't think this box has ever crashed.
I'd be more worried about the Mini's 2.5" drive biting the dust from the constant activity.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: loup garou

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: loup garou
Now get yourself a USB TV tuner and Windows XP Media Center loaded on it, and you'll have something good going.

That is definately doable. The Intel Mini can boot Windows XP directly now with Apple's Boot Camp software. Although MCE isn't officially supported, a number of people have installed it to the Mini. I'd hestitate to put Windows anything on something that will be on pretty much 24/7 tho

My dedicated Media Center box is incredibly stable. My cable box crashes more often. As a matter of fact, I don't think this box has ever crashed.

Wow, that's pretty nice, what version are you using? I've only set up one home theater with MCE before. It seemed okay, but it was a couple years ago and was a little flaky.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: loup garou

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: loup garou
Now get yourself a USB TV tuner and Windows XP Media Center loaded on it, and you'll have something good going.

That is definately doable. The Intel Mini can boot Windows XP directly now with Apple's Boot Camp software. Although MCE isn't officially supported, a number of people have installed it to the Mini. I'd hestitate to put Windows anything on something that will be on pretty much 24/7 tho

My dedicated Media Center box is incredibly stable. My cable box crashes more often. As a matter of fact, I don't think this box has ever crashed.

Wow, that's pretty nice, what version are you using? I've only set up one home theater with MCE before. It seemed okay, but it was a couple years ago and was a little flaky.

2005 RU2 on a Dimension 5150. It's hooked up to a 32" Samsung CRT EDTV. SDTV & DVDs looks great with the nVidia PureVideo decoder.

 

[arod]

Ill take my 360 extended from my media center pc (now running vista beta 2)...

 

[BD2003]

I still don't see how it can be any better than the near perfection that XBMC is (other than the fact it can't play HD).

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: arod
Ill take my 360 extended from my media center pc (now running vista beta 2)...

<--jealous

How is beta2 Media Center?

 

[sygyzy]

By networked stuff you mean like play AAC and QT over the network? What about divx, xvid, mpg?

 

[EatSpam]

Originally posted by: sygyzy
By networked stuff you mean like play AAC and QT over the network? What about divx, xvid, mpg?

and DVD iso files? VOB files? Do any of these formats integrate well with Front Row?

I have a big media server chock full of VOB, ISO, MPG, Xvids, Divx files, etc. that I would want to play.

 

[Kaido]

Anything QT or iTunes can play, Front Row can play. Just give it the correct plugins. EatSpam, unfortunately not, that's one of the major turnoffs No video_ts or isos directly in Front Row, although there are some quasi-hack apps going around like distantDVD and whatnot. There's a lot more discussion on this stuff over at the AVSForum Mac HTPC section. Remember, Apple home theater stuff is still very much in it's infancy, but is plenty usable for my current applications. Check out the forum here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=115