AnalogWave Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 I’m a Mac Head from the early days and am thinking of purchasing a current model 2.0GHz/120GB/1GB Mac Mini with the idea of making a Media PC out of it. Just wondering if anyone else has done the same and what their experiences have been. My two primary interests are: Music Server I plan on attaching an external Firewire drive and ripping all my music to it, so some type of USB DAC is in my future. Benchmark seems to be the way to go but I may look at something less expensive like Firestone Audio’s Fubar II. DVR I’ve never been one for Tivo. My understanding is the Elgato EyeTV 250 will allow me to record anything that comes down my cable line, and with the included software, I’ll be able to schedule future events for unattended recording. Once recorded, I can edit out commercials (not sure which software I’ll use for that yet) and then burn the content to DVD for archiving (F1 races mostly). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalogWave Posted July 5, 2009 Author Share Posted July 5, 2009 Man, I can't edit fer poop with this forum software. I had the above all laid out in paragraphs using Word. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falcon20x Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 You need to type .</P>( without the dot) to make a paragraph.</P> I personally do not have a mac mini but of friend of mine has one set up as a media. He also has a central server so he can have all teh computer linked as well among few other things. It works well </p> Let me put it this way he was a die hard microsoft fan but now he has a mac quad core and the mac mini. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falcon20x Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Oops I forgot the p thing works on safari, if you are using firefox you do not need it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Smith Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 elgato definitely seems to be the go-to solution for dvr needs. as far as the rest of your media is concerned, i would check out Plex. It's very slick and very efficient (it's a fork from the XMBC project) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalogWave Posted July 6, 2009 Author Share Posted July 6, 2009 I was using Safari when I originally posted the above. The new 4.0 version is pretty cool but I still much prefer Firefox, which does indeed format properly inside this forum software. Lesson learned, lessee if I remember it. I went ahead and bought the bugger and so far have it up and running on my plasma display. I've the EyeTV 250 Plus on order and am just now going through all my external hard drives to shuffle data around so I can dedicate one to the Mini. They run at 7200 RPM vs. 5400 RPM so booting and access times will be faster, a plus as well as the additional storage. Wireless keyboard, mouse and iNet are all up and running. Will start ripping music from disc tonight. Fun stuff! Oddly enough, I've been wanting to do this for some years now but didn't want to run a full-size tower to get the capability. The new Intel chips and overall better specs of the Mini are now pretty much at a sweet spot I think. AND, several magazine articles have just come out outlining the process. I'd love to stash a Mac Mini in my car some day too, but the interface software is open-source, a LONG way out and moving slowly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalogWave Posted July 6, 2009 Author Share Posted July 6, 2009 Many thanks for that lead, I'd never heard of it before. Researching now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bliss53 Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 I use a mac mini as a music server with a wavelength dac and an external 1tb drive. I had the same machine set up previously as a media server in the theater room but I had a lot of problems with my projector displaying the mac content. I generally watch sports and and bluray movies and I found that I did not use the mac as a true media server so I moved it to my 2 channel location as a music server while surfing the net. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bliss53 Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 I'd love to stash a Mac Mini in my car some day too, but the interface software is open-source, a LONG way out and moving slowly. I have a honda ridgeline and a member of the ridgline forum did this http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20158&highlight=mac+mini&page=2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalogWave Posted July 8, 2009 Author Share Posted July 8, 2009 Yeah, that's just it, you can only ask so many questions before you hafta' torque up your drawers and commit to a project. Once underway, setbacks are inevitable. My system seems simpler than yours, so maybe I'll get lucky. Cloned the Mini's internal drive to a speedy external last night and am now booting from that. Scrubbing the OS a bit and installing misc software (that Plex is DEEP). I ordered a Spitfire and Supplier from Firestone so until that arrives I'll just rip CDs to the drives. Think I'll use Apple's lossless ALAC for compression. Anxiously awaiting that little Elgato box as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalogWave Posted July 8, 2009 Author Share Posted July 8, 2009 I have a honda ridgeline and a member of the ridgline forum did this http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20158&highlight=mac+mini&page=2 I didn't follow the link just yet but that looks like what I'm after, eventually - a touchscreen controlling a Mini. If you're a Ninja Code Monkey the possibities are almost endless (Sat Nav, WiFi, machine guns, smoke screen...) Sadly, I'm not, and I've had a rough enough time just finding qualified people to install a fairly pedestrian system in my car [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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