Mini as a DVD player & PVR

I had had a setup like that for a couple of months now. It is easier to never turn the Mini off and simply put it in sleep mode when not in use.

The most annoying part is the keyboard and mouse. I use a Logitech DiNovo Edge wireless keyboard and trackpad and it is a bit akward. It would be really nice to have some kind of "air" mouse which can act as both a mouse and remote for Front Row.

Another issue is that there is no good way to keep 5.1 audio when you rip DVDs to something iTunes/Front Row and see and play even though the Mini as a TOSLink output which goes to my Yamaha receiver. DVDs played through OS X Leopard player keep 5.1 audio just fine.

I use EyeTV and it seems to work ok, I just wish it was fully integrated with Front Row rather than using its own menu system. EyeTV can automatically recompress recorded shows to H.264 and dump it into your iTunes library which is really convenient.

Things get complicated if you're trying to use EyeTV for, say, cable TV and over-the-air HD. I have tried using 2 USB tuner sticks and EyeTV requires that both use the same signal type (cable or OTA). If you use a QAM capable tuner card with cable, you'll be able to tune in all open HD channels (cable companies were mandated to rebroadcast local network stations unscrambled in HD by the FCC)

Hi,

Will Frontrow provide you with the same level of interactivity as the Apple TV interface does? I would appreciate your view as this will answer the question about the need for Apple TV and I would like to explore that,

Thanks

Craig

I use my MAC Mini as a music server and DVD player. I also use a wireless keyboard (not the Logitech) with built in trackpad but find that it works OK. The best thing though is the Salling Clicker which I have running on my Treo 700 smartphone. I can control everything from it - even being able to put the MAC into and out of sleep.
Salling can be found at:
http://www.sallingsoftware.com/Clicker/mac/

Pictures of my system and Salling Clicker in action can be found at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/stuart.hamer/LinnMAC_MusicServer

Now that I recently got 5.1 surround sound to work out of my Power PC MAC (usinf a USB to SPDIF converter) I have moved the DVD player that I have in my rack to the bedroom, using the MAC as the only DVD source.

I don't use EyeTV but Salling does support it and I imagine it works great - my experieince of iTunes and DVD player have been vrey good. Highly recommended.

Stuart

Welcome to Apple Discussions!

It might help if you explain exactly what you are hoping to achieve, since as much as there are similarities between the Apple TV and Mac mini, and many minis are being used as media center devices, they are very different animals intended for different uses.

In saying that, the provision of Front Row and a very cute remote with the mini makes it a compelling device for media use, with Front Row offering much of the same functionality and sharing much of the same visual and operational cues as the Apple TV. I use one myself to serve up a library of DVDs and music, rarely needing anything more than the remote to gain access to the media I want.

There are situations however where the Apple TV might prove the better device - depending entirely on your specific needs.

I would like to give you a perspective of someone who has a setup based on Apple TV. I recently purchased a 160GB Apple TV and I am really enjoying it. I thought about setting up a mini since I was really interested in receiving and recording over the air HDTV. However, I went with Apple TV in the end because of the simplicity of it. You connect it to your other equipment (a projector and an audio receiver in my case) and then do everything from the remote. I have no doubt that Apple will eventually add or support external TV tuners via usb to Apple TV. For now, you can use Elgato on your mac and transfer recorded shows to Apple TV. Being able to rent movies from iTunes is great and so is browsing photos and accessing YouTube. Overall, if you like your set up to be simple, you can't go wrong with Apple TV.

Hi,

I have a mac mini as a media center with a Miglia Tv-Max + EyeTV as a PVR.

#1 = Mac Mini is always on. Goes in sleep mode. Never had to boot it again yet except for Apple updates.
#2 = I use a Logitech EX110 wireless keyboard and mouse. You can control Frontrow with the Keyboard like the remote. Apple + ESC = Menu on the remote and the arrows works to control the FrontRow interface. Enter = center button of the remote.
#3 Like the AppleTV, using a wired network is better for streeming but I used wifi G for the last 2 month without any issues.
#4 Use EyeTV on the Mini and connect to the mini with the imac via VNC or Remote Desktop. Or vice versa. It's up to you.

Good Luck.

There is an update to my last post. I have since added an Airport Extreme Base Station with a 500Gb WD MyBook attached via USB. All my media is centrally located on the WD HD. I have several ripped Handbrake ripped DVDs which I access from the Mini.

I have discovered one more thing:

1. 802.11g may not keep up with H.264 encoded DVDs all the time. I get stuttering every so often and am thinking about getting a new 802.11n Airport Express to use as a wireless bridge for the Mini and disable the onboard 802.11g. The other alternative would be to run ethernet from the AEBS/TC to the Mini.

Message was edited by: brzilian

Is the Wi-Fi in a Mini not 'n'? I'd assumed it was...

No, the wifi in minis so far is 802.11g - no n-capable minis have yet been produced.

Yes it will keep up with HD content.

A+

I'm looking for something to play DVDs, record TV (DVB-T in the UK) and play my music and view photos. I also want to be able to view BBC iPlayer shows on my TV.

I had been looking at a Mac Mini, with EyeTV. However, they are quite expensive for what they are, when compared to a Windows Media type PC. The other thing I'd be doing is running video conversion on the machine, so that I can convert recorded content into iPhone/iPod format to watch on the move. I currently do that on my MacBook Pro using MPEG Streamclip or HandBrake.

The Apple TV is a non starter as it does not have a DVD player (school-boy error!!) or PVR abilities.

So a colleague of mine has a nice Windows set up, and it's a lot cheaper then using a Mac Mini. Also, the Mac Mini is getting a bit long in the tooth so unless there is an update out soon, I'm not sure it's worth the money (here in the UK).

{quote:title=SC::UK wrote:}{quote}
I'm looking for something to play DVDs, record TV (DVB-T in the UK) and play my music and view photos. I also want to be able to view BBC iPlayer shows on my TV.

I had been looking at a Mac Mini, with EyeTV. However, they are quite expensive for what they are, when compared to a Windows Media type PC. The other thing I'd be doing is running video conversion on the machine, so that I can convert recorded content into iPhone/iPod format to watch on the move. I currently do that on my MacBook Pro using MPEG Streamclip or HandBrake.

The Apple TV is a non starter as it does not have a DVD player (school-boy error!!) or PVR abilities.

So a colleague of mine has a nice Windows set up, and it's a lot cheaper then using a Mac Mini. Also, the Mac Mini is getting a bit long in the tooth so unless there is an update out soon, I'm not sure it's worth the money (here in the UK).

A Media Center PC means you're running some kind of flavor of Vista. I'll take a Mini with OS X anyday over that...

I set up a few Windows Media Center machines in my day and it is no walk in the park.