[Chris Breen]

alexandrek said:

> chris, you've talked about the hardware improvements of the 2009 mac mini, but these don't make it any more "family-friendly"! any tips on the interface/software side? i'm using plex…

This is the first in a five-part series that we'll run throughout the week. I do talk about media clients -- Front Row, Boxee, Plex, and XBMC -- in the series. Personally, I think Plex is beautiful, but I find Boxee more capable (largely because of the success they've had with Hulu).

[bastion]

[quote name='Chris Breen']
>

backtomacintosh said:

> Does an external HDD 'defeat the purpose' of a mini?

It depends on what you consider that purpose to be. One of the joys of these little suckers is that they're versatile. If I were setting it up for my child and running the basic stuff on it, then yes, its default configuration would be just fine. With more RAM but using the stock drive it could be a perfectly fine device for streaming the bulk of your media. If the purpose of the thing is a media server where you also store a lot of your media, that external hard drive is a necessity.

Very true. The target market for the mini is ostensibly switchers, so that kind of leaves out the "defeat the purpose of" comment as a general thing. In reality, though, the mini has become quite a capable machine in the last few years. My G5 tower, still far more capable than I need as a software developer, started having power supply issues a couple of months ago. I ended up replacing it with a new low-end mini that beats the pants off of it and apparently (based on just one month so it might be a quirk) had a substantial impact on my electric bill. It's certainly capable of being a primary machine for the majority of non-media-creating users rather than just the toe-dipper it was introduced as in the PowerPC era.

[alexandrek]

excellent! i look forward to the rest of the article!

[Chris Breen]

backtomacintosh said:

> Seems to me the purpose is a small form factor computer. You pay 'more' for 'less' spec wise compared to a traditional desktop pc.

I can tuck away a mini plus a couple of hard drives into my media cabinet and they take less room than my TiVo box or receiver. So I'm not really consuming huge amounts of space doing this. And the next step-up for a Mac is the iMac, which definitely doesn't fit in that space and would be a waste of the monitor. The only other headless Mac made by Apple is the Mac Pro and I'm certainly not dropping that kind of $$$ for a project like this.

So, within the Mac line, this makes sense. If you're comparing the Mac mini to a traditional Windows PC, given the site you're visiting and the person writing the article I hope you know the answer to that one.

[backtomacintosh]

I am aware of the forum I'm at.

But with the hacking involved with making a mini a usable option why not just hack OSX onto a desktop pc that doesn't need all the hardware modifications?

In other words what would be easier and/or better: Hacking hardware modifications on a mini or software modifications on a pc? I ask this as a legitimate question for debate. I don't know the answer, but everyday I see reports on Mac website forums where osx is hacked onto pcs. Its becoming more and more commonplace.

[cdbeshore]

Upgrading the memory, at least, wasn't that difficult on my 1.66 core duo. I would say the nightmare would come in if you either were in a hurry or accidentally did something wrong. Follow the instructions out there carefully and it isn't that bad.

Although I'm sure the newer mac mini's are better, my 1.66 works like a charm, for anyone thinking of buying used. I just upgraded it to 2GB of memory, installed Plex, XBMC, Sofa Control and I'm good to go. I don't game, just movies, pics, music, etc.

[Chris Breen]

backtomacintosh said:

But with the hacking involved with making a mini a usable option why not just hack OSX onto a desktop pc that doesn't need all the hardware modifications?

Let's start by defining terms. I'm upgrading the Mac mini. I'm not hacking it to do something it wasn't intended to do. My upgraded mini will download and accept OS and software upgrades as a pure-bred Mac should do.

"Why not just" strikes me as an odd turn of phrase when used in this context. Putting together a Hackintosh isn't a simple process (a RAM upgrade is nothing in comparison). It also becomes a maintenance issue. When Apple sends out a new version of whatever and that new version disagrees with a Hackintosh, then you wait for the HTosh community to work around the issue. You also cross your fingers that Components X, Y, and Z will work with the next major update to the Mac OS.

[bsuthoff]

Please consider adding a comparison to a non-Mac option, like Mythbuntu or other Linux choices. Those Dell Studio Slim Desktops with Blu-ray, HDMI and bigger hard drives are starting to look interesting...

[wiggums]

wdunn said:

Did you upgrade with a 7200rpm or 5400rpm HD? Do the notebook 7200rpm HD even work/work well in the Mini?

7200. Capacity is 320GB. Notebook drives are too small capacity-wise, but that's what my newer-tech external with a 1TB Seagate is for and it doesn't take up any extra space on my desktop.

[backtomacintosh]

I would agree that changing the RAM is a fairly simple task. But replacing the internal HDD isn't and I suspect that's one reason why you didn't do it as well. Perhaps it's an easy task for you but likely not an easy task for many MW readers as evidenced by the first post!

Again a question: Would you need to do a lot of (any?) software updates to an HTosh media center after you get it up and running? I would suspect this is something that once you get it configured and running you could just leave it alone and let it do its dedicated tasks. Once configured it would become an appliance.

Am I wrong in my thinking here?

[hooman]

Don't underestimate the power or plex! Hulu works brilliantly with Plex, as does Netflix, CNN, MTV, Vimeo, and others. I have been running the new mini as a home theater base with TV shows, DVDs and the Hulu/Netflix/CNN etc combo for a bit now, and it really is SO nice. Combined with the Harmony remote, it is setup for anyone to easily, using one remote, to access DVD movies, TV shows, etc.. without me having to give a class on how to use it lol. I have blogged about it, for those interested how I did it, or screen shots and stuff like that, my blog is www.macminihometheater.blogspot.com

[Chris Breen]

backtomacintosh said:

I would agree that changing the RAM is a fairly simple task. But replacing the internal HDD isn't and I suspect that's one reason why you didn't do it as well.

Oh no. Once I had the mini open I could have upgraded the hard drive as well -- another couple of steps and it's done. But I wanted a lot of storage on the mini and the small drives that fit don't have the kind of capacity I believe you need for a lot of media.

And again, you're talking about simplicity on one hand and a Hackintosh on the other. And honestly, the two don't really go together.

Quote

Again a question: Would you need to do a lot of (any?) software updates to an HTosh media center after you get it up and running? I would suspect this is something that once you get it configured and running you could just leave it alone and let it do its dedicated tasks. Once configured it would become an appliance.

Quote

Am I wrong in my thinking here?

In my world, yes. We're not talking about a toaster that performs one job until it dies. Suppose some cool new iTunes capability comes out that requires Snow Leopard or some other upgrade and the Hackintosh can't "hack" it because it's locked to an old version of the Mac OS. To me it makes no sense to go through the trouble to do this and then possibly be stuck with 2009's technology in 2012.

I guess it comes down to what you believe you're gaining. I'm willing to give up a couple of hundred bucks that I might save on a Hackintosh for a computer I can carry with me into the future.

[Chris Breen]

hooman said:

Hulu works brilliantly with Plex, as does Netflix

Hulu works today (but it didn't last week) and Netflix still isn't working for me, even with the latest Plex update.

Like I said, Plex is gorgeous but when I stacked it up against Boxee, Boxee had fewer glitches. And when things did break (read: Hulu) Boxee seemed to be on top of it more quickly than Plex.

[earthsaver]

Any thoughts on a small display for media center demo use, as in a Bookstore?