[Macworld]

Post your comments for Mac mini media center: Is it worth it? here

[durandal343]

I know, I know.. I'm nitpicking. But you could have knocked off about $500 on the price of your system. I use a Sony learning remote that cost me $25 that controls everything I want.. including my mini. A version of toast comes with EyeTv's products. The Turbo H.264 is not needed unless you are doing heavy and constant encoding. I don't think the overall product is much less powerful and would cost 1/3 less than the price you list.

As for accessing online content I also disagree with your conclusions. My mother came over to babysit and was able to watch any show she wanted on Hulu without any incident whatsoever. I have a Plex launcher in Front Row. A click on that will take you to Plex where it's only a few clicks of the Apple remote to get to Hulu and anything you want to watch. Boxee's interface is somewhat more confusing with all the social networking garbage so I didn't send her that way. Barring malfunctions, she was able to use the media center with relative ease and she is anything but technically savvy. I will admit that if anything did go wrong (freezes, etc.) I would be the only one who could fix it.

[bpeacock22]

Hmm, yes, I have been trying to wrap my head around the cost/benefit of using a Mac Mini rather than an Apple TV. I don't use my ATV to rent movies...I do use it to have my music on my surround sound system and to watch HD video podcasts to which I subscribe. But from the the standpoint of the $599 pricetag, I'm still undecided if being able to watch Hulu (which would be the primary benefit for me) is worth it.
On a tangent: I think it is really dumb to have to get out the Apple Remote to navigate to certain menu items on the ATV (i.e. YouTube) then pull out the iPhone Remote app so that I can type easier. Why isn't every menu option on the ATV also listed in the Remote app for one-device navigation?

[MacTechAspen]

Having the computer geek of the family rip DVDs (that you own of course, not that you rent from netflix - that would be wrong) and then setting it all up on the AppleTV is way cheaper and less frightening for the rest of the household.
Chris acknowledges this, but it can not be understated. I am comfortable with great levels of tech complexity, my wife is not. She got used to the AppleTV and that was the very edge of her comfort level.
Also, having been out of the country for the last year I can tell you that I hardly miss TV at all, and that included Hulu and such (which I could spoof into letting me watch even overseas, but the bandwidth is a greater issue).
iTunes supplies enough content to keep us busy watching for the few hours a day we avail ourselves. Of course we are restricted by iTunes to not downloading anything while we are overseas even though our account uses a US address and credit card. So downloading new content while traveling is not a technical issue, but it would be wrong.
No kids, no sports, and a small number of shows we follow. We are not the average consumer in this regard, but for us, an AppleTV and a HD set is perfect (and while traveling a simple laptop).
The beauty of the Mac Mini set up is that it does so much. I love the premise, but when I do a reality check I don't need it.

[hooman]

Great series, I just read them all! Lots of good info! I do think you paid a bit too much for some stuff :
for example.:

* Crucial 4GB RAM upgrade: $68 - Apple 2GB upgrade $50 - no need for 4GB, the max on the nvidia is 256 and 2GB is plenty to play HD mkv or avi and streamed video TS

* DVI-to-HDMI cable: $20 - no need - get a monoprice miniDisplay to HDMI for $13 or a DVI to HDMI for $2-$4 on amazon
* Toslink digital audio cable: $20 - amazon get one for less than $10, or an adapter for $1.99 if you already have a toslink

* Elgato Turbo.264 HD: $150 - tvrss.net - everything for free

*
* Logitech Harmony 880 Advanced Universal Remote: $250 - just get the 550 for $50. who needs color?
as for ripit - mactheripper is free , save $20.
Personally, I'm a Plex guy but its all good - for me, I paid for it all by selling older random stuff, including my appleTV, so out of pocket for me was less than $100 and I am now saving over $1,000 per year by canceling HD cable and Tivo. All written up here: www.macminihometheater.blogspot.com

[ChrisLJ]

Thanks for spending all of the time, effort and money on this project Chris. The articles were very informative. In fact, you have helped me finally make up my mind about this subject.
I've decided to sell my TV and get a library card. Simplicity at its finest.

[gugy]

hahaha
that's was pretty funny.

You are actually right. Spend more time on books is way better and more rewarding that the junk we watch everyday on the boob tube.

[reevescajr]

Many, many thanks to Christopher Breen for an excellent series of articles.
As for RipIt vs MacTheRipper, RipIt will rip the new Disney copy protected DVDs; not sure this is the case with MTR. And a minor picky point is that Handbrake no longer includes ripping, but will do it if VLC is installed.

[Chris Breen]

reevescajr said:

Many, many thanks to Christopher Breen for an excellent series of articles.

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the series. It was a fun project.

Quote

As for RipIt vs MacTheRipper, RipIt will rip the new Disney copy protected DVDs; not sure this is the case with MTR. And a minor picky point is that Handbrake no longer includes ripping, but will do it if VLC is installed.

On this point, someone earlier mentioned MTR as a free option, which is sort of true. The freely available version of MTR is out of date and won't rip many modern DVDs. To get the most current version the developer asks for a donation, so the working version isn't really free.

And you're right about Handbrake. I linked to our DVD Ripping FAQ, which explains that point, but could have mentioned it here too.

[macdsl]

Yeah, who want's to watch adult material when you can just read about it instead....

Transformers would be wayyyyy better as a book....
Good one...

[ChrisLJ]

Oh yeah, Transformers. And Transformers 2!

OK, never mind. Forget the library card.

[anomalousman]

A quick note: if you use DVDs from multiple regions, you can just use VLC to play them rather than change the region code of your player.

[jeffvan]

"And, in a way, that reflects Apple’s approach to the iTunes Store: “People want to own their media. Except in an era when so much content is available on the Web (and much of it not worth owning), that sentiment seems increasingly outdated."
I couldn't agree more...it's high time for a subscription based model for iTunes content, both video and audio. Would make their hardware instantly more relevant. Apple, are you listening?

[flunkycarter]

Re: (meaning the menu bar will be cut off at the top)
PLEASE!! Can you explain why it does this?? I've been going bezerk trying to figure it out!!