Comments on: Apple TV vs. Mac mini - Which one is right for you?

By: DrFredEdison

DrFredEdison — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 08:22:04 +0000

I choosed mac mini. It’s more powerful and it’s a computer at all!
With a Bluethoot mouse and keyboard near the TV you can use it by 100%!

By: Telebatdotcom

Telebatdotcom — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:30:04 +0000

Here is another comparison of Apple TV with Mac mini and other similar products, totally 7. Quite interesting:

http://www.machavariani.com/workfiles/Comparison%20of%20Apple%20TV%20with%20other%20TV%20streaming%20devices.htm

By: nick

nick — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 00:41:17 +0000

I am actually about t buy a mac mini to hook it up with my tv. I wanted to ask whether the software that the aTV uses is available for download anywhere, or one that is similar to it. The thing with front row is that you cannot go and preview movies from the iTunes store and then buy them. Front row only accesses what you already have downloaded. In order to buy movies from the mac mini you have to go through itunes using a mouse/keyboard and Having a keyboard and a mouse lying around the sofa/bed is not the most convinient thing. I was wondering whether i could just preview/buy movies with a remote through front row (or front row like program) with the mac mini. Anyone can help?

thanx

By: m lamont

m lamont — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 19:51:10 +0000

By attracting a new audience, surely the Apple TV will at least heighten new opportunites for dating at Apple stores around the country. In light of Apple’s just announced acquisition of Match.com (http://applestoredating.blogspot.com/2008/03/apple-computer-acquires-matchcom.html), this can only be good news.

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:25:05 +0000

Oh yeah, for those of you that would rather pay $25 for a Mini instead of $599, then go here. http://macminis.freepay.com/?r=43083386 you may have to pay a small fee, you may not, depending on what other offer you want to sign up for. The reason I think this is the best way to go is you only have to sign up for 1 offer, and they seem pretty interesting. If you don’t, forget this comment. If you don’t like it, then don’t comment. This is for those that want to benefit.

By: chris

chris — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 14:41:44 +0000

i mean on the mac mini…

By: chris

chris — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:18:26 +0000

whats about renting movies from apple? this new feature of appleTV was presented at the key note some days ago. kann i use the same feature in front row? with the same easy using?

By: iTunesSharing

iTunesSharing — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 16:02:25 +0000

I was thinking of getting the aTV, but after this article I’m now thinking I should get a mini. If I get a Mini, can I still manage all of my music on my iMac but access my iTunes through front row on the Mini?
Also, can I access youTube through front-row on the mini?

By: Apple TV vs. Mac mini - Which one is right for you? « Apple Top News

Apple TV vs. Mac mini - Which one is right for you? « Apple Top News — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 08:12:28 +0000

[...] read more | digg story [...]

By: Swiss

Swiss — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 13:16:09 +0000

That was a good article . Apple has the coolest and most innovative products ever .

By: Ar3d

Ar3d — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 09:38:32 +0000

Greetings,
Your posted article captured my attention, it was very nice and entertaining for those who’s also in this kind of field or in the field of entertainment. Here’s the two my Blogs; Bleach Movie and TV Land. Hope you will find it also nice and a good relevant.

By: apple

apple — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 06:33:23 +0000

A digital TV product released in 2007 that CAN’T play DivX?! Apple must be insane! Thank’s for the warning; I’ll stick with a Mac-Mini.

By: Chris Marshall » Blog Archive » What Caught My Eye Last Week - 22/01

Chris Marshall » Blog Archive » What Caught My Eye Last Week - 22/01 — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 09:16:01 +0000

[...] this blog) I have been looking at using the Mac mini as a central hub for my digital media. This article takes a look at the AppleTv v The Mac mini. I know which gets my vote, and all I will say is that I [...]

By: Neo

Neo — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 13:41:24 +0000

How about a real TV from Apple. Is it coming next?

For more read - http://ideaposts.com/blog

By: Justin

Justin — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 21:17:08 +0000

I agree with #38.

If you already have an ipod video (30gb, 60gb 0r 80gb), you are better off just getting a dock to hook up to your TV. Even if you don’t have an ipod video, it is still cheaper, plus you can take all of your media with you, and have up to twice the storage as apple tv.

By: Ion Control

Ion Control — Sun, 27 May 2007 04:47:39 +0000

Not sure if it was mentioned here, but the 1.8GHz mac Mini ($799) also plays HD-DVD…

By: » All About Apple TV - Apple TV vs. Mac mini - Which one is right for you? - AllAboutAppletv

Fri, 04 May 2007 08:33:35 +0000

[...] two products (information on the Apple TV was found at Ars Technica citing AppleInsider). … Read More… This entry was posted on Friday, May 4th, 2007 at 8:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You [...]

By: Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 01 May 2007 12:47:25 +0000

I look at this blog while waiting for the atv to hit Australia, and decided that neither the atv or the macmini were really suitable. So I bought a G5 1.6 tower off ebay, these come with a decent video card with a DVI output. I swapped out the factory installed 80G SATA and put 2 x 320G drives which retail all of 120 bucks here now. I use a DVI to HDMI cable to drive a LG 42 plasma screen. Worked right away, the OS had it figured as soon as it was switched on. I dont compress movies as it takes too long to rip them. So I have heaps of video_ts folders which are ripped by Mac the ripper and organised by Matinee and played by apple DVD player. I use a bluetooth mightymouse as the remote and logitech wireless headphones as well as a airport extreme card to connect to the internet. I havent figured a way to the get the sixpack out of the fridge remotely yet. This system cost less than a mac mini and acts as a complete media centre.

By: Apple TV Gets Cooler With Hacks, But… » Webomatica - tech, movies, music blog

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 22:13:22 +0000

[...] additional reading, here’s a good comparison of Apple TV vs Mac Mini and what you’ll get for your money. Tunequest has a pretty good series of posts (1, 2, 3) regarding Apple [...]

By: nagora

nagora — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 16:50:59 +0000

A digital TV product released in 2007 that CAN’T play DivX?! Apple must be insane! Thank’s for the warning; I’ll stick with a Mac-Mini.

By: Jimmy Webster

Jimmy Webster — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 10:55:19 +0000

Apple TV Technical Specs:
Storage: 40GB;
OS: Mac, Windows PC;
Wireless: Wi-Fi, Airport Extreme;
Video: MP4, MPEG-4, H.264;
Audio: MP3, WAV, AAC, AIFF;
Photo: JPG, BMP, GIF, PNG, TIFF;
More Apple TV features: http://www.dvdtoappletv.net/review_specs.html
I purchased Apple TV mainly because I want to put videos downloaded online to the device and enjoy on my TV.

By: What do I need an Apple TV for? - King Gary

What do I need an Apple TV for? - King Gary — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 02:59:04 +0000

[...] that justifies purchasing it. This is especially since I’ve already got a Mac Mini (which a lot of people claim is already a great replacement for the Apple TV. And with the added [...]

By: Simple man

Simple man — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 15:21:52 +0000

Will the Apple TV be able to simply receive my laptop current screen and sound and transmit it to my HDTV system?

If not, is there a device that will do this?

By: Apple TV vs MacMini » The Geeky Brit

Apple TV vs MacMini » The Geeky Brit — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 03:13:13 +0000

[...] article has got me thinking. It has a great (and realistic) comparison between the two Apple options - [...]

By: Monte

Monte — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 22:13:12 +0000

Sorry if someone else has already stated this, but has anyone tried to use the mini FireWire port plugged into your cable companies DVR to record content from the cable box?? If so, what do you use to record the video from within OS X - iMovie? Searching around but haven’t found the answer yet. basically want to record video via the Firewire directly from Motorola DCT-6416 HD DVR onto my Mac Mini.

Thanks!

By: The Pointless Apple-TV | Desperately Wandering

The Pointless Apple-TV | Desperately Wandering — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 03:04:27 +0000

[...] For more on the Apple tv vs Mac mini debate click here [...]

By: Joe Cassara

Joe Cassara — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 06:31:36 +0000

Getting a second-hand, early generation Mac Mini is a fine alternative if you want the benefits of being able to play a wider range of file formats and you don’t want to upgrade to an EDTV/HDTV.

By: Jesse David Hollington

Jesse David Hollington — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 15:15:58 +0000

I started out with a Mac Mini last fall and began primarily with streaming content from my Powerbook G4 through Front Row on an 802.11G (Airport Extreme) network. This was generally 640×480 content either purchased from iTunes or converted into the new baseline-LC profile, but at no point did I have any issues with streaming, even over a ‘G’ network.

I eventually attached my external drive (2TB LaCie FW) and iTunes library directly to the Mac Mini, but that had more to do with the back-end machine being a Powerbook (that therefore wasn’t always at home or plugged in ), then any kind of performance issues (there was a secondary consideration in that the playback position for streamed content was not tracked either by Front Row).

Ultimately, 802.11N is not necessary for streaming of content at current resolutions and bitrates. As we move to 720p or 1080p content, I’m sure it will be necessary, but it’s worth keeping in mind even then that the Apple TV also has an internal 40GB drive so you don’t necessarily have to stream if your network doesn’t support the kind of speeds you would like (40GB combined with some creative smart playlists in iTunes is all you’d need to keep a current roster of content queued on the device itself).

I’m contemplating getting an Apple TV for my bedroom, with the only consideration being that I don’t (yet) have an HDTV in the bedroom However, since the TV that is in there is getting old, it’s going to be time to replace it soon anyway….

By: Vishanti

Vishanti — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 18:02:17 +0000

regarding #70, Aaron there is a world of difference between Dolby Surround and Dolby 5.1

Dolby Surround is the old 2 channels with the back channels encoded into them. If you get a movie from iTunes you will note that the sounds is just ’stereo’ (presumably Dolby Surround) not D5.1

The optical out is nice but if there is a QT movie format that supports 5.1 yet I haven’t seen it and you get Dolby Surround support with just a L & R hifi connect.

By: Last Chance Rand

Last Chance Rand — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 20:02:17 +0000

I also have Mac Mini Core Duo integrated into HD home theater/recording studio. Mini stores and serves all of my content, including full house audio via Airtunes. I love it, and wouldn’t change a thing.

However, I would like to use an Apple TV for my HDTV in our informal family room so we don’t have to fire-up the home theater to view content.

I’m concerned that my Core Duo Mini will never support the “n” wireless standard, as the newer Core 2 Duo machines will.

Will my Core Duo Mini ever be able to run at “n” speed? If yes, will it be simple, like a new Airport card? If no, then I’m doubtful that my current Mini will adequately stream to the Apple TV.

Also, since we have a house full of wireless Macs, the Apple TV and new Airport Extreme hub will have to be on a separate network from the other non-”n” Macs. AND, what ever Mac is serving content to the Apple TV will have to join one network for streaming content, and a second for file exchange with non-”n” computers. This is necessary because the “n” network will slow for all users to the speed of the slowest wireless connection. I’m supposing that with “n”, streaming to the Apple TV will be poor.

Of course, since the Apple TV has a hard disk, one could forego streaming and rely on syncing via iTunes.

Any thoughts?

By: James Adamson

James Adamson — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 05:14:38 +0000

Have any of you actually USED the appleTV? I have, and if you try to fast forward or rewind a video, you can only go up to 3x, tops. Thats THREE TIMES speed folks. And there is no way to advance any faster. There is NO RANDOM ACCESS or chapter access,and It is not blind, so you are forced to WATCH (spoil) the movie as it is rewinding or fastforwarding. So for example, you are watching a movie with your wife, she gets a phone call, and when she gets back, she has to WATCH what she missed at 3x speed. This would spoil the movie for her. THe only other option is to restart the film from the beginning. So, if you do the math, It will take exactly ONE HOUR to fast forward to the 120min mark in Lord of the Rings. Does anyone else think this is HUGE, GLARING deal breaker for the AppleTV? I am quite honestly shocked no one has mentioned it thus far.

By: Martin

Martin — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 18:51:39 +0000

How about comparing it to a 17″ imac.. an older one of those can be got for around $600 still with Mac OSx and for those without an HDMI TV could it offer a realistic budget option?

By: » Apple TV, Mac Mini: What’s Right For You? kizo interesting info

» Apple TV, Mac Mini: What’s Right For You? kizo interesting info — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 04:54:35 +0000

[...] Apple TV vs. Mac mini - Which one is right for you? [The Apple Blog] [...]

By: Sikosis

Sikosis — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 23:19:32 +0000

AppleTV is for n00bs and as you said “locks the user out of any real power settings.” Mac mini all the way baby and loving my media centre. I’m still waiting for someone with a PC to come remotely close to something as elegant and as easy to use.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 00:57:44 +0000

I am so sick of people distributing incorrect information about the Apple TV, iTunes movies, and 5.1 surround sound.

From Apple’s support web site:

“Will movies support surround sound?

Yes. Movies include audio which is encoded using Dolby Surround which delivers multichannel audio when played using Dolby Pro Logic systems.”

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304277