2011 mac mini powerful enough for HDTV?

[Roofy.]

Im ordering my my mac mini today and getting the base model. I currently have a junky crt monitor for my current mini. I plan on hooking it up to my 46' hd tv for now (or even permanently) and was wondering if the stock intel hd graphics are good enough to use the computer normally on such a big tv.

 

[fa8362]

Im ordering my my mac mini today and getting the base model. I currently have a junky crt monitor for my current mini. I plan on hooking it up to my 46' hd tv for now (or even permanently) and was wondering if the stock intel hd graphics are good enough to use the computer normally on such a big tv.

TV will look great, but computing was designed for a computer monitor, not a TV. Text and other computer graphics will not display as well as on a computer monitor. Size isn't the issue. Pixel/dot pitch is the issue.

 

[AdrianK]

It will be able to drive a 1080p monitor just fine for ordinary tasks (anything other than games). However, I can't imagine using a 46" monitor >.<

Just a warning as you're getting the base: 2GB is not enough - not for Lion, anyway. 4GB and 8GB kits are pretty cheap.

 

[Outrigger]

Im ordering my my mac mini today and getting the base model. I currently have a junky crt monitor for my current mini. I plan on hooking it up to my 46' hd tv for now (or even permanently) and was wondering if the stock intel hd graphics are good enough to use the computer normally on such a big tv.

the ability of a computer to drive a monitor or tv has nothing to do with the physical size of the display. It has to do with the resolution (pixel count).

 

[aziatiklover]

the ability of a computer to drive a monitor or tv has nothing to do with the physical size of the display. It has to do with the resolution (pixel count).

this.

 

[Roofy.]

the ability of a computer to drive a monitor or tv has nothing to do with the physical size of the display. It has to do with the resolution (pixel count).

Oh thanks didnt know that. Its only a 720p tv so I guess im fine.

 

[AVR2]

I'm using a base 2009 mini to drive a 42" 1080p HDTV. It works perfectly. Full 1080 video playback is gorgeous and completely smooth. So if my 2-year-old mini works fine, I think we can be pretty sure that your brand-new one will be better than fine

 

[ess5]

using a dc i7 model w/ graphics on my 60" 1080p (actually typing this up on it). For the most part, it's been great. by default, all the text is way, way too small. set up Chrome (or, I guess, Safari) to zoom a bit, and you should be fine (I think I'm at 120%) for browsing.

Couldn'd find an easy way to up font size on Lion, but a quick bootcamp/win7 pro install helped with that =)

I've already played both Starcraft 2 and WoW on it, and (as with the OS itself) everything generally works, with a few minor tweaks.

 

[dh2005]

Oh thanks didnt know that. Its only a 720p tv so I guess im fine.

Actually, mate, I'd say quite the opposite. Desktop tasks are gonna look awful, at that resolution. I can't imagine how far back you'd need to sit before the fuzz was eliminated...

... it'll work. But it won't look good.