appleTV or mini for home theater?

[IronWaffle]

This has been VERY helpful! I have done quite a bit of research over the last year, but in the end there are some things you really can only know or look out for by relying on the kindness of strangers.

A lot of what I know about the ATV, encoding, etc., I picked up on this forum. Now it is my turn to give back. So ask away!

I think the server model of the Mac Mini is an overkill unless you want to run a webserver, e-mail server and the like. A basic model is good enough for an iTunes server. However, I do all my ripping and encoding on the Mac Mini and for this I would recommend that you get one with a decent graphics card and at least 4GB of RAM, preferably 8GB. A faster chip would be nice as well for this.

I tried Splashtop and iTeleport earlier and at that time iTeleport provided a much better experience so I settled on that. I have not tried Splashtop since then and it is possible that it is much improved now. Since they are both reasonably priced you can buy both of them.

Thanks

So, I've been sleeping on this after reading the Mini's specs. I'd certainly go with 8GB RAM. I'd also like to go with a 1TB model, but then I'm hitting $900. If reliability and overall performance (I don't mind some lag) isn't likely an issue, I'd probably get the 500GB and add more affordable externals when needed.

As to implementation (and here I'm thinking "out loud" since I have no techie soundboard IRL -- I'm the expert), I'm guessing I will mostly rely on the iOS remote app and to a lesser degree the Apple TV's Computer app for streaming. For setting up, configuring and non-media stuff I'd turn to Splashtop/iTeleport. I do own a Logitech Bluetooth keyboard and wireless USB mouse, but I have no clue if they'll work with Mac hardware/OSX; if so, then I'd probably use them in conjunction with my 55" HDTV to avoid lots of touch typing. That would have the added benefit of allowing me to use the Mini's broader capabilities. That is, if I'm understanding all this.

I use Splashtop 2 on my iPad. I upgraded and can actually control my Mac Mini while I am out and about over cellular. This is helpful in the event I need to access something when I get the call from my wife that she cannot watch something. I connect in, see that iTunes crashed maybe or whatever. I fix it and then she is usually good to go. This has only happened once and that was when I was on Snow Leopard and I had just upgraded to iTunes 10.7.

I have a Mac Mini as a media hub with a 4TB and 2TB FW800 drives connected. I also have an external DAC for high-resolution music directly into my media room's processor. Additionally, I have one ATV3, two ATV2's and one ATV1 all accessing the files on my Mac Mini. I do have a dedicated HDMI cable connected to one of my home office monitors, but I rarely ever use it. My iPad does about 98% of what I would need access for.

Good luck!

Great info! So now I'll bug you with a follow-up question: how do you find the responsiveness/lag and reliability using the external drives? I will use this mostly for audio, but not 100% and I'm sure I will play with MKV and video files going forward. Trough FiOS I have a great Internet connection, but internally I have a G router. I never have problems with the Apple TV 2, but when, say, streaming video from the iPad using AirPlay it isn't unusual for the connection to break a few times in an hour. By juggling my current wiring I will likely plug it in directly to my router's Ethernet, but my external drive will occupy one of the Mini's USB slots.

 

[Cinephi1e]

As to implementation (and here I'm thinking "out loud" since I have no techie soundboard IRL -- I'm the expert), I'm guessing I will mostly rely on the iOS remote app and to a lesser degree the Apple TV's Computer app for streaming. For setting up, configuring and non-media stuff I'd turn to Splashtop/iTeleport. I do own a Logitech Bluetooth keyboard and wireless USB mouse, but I have no clue if they'll work with Mac hardware/OSX; if so, then I'd probably use them in conjunction with my 55" HDTV to avoid lots of touch typing. That would have the added benefit of allowing me to use the Mini's broader capabilities. That is, if I'm understanding all this.

Yes, the keyboard and mouse will work with OSX. You just have to pair them with the Mac Mini.

Great info! So now I'll bug you with a follow-up question: how do you find the responsiveness/lag and reliability using the external drives? I will use this mostly for audio, but not 100% and I'm sure I will play with MKV and video files going forward. Trough FiOS I have a great Internet connection, but internally I have a G router. I never have problems with the Apple TV 2, but when, say, streaming video from the iPad using AirPlay it isn't unusual for the connection to break a few times in an hour. By juggling my current wiring I will likely plug it in directly to my router's Ethernet, but my external drive will occupy one of the Mini's USB slots.

I would strongly encourage you to wire the Mac Mini to the router which will minimize a lot of problems streaming from it. Unlike streaming from iTunes to an ATV, Airplay can consume a lot of resources if it has to convert the file on the fly. If you are using Airplay a lot you may want to consider investing in a newer router, such as the new Apple Airport Express ($100).

 

[Hammie]

Great info! So now I'll bug you with a follow-up question: how do you find the responsiveness/lag and reliability using the external drives? I will use this mostly for audio, but not 100% and I'm sure I will play with MKV and video files going forward. Trough FiOS I have a great Internet connection, but internally I have a G router. I never have problems with the Apple TV 2, but when, say, streaming video from the iPad using AirPlay it isn't unusual for the connection to break a few times in an hour. By juggling my current wiring I will likely plug it in directly to my router's Ethernet, but my external drive will occupy one of the Mini's USB slots.

I don't think it would be fair for me to answer since I am not using a wireless network. My entire house (at least where I need my streaming devices) is hard wired with 1000Gbps switches and cabling (Cat6). So, I see no lag while streaming music or videos.

BTW, I have not ripped any of my ~400 Blu-rays. I would prefer to watch them in their native media format. So none of my video files are super huge. Mostly ripped DVD and a few iTunes HD or hard to find movies.

 

[IronWaffle]

Thank you both again.

I've rejiggered wiring so the Mini will be straight into the router. It'll be a week before I'll have another HDMI to plug into the HDTV/"monitor" but I may buy the device this weekend. I'm assuming I can connect the two devices via USB in the meantime to get things set up, albeit at a lower res. do you know?

I spent the last few hours reading about Mountain Lion to see if I really want to dip my toes into a new OS. With clear I eyes I can see it won't be too difficult. Can't say I look forward to migrating my iTunes library from my laptop. ~400GB over USB... Eesh.

 

[fridgeymonster3]

However, I do all my ripping and encoding on the Mac Mini and for this I would recommend that you get one with a decent graphics card and at least 4GB of RAM, preferably 8GB. A faster chip would be nice as well for this.

Never mind. Apparently somebody beat me to my response above. I skimmed too quickly.

 

[JoeBlow74]

I have an apple tv 3 wired to the router and am getting my music from iTunes on my PC. I occaionally rent a movie and in the future may do some blu-ray ripping and store on some type of external harddrive.
Thinking about getting a new Mac mini solely to store iTunes and pictures on. The mini will be in range to connect directly to my HT via hdmi, so now I'm wondering if I really even need the appleTV any more (I can move it to a different room).

My questions are:
-Do I keep using my appleTV or can i bypass it and now let the mac mini take over the appletvs duties:
play music directly from iTunes
rent movies from iTunes
play ripped blu-rays

-Will the macmini interface be as simple as the appleTV (never had a Mac before).

-I've heard appleTV up converts audio. All my music is ripped from CDs and stored as apple lossless. I'm doubting I will hear a difference, but still a concern.

Apple TV provides so much enjoyment and ease of use. It just works. The UI is the best visually, and easy to use. Plus, you can also use Airplay and Ipad or Iphone to surf the net, if needed. The Apple TV is really a cool little box. As long as you keep withing the Apple ecosystem when you rip your private content, everything just works. Airplay alone is the main reason I purchased an Apple TV.

 

[iNewbie]

Apple tv's UI.

Apple TV provides so much enjoyment and ease of use. It just works. The UI is the best visually, and easy to use.

I think the Apple TV has a horrible UI. At least for ripped computer content. Every other screen has a nice grid view showing the poster for the movie. But for the computer movies? It's just a top down list. YUK!! That doesn't work well for lots if movies.

I'm going to take a hard look at Plex and a Roju box just to get a better interface for lots of content.

 

[PhoenixMac]

This thread is very good with information. I used to run a Mini as a HTPC and loved it for a while, then I found out that I could do a lot of the same stuff with a Jailbroken Apple TV 2, so then I switched to that but recently I have found the itch to switch back to the Mini because since I got the ATV I have cut the cord and some of the stuff I watch is Online only and doesn't play well with airplay from the iPhone.

I am debating on picking up a NAS and a used mini. Not sure though.

 

[danwilliams]

I think the Apple TV has a horrible UI. At least for ripped computer content. Every other screen has a nice grid view showing the poster for the movie. But for the computer movies? It's just a top down list. YUK!! That doesn't work well for lots if movies.

I'm going to take a hard look at Plex and a Roju box just to get a better interface for lots of content.

I assume you meant to type, "Roku box", instead of "Roju box"?

I currently have my 60" Panasonic hooked up to my MacMini in the man cave. I use Plex, EyeTV, RemoteBuddy, and the Harmony Remote. I recently bought a Roku box for our new 32" upstairs HDTV. Here is what I found out:

The stuff we use is Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, and DVD rips on my MacMini. Since the Roku box comes with the Plex App (for free), I can get all of these things on my TV upstairs. The UI is acceptable. However, it is wife friendly. She can find things she wants without me helping.

With the MacMini in my man cave, things don't always work. Every so often updates from various pieces screw with the system so it is no longer wife friendly. For example, my Harmony Remote is no longer tied to the Plex client. I am not sure if it was an update from RemoteBuddy, OS X, Plex, or what? I am sure if I spend some quality time I can fix it. But I don't want to. I am tempted to buy another Roku box and use that as the UI for my 60" HDTV.

I thought about the AppleTV (I do like my Apple products) but it doesn't have a plex app. The Roku does. Now all my movies are MKVs. I would rather buy a Roku that can play MKV files than re-rip my movie collection so the AppleTV can play them.

I hope this helps.

 

[fridgeymonster3]

I thought about the AppleTV (I do like my Apple products) but it doesn't have a plex app. The Roku does. Now all my movies are MKVs. I would rather buy a Roku that can play MKV files than re-rip my movie collection so the AppleTV can play them.

If you wanted an Apple TV, you wouldn't need to re-rip your MKVs. You could just remux from MKV to MP4 (shorter) or encode from mkv to
Mp4 in Handbrake (longer).

 

[flatfoot99]

great info guys!

 

[hipnetic]

If you wanted an Apple TV, you wouldn't need to re-rip your MKVs. You could just remux from MKV to MP4 (shorter) or encode from mkv to
Mp4 in Handbrake (longer).

Or, you can let your central computer run the Plex server app and do on-the-fly transcoding to your iPhone/iPad, which you can then push to your Apple TV via AirPlay. I wouldn't recommend doing that in a room with a large screen and/or surround sound, as there will be a PQ loss, and the sound will also be transcoded down to stereo. But it can work well enough for extra rooms in the house. Your central Plex server will need to have a competent CPU in order to do on-the-fly transcoding at a high quality.

 

[danwilliams]

Or, you can let your central computer run the Plex server app and do on-the-fly transcoding to your iPhone/iPad, which you can then push to your Apple TV via AirPlay. I wouldn't recommend doing that in a room with a large screen and/or surround sound, as there will be a PQ loss, and the sound will also be transcoded down to stereo. But it can work well enough for extra rooms in the house. Your central Plex server will need to have a competent CPU in order to do on-the-fly transcoding at a high quality.

Yes but I would require purchasing yet another device (i.e., iPhone or iPad) just to get stuff from my media server to the AppleTV. Good to know though.

If you wanted an Apple TV, you wouldn't need to re-rip your MKVs. You could just remux from MKV to MP4 (shorter) or encode from mkv to
Mp4 in Handbrake (longer).

This is also good to know. But I would rather not do that either. I am willing to shell out a few more bucks and have a consistent interface for my wife and kids on ALL of my TVs in the house. Remember that I already bought a Roku for the upstairs TV. The UI is not the prettiest on the Roku but it is good enough for my wife and kids to find what they need and play it.

Now if I was starting fresh before purchasing my first Roku, I can see getting a AppleTV for each HDTV in the house. And then doing the handbrake thing on my mkv files. But I didn't and that is acceptable for me. I just wanted to let others know that there are other options.

As others have pointed out, it just depends on your requirements.