Mac Mini 2006 as HTPC

[LGShepherd]

Hi guys!

I am getting a 2006 Mac Mini at the weekend which is sealed and brand new for £250 with the old keyboard and mouse (both brand new). Not too sure if that is a decent price, but anyways.

I am hoping to use this as my HTPC with Plex running on it and I have a few questions.

1) Will this run well on my 50 inch plasma? I once used my old MacBook on my TV and it didn't fit correctly. I am planning on using a DVI to HDMI adapter into my amp and then using the digital audio cable for the sound.

2) I believe it will be a 1.66Ghz duo core. Will this be sufficient? I will be maxing out the RAM after Xmas also.

3) I will not be storing Movies on the Mac Mini as I have ordered a Netgear readyNAS with 2TB of storage. Again, will the Mac Mini be ok with this?

Thanks
Liam

 

[simsaladimbamba]

What kind of movies (SD or HD) do you want to play and how are they compressed (Divx, Xvid, H264, ...)?

250 $ (if US) seems a bit pricey, as Mac2Sell proposes 180 $ for a 1.66 Core Solo with 1GB RAM and 120GB HDD and Combo Drive:
http://www.mac2sell.net/permalink/?id=2a1bd8e586611bf5b37d7061cc0369ab

 

[LGShepherd]

At the moment I am only ripping my DVD collection using the Apple TV preset in Handbrake so nothing too major. I will still use Blu Ray for my HD stuff.

It's £250 for the Mac Mini, wireless keyboard and mouse. They are all brand new. I bought it off my uncle after he decided not to use them in a house he was building. Maybes I should have checked the prices.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

At the moment I am only ripping my DVD collection using the Apple TV preset in Handbrake so nothing too major. I will still use Blu Ray for my HD stuff.

It's £250 for the Mac Mini, wireless keyboard and mouse. They are all brand new. I bought it off my uncle after he decided not to use them in a house he was building. Maybes I should have checked the prices.

Completely missed that L with a stroke.

The Mac mini will definitely play your SD content, for Blu Ray content only 720p might be playable, but I could play a 1080p movie on a 2GHz C2D Mac, but both cores were used more than 50%.

I would look for a C2D Mac mini if you are seriously interested in 1080p content, but for the SD videos that Mac will be enough.

 

[LGShepherd]

Thanks for you help!

I think I might try and sell it on and find a better model

 

[Cave Man]

It'll play 1080p provided it's of low enough bit rate, even if it's h.264. It would play 1080p MPEG-2 easier, but those files would be much larger than h.264 versions.

 

[davids8477]

Hi guys!

I am getting a 2006 Mac Mini at the weekend which is sealed and brand new for £250 with the old keyboard and mouse (both brand new). Not too sure if that is a decent price, but anyways.

I am hoping to use this as my HTPC with Plex running on it and I have a few questions.

1) Will this run well on my 50 inch plasma? I once used my old MacBook on my TV and it didn't fit correctly. I am planning on using a DVI to HDMI adapter into my amp and then using the digital audio cable for the sound.

2) I believe it will be a 1.66Ghz duo core. Will this be sufficient? I will be maxing out the RAM after Xmas also.

3) I will not be storing Movies on the Mac Mini as I have ordered a Netgear readyNAS with 2TB of storage. Again, will the Mac Mini be ok with this?

Thanks
Liam

I had the same machine as you as my HTPC. I always had an issue with HD content - stuttering, buffering etc.

I upgraded it with a C2D cpu and now it runs all the content I can throw at it - with PLEX VLC etc.