mac mini + media center

[mrgreeneyes]

Hey,

so I'm thinking of getting the basic model mac mini
and upgrading the hard drive on my own to a larger capacity and putting all my media on it.
and hooking it up to my tv through hdmi.

my question is what is the best software to play my media?

 

[Tulani]

plex

 

[danwestbrook]

+1 Plex, or Kodi.

 

[bent christian]

If all the media is on the mini's local drive and you are playing through the television, I don't see a need for additional software like Plex. Get a media player (VLC) and be done.

 

[zone23]

I think Kodi will give you a nice interface along with a tone of extra video to watch.

 

[jasnw]

If all the media is on the mini's local drive and you are playing through the television, I don't see a need for additional software like Plex. Get a media player (VLC) and be done.

I've been thinking of using a Mac Mini in a similar way, but haven't had time to puzzle my way through the various options of how to manage/view media. Could someone familiar with this option (only need something like VLC if the Mini is connected to the TV via HDMI) and apps like Kodi and Plex give a simple description of the differences, and pros and cons, of the two approaches? Or point to a site that does this in a way that people not intimately familiar with the digital video world can understand?

 

[bent christian]

I've been thinking of using a Mac Mini in a similar way, but haven't had time to puzzle my way through the various options of how to manage/view media. Could someone familiar with this option (only need something like VLC if the Mini is connected to the TV via HDMI) and apps like Kodi and Plex give a simple description of the differences, and pros and cons, of the two approaches? Or point to a site that does this in a way that people not intimately familiar with the digital video world can understand?

I run a Thinkpad T61 Windows machine as a media player. I did a fresh install of Windows 7 and installed a minimal amount software of: VLC, Firefox, Transmission, Ccleaner and AV software. I have VLC Player and the folder containing video files set to open on startup. Browse for what you want or insert a disc and go. I don't see the need for extraneous "media center" software. I don't pull music or video from or to any other device. Everything goes through the television. If you are sending to a tablet additional software might help to make that happen.

 

[jasnw]

This approach sounds to me like the computer (Mac Mini, or whatever) just becomes an expensive and glorified DVD player with local storage. Am I missing something?

 

[bent christian]

This approach sounds to me like the computer (Mac Mini, or whatever) just becomes an expensive and glorified DVD player with local storage. Am I missing something?

Basically. What else would you expect it to do? Most of what we watch is in MP4 format, so it works well for us. This one device plays discs and any other video format. It wasn't expensive. It had a previous life as the house notebook computer in 2007. This is a "retirement" of sorts.

 

[zone23]

This approach sounds to me like the computer (Mac Mini, or whatever) just becomes an expensive and glorified DVD player with local storage. Am I missing something?

You are if you install Kodi plus TV Addons. Although you can also do it with a Fire Stick and a Plex server.

 

[jasnw]

Basically. What else would you expect it to do? Most of what we watch is in MP4 format, so it works well for us. This one device plays discs and any other video format. It wasn't expensive. It had a previous life as a the house notebook computer in 2007. This is a "retirement" of sorts.

I'm also looking at a "retirement" scenario. Wasn't trying to be snarky, just want to make sure I'm understanding what these various options do and don't to.

 

[bent christian]

I'm also looking at a "retirement" scenario.

This is a great use. It's low stress. If your OS is no longer supported for security by Apple it's not a big deal. Keep it networked, but off the Internet. I don't even update Windows any more on our player.