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Mac mini Wrong Choice?!

FWIW, I have a 2009 mini running a 40" Sony Bravia using mini displayport --> HDMI and it's working great, no picturing clipping or anything.

Also, I haven't tried Plex because I've got everything working how it want it as-is (eyeTV, front row). But I think my setup is not a conventional HTPC in that I eliminated the 3rd party DVR (just use eyeTV) and also use the mini as fully-functional mac (logitech dinovo edge mac edition is the perfect control solution). So YMMV. :)
 
QCassidy352 said:
Also, I haven't tried Plex because I've got everything working how it want it as-is (eyeTV, front row). But I think my setup is not a conventional HTPC in that I eliminated the 3rd party DVR (just use eyeTV) and also use the mini as fully-functional mac (logitech dinovo edge mac edition is the perfect control solution). So YMMV. :)
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I used to be happy with Front Row, but Plex is lovely and I could never go back.

plex_seven_tv_shows_screenshot-credit_automated_home.jpg
 
Getting the mini and your TV to display properly together depends more on your TV having settings to overcome the mini's deficiencies. Apparently SwitchResX can fix this but *I* could never get it to work and I tried for hours and hours and looked for every tutorial I could find. I could find tons of people saying they tried it, but vanishingly few people who claim success with it.

My TV has no overscan compensation so the Mini just doesn't work with it. Overscan control is a requirement for my next TV :)
 
dernhelm said:
It's a shame you can get Dolby 7.1 surround. It is a digital audio port after all...
:mad:
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I've never seen a movie encoded in Dolby Digital Plus (7.1), only Dolby Digital or DTS (5.1). I think the studios have done this to force the market towards Blu-ray and DTS-HD and True-HD. But what's funny is that most of those Blu-ray discs only have 5.1 audio anyway. Any chance to squeeze the consumer, I suppose.
 
akm3 said:
Getting the mini and your TV to display properly together depends more on your TV having settings to overcome the mini's deficiencies.
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I don't use a Mini for this task anymore, but when I did the overscan control in OS X was sufficient to make everything look perfect.

A.
 
My Mini HTPC setup is suffering from the overscan issue and unfortunately I haven't figured out how to overcome it. Luckily PLEX will allow you to resize the screen to compensate for overscan, but I can't get OSX to do it:mad:. I looked at SwitchResX but was a little daunted by it. Plus it costs $17 to purchase vs DisplayXconfig which was only $12. But even with DisplayX I still haven't figured out how to change the settings the way I need them. But to the OP the Mini seems to be a great choice for an HTPC as long as you understand it's limitations.:D
 
cc2096 said:
My Mini HTPC setup is suffering from the overscan issue and unfortunately I haven't figured out how to overcome it. Luckily PLEX will allow you to resize the screen to compensate for overscan, but I can't get OSX to do it:mad:. I looked at SwitchResX but was a little daunted by it. Plus it costs $17 to purchase vs DisplayXconfig which was only $12. But even with DisplayX I still haven't figured out how to change the settings the way I need them. But to the OP the Mini seems to be a great choice for an HTPC as long as you understand it's limitations.:D
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x2

I've only had my Mini for a couple weeks, and I haven't even bothered using anything but Plex. OS X is overscanned and annoying, but Plex allows proper adjustment. I don't know how that is affecting the actual pixels, but the TV isn't that great anyway (bedroom 32" Symphonic LCD about 4 years old). I've been very happy with the quality of the picture despite the TV. Blu-ray rips look great.

@the guy asking about EyeTV - you can add it as an app in Plex and boot right to it from Plex. Plex is the best front end I have ever seen (PC or Mac). Nothing else has come close for my needs.
 
cc2096 said:
My Mini HTPC setup is suffering from the overscan issue and unfortunately I haven't figured out how to overcome it. Luckily PLEX will allow you to resize the screen to compensate for overscan, but I can't get OSX to do it:mad:. I looked at SwitchResX but was a little daunted by it. Plus it costs $17 to purchase vs DisplayXconfig which was only $12. But even with DisplayX I still haven't figured out how to change the settings the way I need them. But to the OP the Mini seems to be a great choice for an HTPC as long as you understand it's limitations.:D
Click to expand...

As I mentioned in my previous post, switching my connection to VGA (had tried HDMI but it was either overscanned or underscanned) fixed my issues. If you haven't tried VGA yet, give it a shot.
 
DAMAC3 said:
Plex is the best front end I have ever seen (PC or Mac). Nothing else has come close for my needs.
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I'm a fan of Plex but I would have to argue that XBMC and Aeon/Auriga blows the socks off of Plex and MediaStream (if that's what you're using). Hopefully someday soon Aeon will be fully working on Plex and this point will be moot. :D
 
TuckBodi said:
Yeah, this is what happened to me with my older mini through DVI to HDMI and my Sammy LCD. I had to go the VGA route and I now have a sweet crisp picture and now using the whole screen. I really think it depends on what TV you have and what route you go.
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So, on trying the VGA route, indeed the resolution is now perfect.:D But, of course now the colours are not so vibrant etc.:eek:

I think I might stay on the VGA though unless I can sort out the clipping with HDMI, (have dug deeper into the TVs setup menu...).

Anyone know why HDMI can't sort out how big the TV's screen is?:confused:
 
Santabean2000 said:
Anyone know why HDMI can't sort out how big the TV's screen is?
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I am as confused as you are, but for the opposite reason. I have a Sharp Aquos, and used a DVI to HDMI cable. I set the television to 'Dot by Dot' and checked the 'Overscan' box in System Preferences. It has worked perfectly on every Mac I've ever owned.

A.
 
Bye Bye Baby said:
I must say that I have been very unimpressed with plex. I still can't see the attraction. I understand the idea, but it is just so cumbersome.
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the initial setup is cumbersome, and can be frustrating enough to make you feel like pulling you hair out, but it only took me a couple of days and a few posts on the extremely helpful and kind PLEX forum to get it all rolling, and after that initial steep learning curve it was fantastic and easy to keep going and expanding with

personally, i think it's genius, but you have to be willing to invest some time understanding its ins and outs
 
Mini rocks!

fwiw, i bought a new shiny $599 1GB Mac Mini two days ago and I'm thoroughly enjoying using it as a media center. I tried boxee for a day and then moved to Plex. I'm sticking with Plex. I don't need a facebook rolled into my media center. And browsing Hulu on Plex is easier than on boxee (for no fault of theirs, i know). btw, I use a 32" $450 Dynex HDTV and a dvi to hdmi cable. Video worked/works without a fuss. For audio, I used a stereo-stereo cable (the cable I use to connect my ipod/iphone to my car stereo) to connect my mac mini to my 5.1 DVD Player input. Works beautifully.

But I also tried using a stereo-composite (red and white) cable to pipe audio from the mini straight to the TV, but somehow I haven't been able to get it to work at all.

That said, its been a very pleasurable experience so far. dvi-hdmi video simply took my breath away. The Mini rocks!
 
robotartfashion said:
the initial setup is cumbersome, and can be frustrating enough to make you feel like pulling you hair out, but it only took me a couple of days and a few posts on the extremely helpful and kind PLEX forum to get it all rolling, and after that initial steep learning curve it was fantastic and easy to keep going and expanding with

personally, i think it's genius, but you have to be willing to invest some time understanding its ins and outs
Click to expand...

Maybe you went off in the wrong direction to start with. Configuring Plex was a breeze for me and required me to do nothing that I couldn't do with my FrontRow remote. The only annoyance was that I had to install each application separately. Maybe there is a way to install all apps in one shot. But even this annoyance included, it took me all of five mins to have Plex configured.
 
My mini worked great with my 42 inch sony, that is, until 10.5.7. For some reason there's about 1/2 an inch on each side that just goes off the screen. It wasn't like that until the update.
 
I have used my Mini on a Sharp 37" LCD as well as a Panasonic 50" plasma with ideal resolution in both cases. I've always loved OSX's ability to 'talk' to the monitor. My Sharp can be adjusted to other resolutions but looks great on dot-by-dot.
 
Furi Kuri said:
My mini worked great with my 42 inch sony, that is, until 10.5.7. For some reason there's about 1/2 an inch on each side that just goes off the screen. It wasn't like that until the update.
Click to expand...

You probably aren't running the proper resolution now. There's a significant bug with HDMI in 10.5.7. Search around a bit.
 
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