Greetings and thanks for taking the time to read this. I am a relatively new Mac user, and have been looking at ways to shave some excess fluff out of my budget. For the current TV service and internet I get from my cable provider, I have to pay about $130. Doing the math I saw that, if I could get it working, using a set up with Plex could save me nearly $70 a month. So I set it all up and used my Macbook as the test subject. It works great, but it's very annoying to disconnect and reconnect the laptop and change display settings, each time I want to watch something. Add that in with the fact that my wife can use it fine when set up, but can't get it started when not around, and that we are without the computer when watching TV and you can see the problem.
I've read through a lot of the threads and there doesn't seem to be a consensus on what specs are good enough to run everything smoothly. Here is what I am/want to do with a Mac Mini.
* Stream Netflix, Hulu, and other online media through Plex
* Watch DVD (and a few BR) rips (Will likely be going with the full rip via Ripit or MTR, as I don't have a system that makes encoding timely enough)
* Use EyeTV to watch local HD broadcasts
The cost is an issue, so I want to spend the least amount that I can while still getting an machine capable of doing everything smoothly. This will be the machines only function.
Thank you for any advice and insight you can offer!
I've read through a lot of the threads and there doesn't seem to be a consensus on what specs are good enough to run everything smoothly. Here is what I am/want to do with a Mac Mini.
* Stream Netflix, Hulu, and other online media through Plex
* Watch DVD (and a few BR) rips (Will likely be going with the full rip via Ripit or MTR, as I don't have a system that makes encoding timely enough)
* Use EyeTV to watch local HD broadcasts
The cost is an issue, so I want to spend the least amount that I can while still getting an machine capable of doing everything smoothly. This will be the machines only function.
Thank you for any advice and insight you can offer!
