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Will the Mac Mini and AppleTV combine?

themoonisdown09

themoonisdown09

macrumors 601
Original poster
Nov 19, 2007
4,319
18
Georgia, USA
I was searching the internet for how to make a Mac Mini into a DVR and I came across this article on AppleInsider about an Apple patent. It talks about giving AppleTV a DVR interface. I'm just wondering if Apple is deciding to get rid of the Mac Mini and combine it with the AppleTV. This would give the AppleTV a DVD drive and allow you to schedule/record tv shows.

If something like this came out at MacWorld 2009, I would definitely buy it that day. I am in the market right now for a DVR/Media Center solution. Your thoughts?
 
Does Apple want a $300 Mac? No.

Does the general public want a $600 AppleTV? No.

No matter how you spec and price it, this looks like a bad deal for someone. I don't see it happening.
 
Technically it is appealing - to me at least.

Take the new mini/AppleTV unit and make the optical drive optional and sell the MacBookAir drive as an add on. And a BluRay add on drive.

But like the poster above this will make the mini too cheap or too underpowered or the AppleTV too expensive.
 
The :apple:TV is already a $230 computer (It can be modified into a normal OSX computer). You get what you pay for though, a 1GHz Pentium M, 400mhz system bus, 256mb of non-upgradable ram, NVIDIA GeForce Go 7300 graphics, an IDE drive interface and no optical drive.

Makes the Mini look like a rock star.
 
NO WAY! although i have nothing to back that up, think about how many people want apple TV and dont need a mini, and they only pay 299 for tv. they are not gunna just up the price a few huundered.
and without reading any af the above posts before, i now realize i have pretty much reposted what everyone else has...but its the truth imo.
 
IroquoisPliskin said:
The :apple:TV is already a $230 computer (It can be modified into a normal OSX computer). You get what you pay for though, a 1GHz Pentium M, 400mhz system bus, 256mb of non-upgradable ram, NVIDIA GeForce Go 7300 graphics, an IDE drive interface and no optical drive.

Makes the Mini look like a rock star.
Click to expand...

Except the 7300 graphics kill the Minis GMA 950

/Pedantic
 
The main reason why I thought this would be awesome is for all the people that are making the Mac Mini their media center. It plays DVDs, you can use it as a DVR (with EyeTV), you can stream videos/music over the WiFi onto your TV, you can hook up your surround sound to it, etc.

So if they made something in between the Mac Mini and the AppleTV that costs $450-$500 that had all this built in, I would buy it in a heart beat. I paid $450 for my Panasonic DVD Recorder with a 160GB hard drive and all I used it for was scheduling/recording tv shows and playing DVDs.
 
themoonisdown09 said:
The main reason why I thought this would be awesome is for all the people that are making the Mac Mini their media center. It plays DVDs, you can use it as a DVR (with EyeTV), you can stream videos/music over the WiFi onto your TV, you can hook up your surround sound to it, etc.

So if they made something in between the Mac Mini and the AppleTV that costs $450-$500 that had all this built in, I would buy it in a heart beat. I paid $450 for my Panasonic DVD Recorder with a 160GB hard drive and all I used it for was scheduling/recording tv shows and playing DVDs.
Click to expand...

Apple should be congratulated on building an appliance to help sell products on iTunes - ATV and getting the consumer to pay for it on top of the itunes products. If one is okay with this scenario, then the Apple TV does its job very well (as long as you have a 720p or less screen).

Mac Mini is the would have should have been media center and entry point into the world of Apple computing. The hardware is outdated now, the cost is at least 200 dollars too much. Yet, in all fairness it sold well for a long while.

I can only hope Apple does come out with an updated version of the Mac Mini with better graphics, faster cpu and allow 4 gigs of RAM. If so, I may be the first in line.
 
wdaleherring said:
NO WAY! although i have nothing to back that up, think about how many people want apple TV and dont need a mini, and they only pay 299 for tv. they are not gunna just up the price a few huundered.
and without reading any af the above posts before, i now realize i have pretty much reposted what everyone else has...but its the truth imo.
Click to expand...

I believe that the ATV could use a refresh and that the Mini Mac can be rebranded and include features of the ATV at its normal Mac Mini price.

This would give you two tiers of ATV and the higher end one can serve as a computer as well.

ATV as is, is nothing more than an "appliance" to serve up iTunes and Apple makes the customer pay for a box to "buy/rent" their product. Granted it can do a lil more but that's its main function.

The Mac Mini can do everything the ATV can do save for HD from iTunes (buy or rent). Why not just get it over with and include the buy/rent of HD content and then everyone is happy. Remember, Apple's HD content is DRM'd and up to 720 only. Back ups of blu ray can be 1080 and with Plex as a front end, the Mac Mini is a far more versatile media center than the ATV and you can add PVR, play DVD's directly etc.

Remember, Apple wants the media market and ..let's face it, M$oft has them beat with blu ray and internal clear QAM tuners etc.

Apple's ATV is akin to other appliances out there that cost about the same and often have movies cheaper. Hope Apple is rethinking this all.

Just my two cents - upper line and lower line might be the way to go for "ATV"
 
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