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Possible MiniMac in the future?

post #1 of 18
1/11/05 at 11:54pm
Thread Starter 
Is it just me or does the MiniMac(I refuse to call it by that other name) look like the perfect system for an all in one type multimedia center type deal.

You take a TV tuner and put it in there get some Tivo like software - bulk up the hard drive and sell this thing for use with DVI capable TV's so the picture doesn't suck. Hell - you could even team up with some TV manufacturers and maybe work out some kind of deal where you can dock it on the tv - this thing is DAMN small all you would need it a little square on top of the TV. You get a killer ass Tivo type machine plus all your music in one box and you could hook up the MiniMac to your REAL stereo and not that POS klipsch/whatever wanna be stereo you have no idea you bought since you own a nice home theater/stereo ANYWAY. You can have iPhoto/OS X's screen saver play your family photos on your 43" projection/whatever DVI capable tv.

Just seems like Apple is always talking about the digital hub - well we all know the tv - the internet - the computer are going to come together in some way some how - This seems like a PERFECT match. Of course they would have to go back to the drawing board but I honestly don't see how hard something like this would be to setup.

Also with the price of these things being so cheap right now obviously if they stayed the same and time passed they would get cheaper so you figure a year from now or two or however long it would take to work all that stuff into this machine the prices shouldn't be that far off with the new stuff included.

This just seems like the hub they are talking about - everything in one place or hell - they are so cheap you could have one for the family/main tv and one for the kid/s in his/her/their room/s.
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post #2 of 18
1/12/05 at 5:18am
I'm guessing a Mac MIni A/V will emerge later this year.

It will have a tuner, an iLife PVR app, video out adapter, and some sort of scheme to remote control it via another mac or as a standalone unit.

The price will be 699$

Alternatively a third party will build a solution as the above, which will fit on top of the Mac Mini.
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post #3 of 18
1/12/05 at 5:46am
I agree. Even apple shows that you can hook the thing up to your TV. And look at how they are making iMovie and iDVD into 1 step solutions to make a DVD. The same technology that automatically takes clips from your DV camera and makes a iMovie could easily capture your favorite TV show, delete the ads and put it all back together again. I think apple will see how this sells and than develop it from there.
And yes, a PC can be had cheaper but I want a MAC!
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And yes, a PC can be had cheaper but I want a MAC!
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post #4 of 18
1/12/05 at 7:00am
Quote:
Originally posted by anand
I agree. Even apple shows that you can hook the thing up to your TV. And look at how they are making iMovie and iDVD into 1 step solutions to make a DVD. The same technology that automatically takes clips from your DV camera and makes a iMovie could easily capture your favorite TV show, delete the ads and put it all back together again. I think apple will see how this sells and than develop it from there.

This would be really cool- we as a community should develop an application that goes full screen, easily navigable w/ remote (keyspan?), can record video or launch applications and use applescript to do the rest...much like the windows media center software...

Anyone up to it? I'd like to be the interface designer.
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post #5 of 18
1/12/05 at 9:52am
Maybe a 9-10" Screen for navigation
purpose, would be nice.

I guess in future Minis there will be
a little LCD screen, say, like in digicams,
integrated. Therefore you can use that LCD
like an ipodish navigation,
or attach a TV/DVI screen to utilize
the mini entirely.

best
" I will not commit anything to memory that I can get from another source . . . "
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" I will not commit anything to memory that I can get from another source . . . "
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post #6 of 18
1/12/05 at 1:32pm
Quote:
Originally posted by PeePeeSee
Is it just me or does the MiniMac(I refuse to call it by that other name) look like the perfect system for an all in one type multimedia center type deal.

I think it has the potential with an external USB/Firewire tuner to do some nice PVR stuff. Hopefully some of the makers of this stuff for the Mac OS will realize that the current ~$300 price range of their hardware doesn't fit with the Mac Mini's pricing. Especially when you can get the same hardware for other platforms for <$100.
Quote:

You take a TV tuner and put it in there get some Tivo like software - bulk up the hard drive and sell this thing for use with DVI capable TV's so the picture doesn't suck.

Unless Apple has something in the line right now for this to be released soon, it isn't happening. Regular TV is dead in the US in about a year. Who knows where things like Tivo will be after that. This Mac Mini is fairly underpowered to do HDTV recording without significant extra hardware.
Quote:

[...] and you could hook up the MiniMac to your REAL stereo and not that POS klipsch/whatever wanna be stereo you have no idea you bought since you own a nice home theater/stereo ANYWAY.

My home theatre is Klipsch, and they make great speakers. They've been doing it for decades.
Quote:

[...] This just seems like the hub they are talking about - everything in one place or hell - they are so cheap you could have one for the family/main tv and one for the kid/s in his/her/their room/s.

Cheap is relative. If you're buying 3 of these, and probably don't have keyboards/mice for them (plus you'll want wireless ones), buy HDTVs to get any kind of reasonable display, have to buy $200+ external TV tuners for PVR, ... and then remember a bunch of this won't work with HDTV (other than the displays) in a year or so, Not cheap IMHO.

Sure, some of the above are things I may try to do in the next year, but a nice packaged solution like this under Mac OS X is some time off, and not cheap anytime soon either.

We're close, but I don't expect some kind of Mac Mini A/V this year. At best we'll get some third party to sell a nice Firewire/USB tuner with PVR software for ~$100.
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post #7 of 18
1/12/05 at 2:44pm
instead of theorizing how apple can make this product into what you want, why not just go out and buy various things to piece it all together? it can all easily be done, and for much less than a Mac Mini. I would build my own setup, but I'm not naive enough to tell myself I need it. When i wanna watch my own videos or slideshows, i pop my dvd's into a $30 dvd player, when i want tunes i listen to them through whatever system is appropriate at the time, and if i want a remote then i'll pick one up for about 5$50-$60. you just have to know how to make it work instead of whining to a huge company to do it for you.
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post #8 of 18
1/12/05 at 2:54pm
Quote:
Originally posted by tacojohn
I'd like to be the interface designer.

Yeah, you and everyone else here!
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post #9 of 18
1/12/05 at 3:34pm
I would like to see a third party develope something to set under the mac mini with a built-in higher end sound card supporting 5.1 or 7.1 with optical in and outs, a video capture card of some type, a few usb port, a few firewire ports, and a few usb 2.0 ports.
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post #10 of 18
1/12/05 at 5:08pm
Quote:
Originally posted by timmy o'tool
I would like to see a third party develope something to set under the mac mini with a built-in higher end sound card supporting 5.1 or 7.1 with optical in and outs, a video capture card of some type, a few usb port, a few firewire ports, and a few usb 2.0 ports.

Ouch, it didn't even click to me that the mini doesn't have an optical audio output. Yeah, that pretty much kills this as a media center of sorts without extra hardware.

So yeah, what you said, you'd need a (probably Firewire) box plus ideally a TV tuner, and then A/V in/out and maybe an IR remote port on the front. I kind of wish it had a couple USB ports on the front too for game controllers.
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post #11 of 18
1/12/05 at 6:03pm
Quote:
Originally posted by pmjoe
Ouch, it didn't even click to me that the mini doesn't have an optical audio output. Yeah, that pretty much kills this as a media center of sorts without extra hardware.

why? unless your home movies are encoded in 5.1, you have nothing to gain with optical audio. also, if you're playing dvd's from it, the video quality will already be bad because of the connection and the way that the dvi-video adapter works. basically you wouldnt be getting a true fullscreen image and it would be 'flaky' because of the resolution. basically there are bigger problems you would have with all of this than not having optical audio out.
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post #12 of 18
1/12/05 at 6:21pm
quick question. Would the s video thingy display very good on a tv?
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post #13 of 18
1/12/05 at 8:04pm
Quote:
Originally posted by timmy o'tool
quick question. Would the s video thingy display very good on a tv?

its decent. the big thing for me is that with the adapter, the mac wont use all of a tv. in the space ion the edges where older tv's have a plastic covering to compensate for CRT's firing poorly, the adapter shoots black.
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post #14 of 18
1/12/05 at 11:48pm
Thread Starter 
Originally posted by pmjoe
...Unless Apple has something in the line right now for this to be released soon, it isn't happening. Regular TV is dead in the US in about a year. Who knows where things like Tivo will be after that. This Mac Mini is fairly underpowered to do HDTV recording without significant extra hardware.
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Yes I know unless it is in the works it isn't happening - that is why I am saying to other people on a public message forum on the internet that this would be a good idea so maybe it does happen. Also "regular tv" isn't dead in the US in a year - over the air broadcasts will be going from analog to digital - that doesn't mean everything will be hidefinition that just means it will be digital instead of analog. Also - that's ONLY over the air - it has nothing to do with cable television or sat providers(they have being doing digital tv since sat tv came out.) The MiniMac can easily record HDTV but as I said - it will have to have a tuner built in - and Elgato sells one right now for 300 dollars for the mac so there isn't any reason this can't be done all in one box.
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My home theatre is Klipsch, and they make great speakers. They've been doing it for decades.
------------------------------
I wasn't talking specificaly about any one company - My point was computer speaker setups suck and you really shouldn't even need to buy one if you have a nice setup in your living room already.
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Cheap is relative. If you're buying 3 of these, and probably don't have keyboards/mice for them (plus you'll want wireless ones), buy HDTVs to get any kind of reasonable display, have to buy $200+ external TV tuners for PVR, ... and then remember a bunch of this won't work with HDTV (other than the displays) in a year or so, Not cheap IMHO.
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Well I didn't say buying three was cheap and all the stuff to go with them - I said they are so cheap you could buy three of them. Also I don't know what you mean by a bunch of this won't work with hdtv in a year or so?
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Sure, some of the above are things I may try to do in the next year, but a nice packaged solution like this under Mac OS X is some time off, and not cheap anytime soon either.

We're close, but I don't expect some kind of Mac Mini A/V this year. At best we'll get some third party to sell a nice Firewire/USB tuner with PVR software for ~$100.
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There already is a USB tuner with PVR software for $150 from Elgato but I want something built into the mac with some Apple know how behind it with the style they put on everything that they do.
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post #15 of 18
1/12/05 at 11:53pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by ipodandimac
instead of theorizing how apple can make this product into what you want, why not just go out and buy various things to piece it all together? it can all easily be done, and for much less than a Mac Mini. I would build my own setup, but I'm not naive enough to tell myself I need it. When i wanna watch my own videos or slideshows, i pop my dvd's into a $30 dvd player, when i want tunes i listen to them through whatever system is appropriate at the time, and if i want a remote then i'll pick one up for about 5$50-$60. you just have to know how to make it work instead of whining to a huge company to do it for you.

Geee I don't know maybe because this is the Future Hardware forum on a rumor site?

What makes you think I don't know how to put it all together? Whining to a huge company to do it for me? You really are a stupid asshole. This is wishful thinking - not whining - ALSO this isn't a company - it's a rumor message board website smart guy.

You know how Apple says think different? Well I think they meant think before you open your mouth as well.

Thanks for trying to insult me.
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post #16 of 18
1/13/05 at 12:38am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by ipodandimac
why? unless your home movies are encoded in 5.1, you have nothing to gain with optical audio. also, if you're playing dvd's from it, the video quality will already be bad because of the connection and the way that the dvi-video adapter works. basically you wouldnt be getting a true fullscreen image and it would be 'flaky' because of the resolution. basically there are bigger problems you would have with all of this than not having optical audio out.

Yes - that is why said DVI capable TV's - typical TV's are going to just suck.
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post #17 of 18
1/13/05 at 12:39am
Quote:
Originally posted by Vox Barbara
Maybe a 9-10" Screen for navigation
purpose, would be nice.

I guess in future Minis there will be
a little LCD screen, say, like in digicams,
integrated. Therefore you can use that LCD
like an ipodish navigation,
or attach a TV/DVI screen to utilize
the mini entirely.

best

NOOOO lets forget about AIO ideas for a while PLEASE!!

 

 

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post #18 of 18
1/13/05 at 12:51am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally posted by timmy o'tool
quick question. Would the s video thingy display very good on a tv?

No - DVI would be best - notice macs have DVI connectors coming out of the back of them and nice TV's have DVI inputs on them. Mac with DVI output + TV with DVI input = very very nice monitor. All without breaking the bank on just a 30" LCD so you can break it on a 52" HDTV.
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