Thanks for letting me know. Feel free to shop whatever sites you prefer, and I'll do the same. Unless there is some fact check out on the web somewhere that proves that Monoprice has a better reputation than 'anyone else' or that you've spoken to every customer that Monoprice has serviced, etc, etc, etc etc
Not badly, but not well. It's just doesn't make for a decent Mac. For playing around with sure, but that is it. Now, Mac OS X on a netbook is better than and Windows and more useful than any version of Linux. You even get more battery time.
PS: To do these requires hacking Mac OS X, which I thought you were against.
If people are having fun with it, then it doesn't have to be as fast as a Mini. That's not why they're doing it.
I'm not saying I'm doing it, but I'm not going to pretend when something is done that it isn't being one. I'm not saying it should be done, just that it is being done.
Thanks for letting me know. Feel free to shop whatever sites you prefer, and I'll do the same. Unless there is some fact check out on the web somewhere that proves that Monoprice has a better reputation than 'anyone else' or that you've spoken to every customer that Monoprice has serviced, then you claims are only that. Claims based on your personal experience with them. I'm sure if I went to their website I would see reviews full love and sunshine. No thanks. I tend to be a bit more careful with my cash. If I happen to order from them via Amazon, then so be it, but I have a better chance of evaluating a vendor with thousands of votes as to their subjective quality of service, then I will reading such reviews on the vendors site. The vendor is under no legal obligation to post bad reviews on their own site. They might be a fine vendor but I'll be the judge of that.
...
That's my prerogative.
Of course it's your prerogative. It's not just my experience, out of numerous mentions on several web sites & podcasts, I haven't seen anyone complain about Monoprice, every mention was positive, and they all sounded grass-roots rather than spamming.
You mentioned product ratings, I'd be surprised if all these weren't the exact same product.
If you want an independent set of ratings about the retailer, here you go:
I am disappointment because they will use again Core 2 Duo - maybe quadcore in this little bugger is impossible but I will be really happy see it happen
BluRay, like Flash, is just a placeholder, while better things develop.
To not understand this, is to be left behind. I don't care that average AV heads don't get it, I'm just glad Apple does.
Being able to see more than 3 years into the future is why Apple is where they are, with what they have.
You're deluding yourself if you think that Apple isn't endorsing Blu-ray for any other reason than they feel that it competes with their closed system profit model. Virtually EVERY technology is a placeholder for the "next big thing". You may not be aware of this, but packaged media sales (DVD and BD) are up over last year (2009) - not hugely so, but physical media is not in decline in 2010 versus 2009. http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ques...rtid=Cover2#/2
Also, in much the same way that music downloads haven't come close to completely killing physical media for music, it's pretty unreasonable to expect video downloads (with higher bitrate and bandwidth requirements and drastically less format standardization) to kill physical media for video.
You might be right, if it wasn't for Apple embracing and encouraging the post blu-ray/optical disk technology.
Yes and how many of those people actually want to watch blu-ray movies on their much smaller computer.
Probably not as many as you think
I work in the industry and even when we are creating something at blu-ray quality, it is burned and taken to a viewing room to be tested, NOT just played back on a computer. Because that 50 inch screen, surround sound etc is how the end result is going to be view by you and the rest of Joe Q Public in 99% of cases.
You are correct about this. However, for all we know, Apple is leading the drive to create new codecs and compressions to have 1080p files that aren't 6 times the size of a 720.
Except we're talking about blanks, not pressed commercial titles etc
And while you can find some cheap Blu-ray blanks, they are often no name companies etc. When you are backing up data most folks will want some level of guaranteed reliability and that means way more per GB than a hard drive.
More like smart. Because he's getting the facts first hand. When he says that there's issues, that the licensing is too expensive and complex, he knows. Not 'he heard'
So, let me get this straight -- since people don't buy the BDs with the INTENT of watching them on their laptop or iMac for instance (which I happen to agree with), Apple shouldn't put a BD player in said devices like EVERY OTHER HARDWARE MFGR, so that if you happen to be on an airline flight with your laptop you'll need to buy said movie (which you already own on BD) via Apple's iTunes because . . . . your laptop won't play BDs. Weird how that works out, huh? And that's only one use-case where having a laptop BD player makes sense. Bottom line: this isn't about "the future" it's about Apple's revenue model . . . take off the fan boy glasses.
You're deluding yourself if you think that Apple isn't endorsing Blu-ray for any other reason than they feel that it competes with their closed system profit model. Virtually EVERY technology is a placeholder for the "next big thing". You may not be aware of this, but packaged media sales (DVD and BD) are up over last year (2009) - not hugely so, but physical media is not in decline in 2010 versus 2009. http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ques...rtid=Cover2#/2
Also, in much the same way that music downloads haven't come close to completely killing physical media for music, it's pretty unreasonable to expect video downloads (with higher bitrate and bandwidth requirements and drastically less format standardization) to kill physical media for video.
Killing physical media sales is a higher bar than download proponents realize. iTunes is close to accounting for half of all music sold, someone on this forum posted an article that said they'll probably hit that milestone this year.
I do agree that paid video has a long way to go. Apple is very quiet about their video sales or rental figures, which leads me to suspect that it's anything but impressive. I don't think any other downloadable video seller is pushing much volume either.
Killing physical media sales is a higher bar than download proponents realize. iTunes is close to accounting for half of all music sold, someone on this forum posted an article that said they'll probably hit that milestone this year.
I do agree that paid video has a long way to go. Apple is very quiet about their video sales or rental figures, which leads me to suspect that it's anything but impressive. I don't think any other downloadable video seller is pushing much volume either.
I didn't realize that iTunes had hit or was approaching 50% -- that's pretty incredible. Last time I checked, however, overall music sales (in USD terms) had risen -- I think that was in 2007 or 2008? Which would indicate that, indeed, downloads compliment, not replace physical media. I'm not saying that in some specific circumstances downloads don't replace physical, just that on the whole if the entire pie is getting larger (remember, primary advantages of downloads are: convenience and portability), then the effect is additive, not zero sum.
On top of that, the iTunes store opened in 2003 and it's now 2010. While hitting 50% of market share in 7 years is certainly nothing to minimize, the challenges (format, licensing, bandwidth, storage, DRM) are far more significant for video than they were for music. This, of course, doesn't mean it won't happen, just that it's likely to take a lot longer than 7 years to reach 50% market share. In fact, Apple started selling video downloads via iTunes in what, 2005? I think it's pretty clear that the growth rate of music downloads and video downloads are no where near the same. . . .
Older (2008) MacBook Pros have a DVI out. Just use a DVI to HDMI cable.
For the newest Macbooks, you'll need both the Mini DisplayPort to HDMI and a USB Audio. Not nearly as cheap as the older Macbook solution, but not horrible:
Can't seem to find an equivelent DVI/USB Audio to HDMI converter. Hopefully someone else knows of one...
I don't even have an Apple laptop at the moment. Just using an old Thinkpad with VGA when I travel. It would be nice to have HDMI built-in so I don't have to carry a clunky adapter. Not that the lack of HDMI out would be a deal-breaker on a new Arrandale 13" for me anyway, just saying it would be nice.
I do agree that paid video has a long way to go. Apple is very quiet about their video sales or rental figures, which leads me to suspect that it's anything but impressive. I don't think any other downloadable video seller is pushing much volume either.
Yep. Buying digital video that's locked to a single device (or family of devices) will be a terrible idea up until the iPod has 5TB of storage space and can output blu-ray quality video and sound with an iPod-Dock-to-HDMI cable. At that point, your video library would truly be as portable as physical media and compatible with any modern-day television. Oh yeah, and all movies would have to be available for sale in HD on the iTunes Store on release day and until the end of time, instead of just some movies, some of the time — which is how it works now.
I am disappointment because they will use again Core 2 Duo - maybe quadcore in this little bugger is impossible but I will be really happy see it happen
Well I'm not sure they will go Core 2 again, it is not like Apple has said where they are going here. Given that does it really matter considering the head room they have in the Mini. Let's face it they could bump the clock rate significantly, add in Nvidias 9400M replacement and have one very nice upgrade. They might be able to manage a 40% increase in real performance.
With respect to performance let's not be suckered in by some of the numbers posted around the net. While the numbers are real they are for the most part the result of new instructions in the SIMD units. That doesn't mean alot when Apple is heavily using the GPU to do what others are doing on the CPU. OpenCL is the big club that Apple can us to make sure performance remains acceptable.
On a side note if Apple really wanted to send Intel a message they would make us of AMDs three core CPUs in the Mini. For many tasks the performance is excellent and they don't have Intels GPU built in. It is the right CPU for the Mini and AMD/ ATI can supply very good GPUs to go with it.
I'm just sitting back wondering how long it will be before Apple just says: screw you Intel. I can't imagine anybody at Apple is happy with Intels integrated Graphics chips in their new CPUs.
Hmmm, in the past I was quite interested in a hdmi equiped mini. But ever since the PS3 netflix support was rolled out, the equation has changed somewhat.
The PS3 offers higher definition netflix streaming than available on full-blown computers. That's correct, the stream offered to windows and mac OSes is a lower bit-rate than can be had via a PS3 or other blu-ray or dedicated streaming boxes. (This could be an intellectual property issue on systems that could potentially rip the stream to disk.)
If the mini were to get hdmi, blu-ray, and better netflix support, our quest for a perfect home theater media source would finally come to an end. I'm not holding my breath though. It seems like every currently available product has major shortcomings and that those shortcomings aren't likely to be addressed in the next release.
Looks like we'll need to wait a few more years to finally get a single box capable of everything. Not even a laboriously researched, built, and maintained HTPCs can do everything. Neither will the new mini... but it could. Netflix simply needs to enable HD streaming for consumer operating systems. For those who don't use or haven't seen netflix streaming, this may seem like making a mountain out of a molehill. But there are millions of people who use netflix streaming on a regular basis. People who originally signed up for netflix for discs by mail, have slowly realized that their gaming console (or kid's gaming console) is capable of streaming movies. The setup process involves going to the netflix website, something they were doing already, and typing in the 6 digit code that appears on their TV screen. After that, they tend to watch more and more streaming movies. Why not? No waiting for disks in the mail and the HD streams look better than DVD anyway.
Why all this fixation on netflix? They just happen to be the most popular and advanced streaming service available right now. When discussing the inclusion of hdmi on a mac mini, video playback is certainly the crux of the issue.
Comments
Thanks for letting me know. Feel free to shop whatever sites you prefer, and I'll do the same. Unless there is some fact check out on the web somewhere that proves that Monoprice has a better reputation than 'anyone else' or that you've spoken to every customer that Monoprice has serviced, etc, etc, etc etc
Try this independent ratings site.
Not badly, but not well. It's just doesn't make for a decent Mac. For playing around with sure, but that is it. Now, Mac OS X on a netbook is better than and Windows and more useful than any version of Linux. You even get more battery time.
PS: To do these requires hacking Mac OS X, which I thought you were against.
If people are having fun with it, then it doesn't have to be as fast as a Mini. That's not why they're doing it.
I'm not saying I'm doing it, but I'm not going to pretend when something is done that it isn't being one. I'm not saying it should be done, just that it is being done.
Thanks for letting me know. Feel free to shop whatever sites you prefer, and I'll do the same. Unless there is some fact check out on the web somewhere that proves that Monoprice has a better reputation than 'anyone else' or that you've spoken to every customer that Monoprice has serviced, then you claims are only that. Claims based on your personal experience with them. I'm sure if I went to their website I would see reviews full love and sunshine. No thanks. I tend to be a bit more careful with my cash. If I happen to order from them via Amazon, then so be it, but I have a better chance of evaluating a vendor with thousands of votes as to their subjective quality of service, then I will reading such reviews on the vendors site. The vendor is under no legal obligation to post bad reviews on their own site. They might be a fine vendor but I'll be the judge of that.
...
That's my prerogative.
Of course it's your prerogative. It's not just my experience, out of numerous mentions on several web sites & podcasts, I haven't seen anyone complain about Monoprice, every mention was positive, and they all sounded grass-roots rather than spamming.
You mentioned product ratings, I'd be surprised if all these weren't the exact same product.
If you want an independent set of ratings about the retailer, here you go:
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/monoprice
(looks like stompy beat me to it)
maybe quadcore in this little bugger is impossible but I will be really happy see it happen
Someday. Probably not this year though.
BluRay, like Flash, is just a placeholder, while better things develop.
To not understand this, is to be left behind. I don't care that average AV heads don't get it, I'm just glad Apple does.
Being able to see more than 3 years into the future is why Apple is where they are, with what they have.
You're deluding yourself if you think that Apple isn't endorsing Blu-ray for any other reason than they feel that it competes with their closed system profit model. Virtually EVERY technology is a placeholder for the "next big thing". You may not be aware of this, but packaged media sales (DVD and BD) are up over last year (2009) - not hugely so, but physical media is not in decline in 2010 versus 2009. http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ques...rtid=Cover2#/2
Also, in much the same way that music downloads haven't come close to completely killing physical media for music, it's pretty unreasonable to expect video downloads (with higher bitrate and bandwidth requirements and drastically less format standardization) to kill physical media for video.
You might be right, if it wasn't for Apple embracing and encouraging the post blu-ray/optical disk technology.
Yes and how many of those people actually want to watch blu-ray movies on their much smaller computer.
Probably not as many as you think
I work in the industry and even when we are creating something at blu-ray quality, it is burned and taken to a viewing room to be tested, NOT just played back on a computer. Because that 50 inch screen, surround sound etc is how the end result is going to be view by you and the rest of Joe Q Public in 99% of cases.
You are correct about this. However, for all we know, Apple is leading the drive to create new codecs and compressions to have 1080p files that aren't 6 times the size of a 720.
Except we're talking about blanks, not pressed commercial titles etc
And while you can find some cheap Blu-ray blanks, they are often no name companies etc. When you are backing up data most folks will want some level of guaranteed reliability and that means way more per GB than a hard drive.
More like smart. Because he's getting the facts first hand. When he says that there's issues, that the licensing is too expensive and complex, he knows. Not 'he heard'
So, let me get this straight -- since people don't buy the BDs with the INTENT of watching them on their laptop or iMac for instance (which I happen to agree with), Apple shouldn't put a BD player in said devices like EVERY OTHER HARDWARE MFGR, so that if you happen to be on an airline flight with your laptop you'll need to buy said movie (which you already own on BD) via Apple's iTunes because . . . . your laptop won't play BDs. Weird how that works out, huh? And that's only one use-case where having a laptop BD player makes sense. Bottom line: this isn't about "the future" it's about Apple's revenue model . . . take off the fan boy glasses.
You're deluding yourself if you think that Apple isn't endorsing Blu-ray for any other reason than they feel that it competes with their closed system profit model. Virtually EVERY technology is a placeholder for the "next big thing". You may not be aware of this, but packaged media sales (DVD and BD) are up over last year (2009) - not hugely so, but physical media is not in decline in 2010 versus 2009. http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ques...rtid=Cover2#/2
Also, in much the same way that music downloads haven't come close to completely killing physical media for music, it's pretty unreasonable to expect video downloads (with higher bitrate and bandwidth requirements and drastically less format standardization) to kill physical media for video.
Killing physical media sales is a higher bar than download proponents realize. iTunes is close to accounting for half of all music sold, someone on this forum posted an article that said they'll probably hit that milestone this year.
I do agree that paid video has a long way to go. Apple is very quiet about their video sales or rental figures, which leads me to suspect that it's anything but impressive. I don't think any other downloadable video seller is pushing much volume either.
Killing physical media sales is a higher bar than download proponents realize. iTunes is close to accounting for half of all music sold, someone on this forum posted an article that said they'll probably hit that milestone this year.
I do agree that paid video has a long way to go. Apple is very quiet about their video sales or rental figures, which leads me to suspect that it's anything but impressive. I don't think any other downloadable video seller is pushing much volume either.
I didn't realize that iTunes had hit or was approaching 50% -- that's pretty incredible. Last time I checked, however, overall music sales (in USD terms) had risen -- I think that was in 2007 or 2008? Which would indicate that, indeed, downloads compliment, not replace physical media. I'm not saying that in some specific circumstances downloads don't replace physical, just that on the whole if the entire pie is getting larger (remember, primary advantages of downloads are: convenience and portability), then the effect is additive, not zero sum.
On top of that, the iTunes store opened in 2003 and it's now 2010. While hitting 50% of market share in 7 years is certainly nothing to minimize, the challenges (format, licensing, bandwidth, storage, DRM) are far more significant for video than they were for music. This, of course, doesn't mean it won't happen, just that it's likely to take a lot longer than 7 years to reach 50% market share. In fact, Apple started selling video downloads via iTunes in what, 2005? I think it's pretty clear that the growth rate of music downloads and video downloads are no where near the same. . . .
Older (2008) MacBook Pros have a DVI out. Just use a DVI to HDMI cable.
For the newest Macbooks, you'll need both the Mini DisplayPort to HDMI and a USB Audio. Not nearly as cheap as the older Macbook solution, but not horrible:
https://shops.godaddy.com/Elmenos/Me...Apple-Macbook/
Can't seem to find an equivelent DVI/USB Audio to HDMI converter. Hopefully someone else knows of one...
I don't even have an Apple laptop at the moment. Just using an old Thinkpad with VGA when I travel. It would be nice to have HDMI built-in so I don't have to carry a clunky adapter. Not that the lack of HDMI out would be a deal-breaker on a new Arrandale 13" for me anyway, just saying it would be nice.
I do agree that paid video has a long way to go. Apple is very quiet about their video sales or rental figures, which leads me to suspect that it's anything but impressive. I don't think any other downloadable video seller is pushing much volume either.
Yep. Buying digital video that's locked to a single device (or family of devices) will be a terrible idea up until the iPod has 5TB of storage space and can output blu-ray quality video and sound with an iPod-Dock-to-HDMI cable. At that point, your video library would truly be as portable as physical media and compatible with any modern-day television. Oh yeah, and all movies would have to be available for sale in HD on the iTunes Store on release day and until the end of time, instead of just some movies, some of the time — which is how it works now.
I am disappointment because they will use again Core 2 Duo - maybe quadcore in this little bugger is impossible but I will be really happy see it happen
Well I'm not sure they will go Core 2 again, it is not like Apple has said where they are going here. Given that does it really matter considering the head room they have in the Mini. Let's face it they could bump the clock rate significantly, add in Nvidias 9400M replacement and have one very nice upgrade. They might be able to manage a 40% increase in real performance.
With respect to performance let's not be suckered in by some of the numbers posted around the net. While the numbers are real they are for the most part the result of new instructions in the SIMD units. That doesn't mean alot when Apple is heavily using the GPU to do what others are doing on the CPU. OpenCL is the big club that Apple can us to make sure performance remains acceptable.
On a side note if Apple really wanted to send Intel a message they would make us of AMDs three core CPUs in the Mini. For many tasks the performance is excellent and they don't have Intels GPU built in. It is the right CPU for the Mini and AMD/ ATI can supply very good GPUs to go with it.
I'm just sitting back wondering how long it will be before Apple just says: screw you Intel. I can't imagine anybody at Apple is happy with Intels integrated Graphics chips in their new CPUs.
Dave
The PS3 offers higher definition netflix streaming than available on full-blown computers. That's correct, the stream offered to windows and mac OSes is a lower bit-rate than can be had via a PS3 or other blu-ray or dedicated streaming boxes. (This could be an intellectual property issue on systems that could potentially rip the stream to disk.)
If the mini were to get hdmi, blu-ray, and better netflix support, our quest for a perfect home theater media source would finally come to an end. I'm not holding my breath though. It seems like every currently available product has major shortcomings and that those shortcomings aren't likely to be addressed in the next release.
Looks like we'll need to wait a few more years to finally get a single box capable of everything. Not even a laboriously researched, built, and maintained HTPCs can do everything. Neither will the new mini... but it could. Netflix simply needs to enable HD streaming for consumer operating systems. For those who don't use or haven't seen netflix streaming, this may seem like making a mountain out of a molehill. But there are millions of people who use netflix streaming on a regular basis. People who originally signed up for netflix for discs by mail, have slowly realized that their gaming console (or kid's gaming console) is capable of streaming movies. The setup process involves going to the netflix website, something they were doing already, and typing in the 6 digit code that appears on their TV screen. After that, they tend to watch more and more streaming movies. Why not? No waiting for disks in the mail and the HD streams look better than DVD anyway.
Why all this fixation on netflix? They just happen to be the most popular and advanced streaming service available right now. When discussing the inclusion of hdmi on a mac mini, video playback is certainly the crux of the issue.