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General discussion

Tying in the new Mac Mini to my Apple dream home

Feb 28, 2006 9:52AM PST

Ok, well I think that the Mac Mini and the Hi-Fi alone are the suck, but here's how they tie into Apple's possible future home.

I'm watching my TV and there's nothing on. With my Apple remote, I fire up my Mac Mini and using Front Row, I open the movie that I downloaded to my iMac from itunes the previous night and is runnig over the AirPort network in my house. After an hour, I decide that I want to make some popcorn, so I pause the movie and open iTunes on front row. I pick a song and press play. That also tells my iPod Hi-Fi (with new built in Wi-Fi and/or AirPort) in the kitchen to play the same song. I enter the kitchen not missing a beat from my favorite song. Using my Apple Microwave (just kidding) I make some popcorn and walk over my iPod in the Hi-Fi system and pick a new song. I go back to my TV again not missing a beat and go back to my movie.
When it's all done, I go up to my iMac with the AirPort extreme base staiton hooked up that's making this whole thing possible and download some new movies for next time. I go back to my Mac Mini, select the DVR function from Front Row and watch the latest episode of "Monk" that's free becuase I chose the "free but with ads" preference.


Well there you have it , my little way of reducing "the suck." I think that once Apple does tie it all in and sync it up and what not, it'll be pretty sweet. How would everyone else tie in the new Apple products ot make them worthwhile? What do you think Apple needs to do to make your wireless home of the future work?

Discussion is locked

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Wow
Feb 28, 2006 10:30AM PST

I just finished listening to the podcast and I give up defending what didn't suck about the announcements because ''uh yeah, good point. But anyhow, didn't the announcement today just suck?'' Whatever.

Apple never said this announcement would be anything other than ''fun.'' I honestly expected little more than colored Nanos like Molly predicted. Obviously, she didn't even believe herself. Yeah we hoped it would be more but we all knew better. ''Fun'' is ''hey this is kinda neat'' - not ''Oh my God, you'll sh*t your pants when you see this!'' That's what TMV and half this site apparently expected.

Apple just crammed a super fast chip into a tiny little box that will, either with Apple's integrated solution or third party offerings, become an amazing hub for an awful lot of cool things. Not just a d*mned DVR. The integrated part apparently isn't there yet - Apple is probably fighting a behind-the-scenes battle with content producers to permit D1 or h*ll, even HD content through the iTunes music store. On the other hand, they feel market and logistical pressures to get the Intel version of the Mini out the door NOW since a lot of people use it for a lot of other things. So instead of going to Apple's website and seeing just how cool this neat new product is, we concentrate on the boombox and call it all "the suck."

Just great. Apple wasn't responsible for the hype. They called it nothing more than a ''fun'' announcement - the blahg sites and BOL built it into smething it could have never been.

Bah!

-Kevin S.

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(NT) (NT) Couldn't agree more.
Feb 28, 2006 11:04AM PST
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The few
Feb 28, 2006 11:52AM PST

Awesome. Somebody on here who actually reads a reply that isn't limited to the ten word headline of the average blog post.

-Kevin S.

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I'm with ya Kevin
Feb 28, 2006 12:14PM PST

I'm actually quite excited by the new Mini. I wasn't really expecting anything mind-blowing, or re-defining. Now I just need to save up for it! Happy

-Terry

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My problem with the event
Feb 28, 2006 12:17PM PST

For me, when I say that I was disappointed, I didn't mean that because we didn't get a "real" video iPod or a form of iTablet. I'm disappointed because there wasn't anything to make me go "Whoa, cool." That's something that almost always presents itself when Steve walks onstage. It doesn't have to be anything that turns the industry on its head, just something to get me excited for a few minutes. If the iPod HiFi had something extra to make it more than high quality speakers for iPods, or the mini just had something other than an Intel chip and Front Row, I wouldn't complain at all. I won't lie, either, I'll probably spend a measurable amount of time on Apple's website playing with mini configurations, but not near as much as if there was that extra element of excitement dancing around in my mind.

I can't wait for the next announcement.

-Ryan

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Re: Wow
Feb 28, 2006 1:09PM PST

Yeah, everybody, me included is overreacting. However the iBoomBrick or whatever it is called is way overhyped, so I'm reacting to that too. The mac Mini is fine. It's a Mac Mini with Intel and the Front Row addition is fun.

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My biggest disappointment with today's podcast
Feb 28, 2006 2:26PM PST

and what got me really frustrated by day's end is...

I listen to BOL and other tech sites for a reason. I want YOU to do the legwork and tell me more about what I might not fully understand. That mercurynews.com article did what I expected YOU guys to do but instead of filling in the gaps of my knowledge, I was left listening to the three of you go off on Apple for not giving you exactly what you were hoping for.

I didn't even realize all the potential that the new Mini with Frontrow has built into it until I read that article. I just haven't been Frontrow and Media-Center (on the PC side) aware enough to understand it all. In that regard, my favorite (by a mile) tech podcast let me down today and this forum even more.

-Kevin S.

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I'm with you Kevin ..
Feb 28, 2006 11:26PM PST

I'm listening to the podcast as I write this, and I, too, was let down by my favorite trio. The whole first half of the show was more or less a rant about how Apple let people down by not introducing ground-breaking new products.

As for the DVR capability of the new Mini, aside from having a TV tuner built in, I'd have to say that the Mini (now with Front Row) is there for being a DVR. All you should theoretically have to do (if I understand it right) is slap an Elgato EyeTV on it, and now you've got yourself a full-blown DVR. No hacking necessary. This was something I was looking into when the first Mini came out, but couldn't figure out how to get a media center-like interface working on it. Now that Front Row is included with the new Mini, it looks to be good to go.

Thanks for sharing that article that you found Kevin. It was very informative, and also a breath of fresh air to see something that someone posted who wasn't blasting Apple for not showing some revolutionary new product.

-Terry

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Couldn't agree more.
Feb 28, 2006 8:19PM PST

I was trying to say that the announcement didn't suck. The new Apple products don't suck. They were just overhyped. A Mac Mini with Front Row is awesome, it shows that Apple is making its own "media center" that'll be out soon. The iPod Hi-Fi is great if u want a speaker system that you'll always use and u want great quality. People expected Apple to magically turn back on its iTunes supporters like NBC and say "hey, we're making a DVR, so all ur shows will be for free, and can b put on an iPod." I didn't expect it to happen. I was trying to say in that post that these products will all fall into place soon and make up an awesome iHome.

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It's still fun.... I guess!!
Feb 28, 2006 1:40PM PST

OK... so it's not the Mac DVR.... yet but they're getting there.

I was kinda shocked at Veronica's reaction until I listened again. I too am a little pissed that there is no DVR.. but... I am building a new house and it'll be ready in November so as long as it's out by then I'll be happy.

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Why one Windows guy didn't quite go Mac this time
Mar 2, 2006 11:54PM PST

I was searching for a new computer in February and looked really hard at 3 choices: a Windows laptop, the Hewlett-Packard Pavilion Slimline series, and the Mac Mini. I hate big bulky cpu cases at home and had to have something smaller; I also want to get some multimedia convergence going with my new lcd tv and perhaps wireless networking.

The laptop got scratched because nobody is making them with removable screens--an idea whose time is way overdue.

The Apple seemed like a neat idea--hey, I can actually afford this one, and it meets all my size issues! But alas, the small built-in storage (no more than 80GB on the higher-priced model) made me worry that this was not sufficient for using as a multimedia station. I had no idea whether the accessory 500GB external drive Apple sells for these would solve the problem seamlessly, but the jump in cost took me out of range.

So it was too little storage memory that kept me from the Mac this time (the HP offers 200GB storage and 1GB RAM). But I was close--Mac can hook lots of Windows users if they'll tweak the capacity and keep in our price range...

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Yeah, Storage is cheap
Mar 3, 2006 2:40AM PST

RAM and storage are the one are that really still bothers me about Apple's offerings, especially hard disks. No computer (except perhaps a laptop) should be shipping these days without at least a 150 GB hard disk inside.

-Kevin S.

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Yes, but storage is big
Mar 4, 2006 2:01PM PST

The Mac Mini might not have an LCD screen and battery in it, but it *is* a laptop. The very small dimensions of the Mini means that Apple has to use hard drives from notebooks, and these are significantly more expensive than the disks used in desktop computers.

External drives, especially USB 2 ones, are pretty cheap these days. And even Mac OS X makes it easy to use them. I would also suggest that a simple USB 2 hard disk would cost no more than buying Windows Vista, and that's something that you will possibly be doing.

I wholeheartedly agree with Kevin S about the RAM, though.

Still, I'm now seriously considering a Mac Mini Dual, and previously I had assumed I'd be buying my first Windows machine. It's the cheapest dual-core computer out there. (excluding the no-name hunks of junk assembled by local computer stores)

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2.5
Mar 4, 2006 5:54PM PST

You're right. I just checked the specs of the Mac Mini and it does, in fact, use a 2.5 inch hard drive. As you say, quite a bit more expensive per unit. I forget just how small that Mini is and what they've had to shoehorn in there to keep it that way.

I thought the Airport Base Station was much smaller, from the pictures, until I saw one at a store; it seemed huge. The exact opposite happened with the Mini.

-Kevin S.

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Mac Mini Microwave...ok so it's not a microwave...
Mar 3, 2006 1:24AM PST

If Apple made the cpu a lot larger one of two things could happen. The Mac mini could become an air popper for popcorn or a Mac mini hot plate.

What I'm waiting for is somebody (like HP) to merge something like a mass spectrometer or Gas Chromatography with microwave technology. That way it could see the ingredients and then cook until properly done. hehe.