# Mac Mini
**URL:** https://forums.speedlife.net/t/mac-mini/64884
**Category:** NYSpeed Off Topic
**Created:** [March 21, 2009, 3:56pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/mac-mini/64884 "2009-03-21T15:56:14Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@boxxa](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/boxxa)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2009, 3:56pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/mac-mini/64884/1 "2009-03-21T15:56:14Z")
Anyone have one?
Looking for a media server/mac environment type setup and think this is really cool. Possibly hooking up my 2TB external to it and directly to my TV.
Thoughts?
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### Author:  [@neonglh](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/neonglh)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/mac-mini/64884/2 "2009-03-21T17:42:00Z")
I had one the day they came out, and have had a few since. You can open them up with a putty knife and upgrade the ram, and they are really pretty nice. The new ones have gotten a lot better, and you can have up to 4 gigs of ram I believe now, versus the initial 2 gig limit.
–mark
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### Author:  [@boardjnky4](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/boardjnky4)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/mac-mini/64884/3 "2009-03-21T17:56:48Z")
the newest vesion has great specs. I want one.
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### Author:  [@ZOMGVTEK](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ZOMGVTEK)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/mac-mini/64884/4 "2009-03-21T19:29:19Z")
The new models with the 9400M are great. With the models before that, you might have well got the PPC models.
You need 2GB ram, and I think it only comes with 1GB. Since youre upgrading it, you might as well get 4GB since its cheap. Its reasonably easy to do.
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### Author:  [@boxxa](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/boxxa)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/mac-mini/64884/5 "2009-03-21T21:38:22Z")
Ya. Best Buy had them for 599. They seem pretty sweet and would be great for my media center pc.
Energry efficent. I can run Boxee. Small. Can throw my USB drive on there. Only thing is no HDMI but its not a huge downside but it does have optical audio out.
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### Author:  [@ZOMGVTEK](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ZOMGVTEK)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/mac-mini/64884/6 "2009-03-22T18:29:12Z")
DVI to HDMI adaptors are easy to find. Unless you want to run audio through it as well…
But its a nice unit to use for simple daily tasks. No heavy gaming or CPU intensive apps and its great. Even though its probably significantly faster all around than most peoples computers on here.
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### Author:  [@boardjnky4](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/boardjnky4)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/mac-mini/64884/7 "2009-03-22T19:44:14Z")
yeah, basically, DVI-\>HDMI + optical audio out is the way to go.
Can the 9400M handle adjustments for overscan?
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### Author:  [@ryanmcell](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ryanmcell)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2009, 8:07pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/mac-mini/64884/8 "2009-03-22T20:07:13Z")
I rock a DVI-\>HDMI cable for my MBP and it cost ~3.50 shipped I believe from monoprice and it is rock solid.
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### Author:  [@ZOMGVTEK](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/ZOMGVTEK)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2009, 8:40pm UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/mac-mini/64884/9 "2009-03-22T20:40:35Z")
> [@boardjnky4](#):
>
> Can the 9400M handle adjustments for overscan?
I believe you can force such settings through SwitchResX.
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### Author:  [@boxxa](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/boxxa)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2009, 6:07am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/mac-mini/64884/10 "2009-03-23T06:07:50Z")
Does it support WoL or some type of fast boot or is it just really power efficient.
It would be cool to be off to save power and only come on when I need it.
Edit: Holy fuck. When idle it uses less than 13 watts of power.
I think I found my new media server.
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### Author:  [@JayS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JayS)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2009, 6:12am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/mac-mini/64884/11 "2009-03-23T06:12:13Z")
I’d buy one of these:
[http://www.popcornhour.com/onlinestore/](http://www.popcornhour.com/onlinestore/)
It will work way better, and someone else does all the work for getting it to support new formats.
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### Author:  [@boxxa](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/boxxa)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2009, 6:22am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/mac-mini/64884/12 "2009-03-23T06:22:33Z")
> [@JayS](#):
>
> I’d buy one of these:
> [Home](http://www.popcornhour.com/onlinestore/)
>
> It will work way better, and someone else does all the work for getting it to support new formats.
I know someone who has a similar device. Its ok but I would prefer the OS scalability. I really just want Boxee on there. Haha
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### Author:  [@boardjnky4](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/boardjnky4)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2009, 6:24am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/mac-mini/64884/13 "2009-03-23T06:24:58Z")
> [@JayS](#):
>
> I’d buy one of these:
> [Home](http://www.popcornhour.com/onlinestore/)
>
> It will work way better, and someone else does all the work for getting it to support new formats.
wow, that sounds really sweet
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### Author:  [@JayS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JayS)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2009, 6:39am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/mac-mini/64884/14 "2009-03-23T06:39:09Z")
> [@boardjnky4](#):
>
> wow, that sounds really sweet
[http://www.nyspeed.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67215](http://www.nyspeed.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67215)
Not sure if Chino or I will end up getting one first. I was all ready to order it but saw a thread on [ls2gto.com](http://ls2gto.com) with sounds clips for exhausts and can’t decided where to blow my money.
If the 360 didn’t work so well as a media center I’d have ordered the popcorn hour by now, but can’t justify the expense since everything I’ve wanted to watch I’ve been able to download in a format that will stream to the 360. Having MKV/H264 support would be nice though.
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### Author:  [@chino](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/chino)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2009, 6:54am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/mac-mini/64884/15 "2009-03-23T06:54:07Z")
> [@JayS](#):
>
> [http://www.nyspeed.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67215](http://www.nyspeed.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67215)
>
> Not sure if Chino or I will end up getting one first. I was all ready to order it but saw a thread on [ls2gto.com](http://ls2gto.com) with sounds clips for exhausts and can’t decided where to blow my money.
>
> If the 360 didn’t work so well as a media center I’d have ordered the popcorn hour by now, but can’t justify the expense since everything I’ve wanted to watch I’ve been able to download in a format that will stream to the 360. Having MKV/H264 support would be nice though.
order it!! i have been blowing too much money on stupid shit lately… just decided to overhaul our back room into an office suite so i need to cool it for a few weeks 🙂
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### Author:  [@boardjnky4](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/boardjnky4)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2009, 6:58am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/mac-mini/64884/16 "2009-03-23T06:58:32Z")
yeah I would buy one but I am pretty sure I just found a set of wheels for my car.
I think I am going to give the boxee alpha a shot. Since it is free and my media box is already a mac then it can’t hurt. I would love to get my server back though, instead of having it dedicated to the TV.
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### Author:  [@JayS](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/JayS)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2009, 7:00am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/mac-mini/64884/17 "2009-03-23T07:00:05Z")
> [@chino](#):
>
> order it!! i have been blowing too much money on stupid shit lately… just decided to overhaul our back room into an office suite so i need to cool it for a few weeks 🙂
My wife just ordered a new wine rack/liquor storage thing for the dining room. You order it. heh.
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### Author:  [@walter](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/walter)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2009, 7:22am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/mac-mini/64884/18 "2009-03-23T07:22:19Z")
my buddy swears by it for his HTerrrMac
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### Author:  [@chino](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/chino)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2009, 7:59am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/mac-mini/64884/19 "2009-03-23T07:59:54Z")
> [@JayS](#):
>
> My wife just ordered a new wine rack/liquor storage thing for the dining room. You order it. heh.
west elm desk, bamboo bookcase, bamboo file cabinets, samsung lcd tv for the bedroom so i can bring my 22" monitor down for the new desk space…
i got you beat, buy it!!
/viper
ON TOPIC: i’ve been using a mac mini for a HTPC for a while now with great results… it chugs on 1080p MKV files but I STILL think it is a codec problem for quicktime.
It’s a 1.86 core 2 duo, 1gb ram, intel video, perfect for pretty much everything and front row rules for home theater usage :tup:
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### Author:  [@boxxa](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/boxxa)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2009, 8:05am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/mac-mini/64884/20 "2009-03-23T08:05:06Z")
> [@chino](#):
>
> It’s a 1.86 core 2 duo, 1gb ram, intel video, perfect for pretty much everything and front row rules for home theater usage :tup:
They seemed to really beef up the new ones on the video card.
2.0 ghz core 2 duo, 1gb of ram, and nvidia 9400M video card.
I love the fact that idle it only draws 13 watts and people are reporting boot times of 30 seconds.
I just want the ability to run media right to my tv in 1080p and and be able to play my bluray rips. On the apple website, they said the graphics card is 5x faster than the last one and can play todays “latest games” Lol.
Have you tried to upgrade your RAM?
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