mac mini remote?
hi all, i'm interested in getting either a squeezebox duet or a mac mini and hooking it up to a dac.
is it possible to get a remote with a screen to work with the mac? i would prefer not to have to turn the tv on, to browse for albums/tracks.
ignoring the price difference, does anyone have an opinion on which would be the best solution, purely for listening to music. mac + remote with screen or squeezebox duet?
in terms of dac, i'm thinking of a lavry, stello or benchmark.
Advice above re: Mac Mini + iPod Touch or iPhone vs Apple TV is sound. Disadvantages of Apple TV I can think of are a) you need another computer anyway, b) if you're into (illegally) ripping your DVDs to a VIDEO_TS folder on your hard disc, Apple TV can't play them, but a Mac Mini can.
Although it has to be said that the interfaces of Apple TV or Front Row on a Mac Mini on a big screen are gorgeous.
cheers guys, i had thought about an apple tv, but not being able to play flac put me off.
JohnDuncan:Although it has to be said that the interfaces of Apple TV or Front Row on a Mac Mini on a big screen are gorgeous.
John is there any advantages of AppleTV over MacMini?
Is it quiter?
Are there any features on AppleTV that you can't get with Front Row?
I can see that HD is smaller in MacMini.. and the spec is not that great either.. I think AppleTV looks like a better value for money (if it's used as media box)
Have you looked at www.macking.co.uk - they do refurbished mini's from £249 preloaded with Leopard..quite tempted myself...
madeinstein:JohnDuncan:Although it has to be said that the interfaces of Apple TV or Front Row on a Mac Mini on a big screen are gorgeous.John is there any advantages of AppleTV over MacMini?
Is it quiter?
Are there any features on AppleTV that you can't get with Front Row?
I can see that HD is smaller in MacMini.. and the spec is not that great either.. I think AppleTV looks like a better value for money (if it's used as media box)
Sorry, didn't see this. Advantages are primarily cost and usability - ie you don't have to get the Mac up and running before you use it as a media centre, it just is. If you can live with it not playing VOB files, the 160gig hard drive, and lack of internet capability, it's the better option IMO.
Read this if you still have any doubt about AppleTV vs AppleMini. AppleTV is receiver only!!!
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What about Apple TV? It's a bit cheaper than mac mini and yes it has limited hard drive (160GB will still fit around 200 CDs in loseless format).
I was also trying to decide between Squeezebox, Sonos and Apple TV and you can see more info here and here
I quite like Apple TV for extra features (apple trailers etc..) and you can control this with apple remote or IPhone/ITouch (I would assume it would work with apple mini as well).
Let me know if you find any reasons why apple mini would be better option the price difference is not huge..
I also found this video quite interesting
The only disadvantage with apple is that it doesn't play FLAC files (only apple lossless) so if you switch to something else in the future you need to convert them to FLAC.