I recommend testing a few different HTPC programs/solutions before getting the Mac mini - for this reason this step could have gone before the hardware.
Top HTPC software available
Both Plex and Boxee are forks of the popular XBMC. While Boxee and XBMC are capable of running on multiple platforms, Plex is designed and built specifically for Apple hardware and OS X features. Each of these will be very similar and have similar features but I have chosen to use Plex due to personal preference and experiences.
Plex will initially blow you away with its beautiful 10-foot user interface that makes it a joy to use from the comfort of your couch. Since I started using Plex I have thrown lots of media formats at it and I have had no problems playing any of them. In addition to personal content stored on your hard drive, Plex can also stream audio and video from some of the most popular online sources including:
Hulu,
Netflix,
YouTube,
Pandora, Fox News, CNN and many others.
The real beauty of Plex, however, comes from its ability to retrieve metadata from Internet sources like IMDB, and TheTVDB and display fan art, posters, plot and episode information for all of your content. And it's all automatic so you have to do very little work but receive an amazing experience.
Plex has excellent support in the form of a great wiki and user forum, all on their site. The few questions I had were SO easy to find on the wiki, it was a breeze setting things up. After spending a little time with it, I was able to easily navigate the settings and configurations. Once you've got Plex downloaded and setup using the
Getting Started Guide on their wiki your content should start appearing with poster art, fan art, plot, year, etc. More details on customizing your experience in a future post.
In addition to Plex, you will need a way to get your content onto your hard drive and into your collection. There are multiple ways of doing this but I have found that by using
Mac The Ripper and/or
Handbrake I am able to rip most DVDs to a quality of my liking. I won't be going too much into either of these right now but they are essential. More information to follow in a future post.
In addition to ripping my content, I am also downloading TV episodes using BitTorrent. If you are not familiar with BitTorrent or would like more information on it you can view this
Beginners Guide or find many others online. A few tools I use to do this are
Transmission &
ShowRSS website to generate RSS feeds of the TV series I follow for easy download. I will get more into this in a later post.
More information on many of these will be coming later but that should be a good place to start.
Stay tuned.....
Below I have provided links to some of the hardware I am using. It may not be the cheapest or best available. I recommend doing some of your own research so that you feel comfortable with your buying decisions.
With that in mind:
I am using the
2.53GHz Mac Mini that has a 320Gb hard drive. There was a cheaper model at the time but I wanted a little bit of room to grow and some power to spare. A good place to check is the
Apple refurbished store. Buying refurbished machine (from Apple) is almost as good as buying new. You get the same warranty and can add AppleCare if desired. As of this writing there are some refurb Mac Minis for $100-$200 cheaper than a brand new one. Another option is to
go through Amazon. This is the route I chose to take because depending on your state, you will not have to pay tax and you end up getting a really good deal. Now, keep in mind that Mac Minis don't come with a keyboard or mouse (or monitor for that matter) so you will need to have one of each on hand for initial setup.
The Mac Mini is equipped with a Mini DisplayPort so it was necessary to buy an adapter to be able to connect using HDMI. There are a couple ways this can happen but I chose to go the easiest route. I bought a
Kanex iAdapt - Mini DisplayPort to HDMI w/ 5.1 Channel Digital Audio adapter. This allows for both audio and video to be passed using only an HDMI cable and it has been working without any hiccups.
Next is the obvious HDMI cable. If you buy these from companies like Monster or Belkin you can pay upwards of $30-$50. I took to
Amazon and got a pack of 3 for under $5 including shipping. If you decide to go this route, you need to ensure the cable is still of good quality in order to receive the best picture.
In addition to the essentials listed above, I also have a a wireless keyboard and mouse (as well as wired) for those instances I need to physically access the machine (more on this later). Depending on the size of your media library, external hard drives and/or a
Network Attached Storage (NAS) might be a necessary investment.
All of this looks best when connected to an HDTV. I am using a
Sharp Aquos LC46D65U 46-Inch 1080p LCD HDTV. Obviously this setup will work with most TVs or displays (although you may need to adjust the adapter, etc for complete compatibility).
I have had a few requests for demonstrations and instructions on my current Mac Mini media center. Here I will be giving detailed instructions on my initial setup as well as answers to problems or questions I have encountered in the process or will encounter as I continue to adapt and improve my setup.
This is by no means the cheapest way to achieve similar functionality. I chose to use a Mac because I felt it met most of my objectives and was running a platform I would use everyday. I will get more into some reasons behind this in future posts.
