markspadonline.com » Media http://markspadonline.com/markspad Tech, Politics, and Whatever's Relevant Fri, 30 Sep 2011 00:37:26 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Mac mini: Ultimate Media Center How-to http://markspadonline.com/markspad/2008/09/30/mac-mini-ultimate-media-center-how-to/ http://markspadonline.com/markspad/2008/09/30/mac-mini-ultimate-media-center-how-to/#comments Wed, 01 Oct 2008 02:22:38 +0000 Mark Rodriguez http://markspadonline.com/markspad/2008/09/30/mac-mini-ultimate-media-center-how-to/ A couple of months ago, I started looking into building a Media Center PC. The only real requirement I had was that the computer be small and compact, yet powerful. After realizing that building a small PC would take more of an effort than I’d like, I started looking into Mac’s. Because of it’s small size, S/PDIF output and aesthetic design, I quickly settled on the Mac mini.

I’ve never used a Mac before purchasing this mini, so working with this setup was a completely new experience in more ways than one. I have found that I slightly prefer OS X to Windows (surprise surprise) if only for the convenience and simplicity. It’s also nice to be able to emulate Windows, which I’ll get to at a later time.

    So here’s what you’ll need:

  • Mac mini (I’ve found the 1.83Ghz model to be sufficient)
  • Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse (RF will suffice)
  • 32″ or larger LCD HDTV w/ a VGA or DVI input
  • Receiver with Optical Input
  • Optical Cable (one end must have a 3.5mm optical connector)
  • VGA Cable
  • Wireless Router (For Internet)

The reason I recommend an LCD screen is so that burn-in isn’t a factor as it would be with plasma screens. Now that you know what you need, everything else comes pretty easily… Actually this is really easy… Connecting everything should be pretty self explanatory. Things that may not be so obvious will be explained below.

Connecting to the TV

If you have a HDTV manufactured recently, odds are your going to have either a DVI or VGA input. The Mac mini has a DVI output, but it also comes packaged with a DVI->VGA connector. Once you have everything connected (I’m not really going to insult anyone’s intelligence by explaining how to do this :-) ) the Mac should recognize your TV without having to configure anything. The only thing your going to want to do is change the screen resolution.

System Preferences -> Display. The recommended resolution for a 720p TV will be 1366×768.

Connecting to the Receiver
There really isn’t much to say on this one if you go the S/PDIF route. If your receiver doesn’t have an optical input, or if you don’t have a receiver and want to use the TV for sound, you can use a 3.5mm to RCA cable.

Mouse/Keyboard

Because of the range and flexibility they provide, I recommend using a Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse over their wired counterparts. RF will also work well, but with the added inconvenience (albeit small) of a having to use a receiver.

So once you’ve gotten this far, you have the basics down. Provided you have a Wireless Router, you can now use the internet on your TV (great for Youtube), listen to music through your stereo (or home theater), play DVD’s, watch videos and work from your couch.


It really is alot easier than it looks… More to come next week.

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