Home Theater uses for Mac Mini ? (1 Viewer)

[Dave Moritz]

I am wondering if there is a legitimate reason to run a Mac Mini in a home theater? If so what things would benefit me and my home theater? Currently using a 4K Apple TV that I have had for a number of years and honestly not sure what gen it is. Would it be a better option than the Apple TV for watching my movies purchased through iTunes? Is it Dolby Vision/Atmos compatible? Can I rip and store movies from my pc that are in my library? I am assuming that I can download a movie from iTunes to the storage. Can it play video and music from a pc? I would not be into doing anything else with it since anything with static screens like applications I feel would be bad since I have a OLED tv. Would I have a static screen situation listening to music with the Mac Mini? The Apple TV is basically only used for playing movies and streaming services like Disney +, Amazon Video, Netflix, Max and Parmount + and this is the only Apple product I have ever owned. Or is it just easier and better to build a mini pc and run plex?

 

[JohnRice]

The Apple TV really is the best streaming device. The last 3 generations are 4K capable and at least the last 2 are DV. It's impossible to know if yours is without knowing the model.

If you want to rip and store movies for playback, you might be better off with a media player. There are an abundance of them to choose from. I have a Zidoo Z2000, which I am very happy with. The cheapest one from them with an internal drive bay is the Z20 Pro 4K.

Personally, I think these days it probably makes more sense to go with a media player and a streamer than an HTPC.

 

[DaveF]

For streaming services and Apple Music, no. As John says, get an AppleTV. (But AppleTV does not support Atmos for HTPC uses. Only for commercial streaming apps.)

If you want to run an HTPC with Plex or Emby or whatever, a mini could work. The base model mini is a really cheap way to get a computer for any use. But you still have to factor in the 4K drive for ripping and the storage costs.

But for the streaming client(s) to the mini server, you're likely better off buying something like an nVidia Shield for $180 over Mac mini for $600.

And also as John says, these Zidoo devices might be the best way to get into the "HTPC" game, assuming you already have a computer you can use for ripping your discs. (I haven't used the new Zidoo, having my 2016 Wintel build, but they sure look promising.)

I also increasingly feel that DIY HTPC is not the way to go with streaming services so bountiful. Unless you really *love* discs and buy them a plenty and don't have a movie-watching partner / family that wants to watch outside your purchased and ripped collection. For myself, we're watching a movie every Saturday night as of the past several months, and haven't used my HTPC for any of them. It's too easy to think of a movie to watch in the moment, click and stream. Contrast to deciding on the movie a two weeks ahead, to buy it, to then rip it and get into the media system. Streaming is winning in practice for me now.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

My brief two cents: the original post almost reads like a solution in search of a problem.

Dave M, you list a bunch of things you could do with a Mac Mini but it doesn’t seem like you necessarily have a “why” for wanting to do those things.

I use a Mac Mini to run a Plex server from, and that Plex server contains copies of my DVDs and Blu-rays at their original file sizes, meaning that I need to use multiple external hard drives to hold the data. The cost of the hard drives adds up, and the time it took to set it up was significant.

I set it up in 2019 for several reasons. The biggest one was that my media collection had outgrown my display space in my apartment, and this allowed me to keep everything that was on a disc accessible while making it possible to put those discs in storage. It gave me my wall space back. The other reason was that I wanted to be able to watch my things in other locations as I was spending a significant amount of time watching things in locations other than my living room, and this allowed me to watch my things on an iPad when that’s what I needed to do.

Flash forward to 2024 and I live in a different place where space isn’t an issue and where I’m now watching things in my living room again. I wouldn’t have bothered setting it up now if I was starting from scratch. I don’t add most new things I get on disc to it anymore. The need isn’t there and I don’t have the free time to keep up on it.

A media server can offer you convenience and flexibility when it is set up, but it is going to take a lot of time to do so and come with unforeseen expenses that will quickly add up. I don’t like to be the person telling other people not to do things but I think this is the kind of project where you really need to know why you want to do it, what you hope to get out of it, and what the costs will add up to before you decide if it’s truly worth the effort for you. In the summer of 2019, it was worth it for me. In the fall of 2024, it wouldn’t have been.

 

[JohnRice]

FWIW, I only use the media player for TV Shows and region B BRs. It doesn’t make sense to me to put everything on it.

If tech doesn’t actually make my life easier, I skip it.

 

[Dave Moritz]

4K Apple TV
64 GB
Purchased April of 2019
Model A1842

Googled it and it seems to be a 1st Generation Apple TV.

Dave M, you list a bunch of things you could do with a Mac Mini but it doesn’t seem like you necessarily have a “why” for wanting to do those things.

Anyway I help take care of my mother and she has her own 4K tv in her room and I am considering having content she would watch where she does not need to handle the discs. She is pushing 80 years old and I would prefer not to have her handling discs and it would be nicer for me to not have to take a disc into her room. I do have videos also on my pc and am not sure if that would be an easier solution. And what I do have on my pc I am currently just casting from my Windows 10 pc in another room. Also with this being the time of year for deals I was thinking it might be a consideration but maybe with the Apple TV maybe it is not a good solution. If anything I might be better off just getting a new updated 4K Apple TV.

I prefer movies on disc and especially with 4K content. I watch more of my discs than I do streaming services and may cut back in the near future but will be giving it some thought before making a decision. Content is always fluctuating on these services so at times I feel it can be a pain trying to keep up with what is there on what service and is it gone. And at this point it would be a super pain to put all discs on a server and I honestly do not think I would want to spend that kind of time trying. Can not imagine trying to spend the amount of time I would take to rip aprox 983 titles and also back all that up. It would be for things my mother would watch and maybe some titles that I watch alot for times I do not want to run after the disc when I am tired from work. Eventually after my mother passes at some point I am looking at apartment life and not sure how often I would watch movies and or concerts away from my main display. I have a very good pc I built but I do not sit down in front of it to watch movies. I do not watch movies on tablets and or smart phone. I do watch youtube on my pc but not movies even though I have a 55" 4K display hooked up to my pc and a Pioneer Elite SC-05 driving a pair of Klipsch bookshelf speakers.

Not everything on disc can be viewed on streaming and there seems to be plenty of titles with older HD transfers as well. As far as Disney goes you would think there would be tons more 20th Century content on the streaming service. And while there are some Fox titles there also seems they could have more Disney content as well.

If tech doesn’t actually make my life easier, I skip it.

That is something I can agree with and a reason I am not rushing into home automation and wireless security devices especially with some thieves now using wifi jammers.


Current Library
DVD 61
Blu-ray 278
4K Blu-ray 647 (47 days left in 2024 and the goal of 600 4K titles has been achieved!) Count right now is more like 644 because there are 3 outstanding preorders I am waiting on.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I too consider my mother (as well as others in the family) for such... but I find it better to just defer to available streaming services plus my digitals collection for that instead.

Most discs come w/ digital copies... and I can often buy more for $5/title if I/we can be patient about it (and that's usually fine enough). In rare cases when we want something quick, either rent it for <=$5 or buy it for <=$10 in most cases. It seems very rare that a digital would cost over $10 on top of the disc not being already available w/ digit copy for sale at a reasonable price methinks.

I suspect that should make life easier than going thru all the trouble (on top of $ costs) mentioned just for that purpose...

_Man_

 

[F451]

I don' own an Apple TV but am wondering if it may provide a solution to an issue I've encountered with Amazon Prime.

Recently, I upgraded our CenturyLink Broadband to "Internet speeds up to 60 Mbps". The TV is wirelessly connected to the C4000LG router. After around 60 minutes, the Amazon Prime image freezes. The workaround into power down the TV, wait a minute, power up and resume watching. Irritating.

Before the upgrade, no glitch. After upgrade, glitch.

Does a device, such as the Apple TV, act as a data buffer to enable glitch-free viewing?

 

[DaveF]

It has some amount of buffering. But it can’t fix actual WiFi or internet problems. However, this sounds like a problem with your TV, if power cycle and app reboot fixes it.

 

[F451]

Using our MBP to watch the same programs runs with no frozen signal. I’m thinking the tv has some streaming buffer limitation which has been exceeded by the new faster speed internet service. Long shot. Hence the query about a buffer function of the Apple TV. Or some other steaming buffer device.

 

[DaveF]

I assume all streaming devices have some small amount of buffering to help deal with the vagaries of internet connections. But they don’t do large downloads to then play back an entire show from storage.

Give that a laptop works fine and the TV doesn’t, there’s seemingly something wrong with the TV side of it.

If you can spare the time, you can start checking the TV’s internet settings and for any settings on your router. Up to doing a reset of the TV and setting it up anew.

Or, buy an AppleTV or whatever your preferred streaming brand is, and setting it up anew.