For my audio, i just have a standard 3.5mm cable from my mini to my tv but i cant get any audio out of the tv seakers.The Mac Mini, in other words, fits into the Media Center concept in form only not function. I am using a hdmi cable for my connection via the mini dvi to dvi and a dvi to hmdi adapter. Just got my mac mini to set up to my samsung 46' 1080p/ 60Hz lcd tv to serve as a media center.Unlock incredible customization with the latest Stream Deck update. Dial in your Facecam settings like a pro. Transcoding video is a pretty processor-intensive activity, and it's something that definitely benefits from having additional cores.Facecam Camera Hub. But the quad-core system may provide a bit more oomph when it comes to ripping video from various sources, like DVDs. The basic Mac mini is a perfectly good system to act as the basis for your Mac media center. You can find the index hereYour budget may guide you initially - perhaps you don't have the extra 200 or don't want to spend it, and that's fine.
Media Center Mini Tv But IBut a little tweaking goes a long way!So, having tested this Media Center Mac concept on the Mac Mini that I use for my daily computing, I need to decide whether to donate it for family use in the living room and buy myself something new (MacBook Pro or Mac Pro are just too pricey to justify but should I get a MacBook or another Mac Mini) or just to pick up a second-hand Mac Mini for the family.These solutions are platform independent. They all have their advantages and drawbacks. There are a couple of ways this can be omitted for relative little money. That means no line of sight for infrared remote control. I strive for an esthetically clean setup at home, so the Mac Mini is behind doors. From cheap gear to professional equipment, not to forget Apple’s Magic mouse and matching wireless keyboard, so take your pick. MediaPortal extends your HTPC to a full mediacenter.Many many options here. All or similar soft- and hardware is available for Windows, OS X and Linux.Mac Mini Aluminum Limited time offer of 10 off the list price applies only to the purchase of. And it’s free!The free version does come with annoying pop-ups when disconnecting and it’s not the most stable in an OS X environment. An account keeps track of all your connected systems with online/offline status, so no need to remember or setup IP addresses or DNS resolves. It will pass through any firewall, works seamlessly with iOS devices and PCs are even accessible with the use of a web interface. I do have a set connected for administrative purposes, but it remains behind closed doors most of the time.For full remote OS control, anywhere in the world, Teamviewer is still the way to go. It’s a media center, not a workstation, and I don’t like the looks of having a keyboard and mouse lying around the living room. Of course it’s dependent on the amount of screen changes and resolution, but watching videos is not done and full screen applications become very sluggish. The refresh rate, even on the same LAN, is pretty slow. It’s also not the fastest package out there. You have to navigate through layers of menus to do this, while, e.g. Some buttons don’t do anything at all and basic features like enabling subtitles or zooming are nowhere to be found. I really don’t understand why this isn’t properly worked out. Too bad it fails miserably in features and functionality. It automatically detects other clients running on the same LAN and gives you UI navigation and playback controls. I will be using Plex most of the time so the remote controller integrated in the iOS Plex client is the obvious choice. The workings are basically the same and they are all dependent on a piece of helper software installed on the PC being controlled, ranging from proprietary packages to freeware VNC solutions. I won’t list them all here. I just hope it will get an overhaul in future updates.A search in the Appstore comes up with a bunch of apps to control mouse- and keyboard input. Snatch is an example, but I finally settled with HippoRemote. Just like the Plex client, but much much better. Mouse control can be enabled, but it ‘feels’ wrong, plus you miss out on a lot of direct control.There are a few iOS apps that present you with dedicated control over a variety of programs like WinAmp, Windows Media Center, XBMC and… Plex. The advantage of physical buttons vs. Multitouch mouse control is nice, but for couch potato purposes, nothing beats physical playback- and navigational buttons.My previous media player, the PopcornHour C200 came with a RF remote. Plus, it still has the touchpad for mouse control within Windows/OS X.The major drawback of iPhone related remote control is in fact the touchscreen. Very clean, big buttons and all the functionality you could want. Keyspan produces a range of RF remotes with a separate RF USB dongle, made to look like Apple’s Frontrow and Microsoft’s MediaCenter remotes. The higher-end Logitech Harmony universal remotes can do this, but will cost you an arm and a leg. So, like the C200, I had to find some kind of RF solution. As mentioned above, there is no line of sight to my Mac Mini’s IR receiver. After getting used to the button layout, you can use them without ever looking at the little handheld box. It registers events that take place in Windows. EventGhost (RemoteBuddy for OS X users) is one of the best pieces of freeware I’ve come across in a long while. That’s where EventGhost comes in. It’s discovered and installed as a HID game controller, but doesn’t do much on its own. But it can be connected to a PC (and Mac Mini) with bluetooth as well. It connects via bluetooth to a PS3, like the normal controllers do. So for example, when pressing the Subtitle button on the PS3 remote, EventGhost registers a bluetooth command called PS3.Remote.Subtitle, which in turn triggers an emulated keypress of the letter s, used to enable subs in Plex. You can configure EventGhost to trigger other commands and macro’s depending on the incoming events. It even comes with a special plugin for the PS3 remote, so it properly recognizes what button is actually pressed. Combining the PS3 remote- and XBMC plug-in in EventGhost, you get a dedicated controller, instead of what is basically an odd looking keyboard. As is the ability to control UI navigation over IP (localhost if the controller and client are on the same system). Way back, Plex was a branch of XBMC and it still has some XBMC in its DNA. I even got it to start and shutdown the Plex client by pressing the PlayStation button.EventGhost provides a plug-in for XBMC as well. Google lens for macIt connects to your HTPC through USB and captures and/or transmits CEC commands. It’s an HDMI-CEC interface made by RCAware. It takes a bit of effort to couple all the buttons to the different XBMC commands, but I now have a fully functional, physical, dedicated Plex remote.Although I haven’t tried it, this clever little box popped up during my search and might be usefull to some of you.
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