Nearly three years ago I lay hands on a 1.66GHz Intel Core Duo Mac mini with the idea of turning it into a media inwardness . This demure little Mac was task with roleplay medicine , recording and play TV programs , move as a tuner , and playing DVDs . It also had to be open of being verify from my couch .
While I was capable to accomplish all these tasks , it took some doing and the results were n’t terribly kin - friendly . Smart - as - a - whip though my wife is , when I showed her around the various software and utilities necessary to impart medium from the mini to our eyes and ears she pointedly remarked , “ Let me know when our old stuff is back , ” and leave the room .
And it was n’t long before the old stuff was back . It was simply well-fixed to employ the artificial satellite liquidator , TiVo , Ab receiver , and DVD player ( and , later on , an Apple TV ) rather than jumping through hoops to make the mini take on their functions .
Changes inside the Mac mini—a new class of processor and improved graphics—make it a better candidate for a home media center than it was a few years ago.
In the past three long time thing have changed . telecasting - on - demand is largely a realness . For example , you may buy or charter movies from the iTunes Store and purchase video shows and seasons . NetFlixoffers an option that let you stream some of its TV shows and movies . Content from major idiot box networks and telluric radiocommunication can also be swarm over the net . barren medium center clients have appeared that make it easier to watch that content . Apple ’s Front words is more robust than it once was . And , with an iPhone or iPod touch in hand , you’re able to easily control a Mac from the sofa — no more Bluetooth keyboard and shiner or fix Apple Remotes .
change inside the Mac mini — a unexampled family of processor and improved graphics — make it a better nominee for a home media center than it was a few yr ago . The Mac mini has also recently been improved . The low - terminal , $ 599 mini now bears a 2.0GHz Intel Penryn mainframe ( which carries a fast system busbar ) , 1 GB of RAM , a 120 GB 5,400 RPM hard drive , and a faster art card — the Nvidia GeForce 9400M. It also offers five USB 2.0 ports , a exclusive FireWire 800 embrasure , both a mini - DVI port and Mini DisplayPort , an 8x SuperDrive , 802.11n wireless networking , Bluetooth , and Gigabit Ethernet .
give these many exciting change , I set about to try again — replace the majority of my AV components with the Mac mini . Over the next several mean solar day I ’ll document the process of grow this lilliputian Mac into a full-bodied medium server . In this first instalment , I devote my attention to sour the miniskirt into a more up to computing gadget .
Upgrading the mini
The least - expensive - at-$599 Mac mini is a subject information processing system , but has two obvious weaknesses — too slight RAM and a low - electrical capacity , slow hard campaign . These weaknesses can hamper the mini as a media waiter in a couple of shipway .
For example , the mini ’s graphics card is faster than the one discover in former Mac minis , but it still uses the on - display panel RAM . With 1 GB of RAM installed ( as it is by default on the $ 599 model ) , the GeForce 9400 M gobbles up 128 Bachelor of Medicine of the mini ’s storage . Put 2 GB in the mini and 256 MB is used for video . Figuring that I wanted that 256 MB and given just how cheap RAM is these days , I drop dead whole pig and buy 4 GB of RAM ( the maximum amount of memory board the miniskirt can maintain ) fromCrucialfor $ 68 .
The mini ’s 5,400 - rpm driving force is both slow and offers too little capacitance to be useful for storing music and movies . In the class of his critique of the new Mac mini , my colleague Dan Frakes observe that the mini runs quicker when reboot from a fast external FireWire drive . A trip to Fry ’s put me in self-control of aSeagate FreeAgent 1 TB 7,200 - revolutions per minute hard drive(with FireWire 800 interface ) for $ 135 ( on sale ) . The driveway is sanely speedy , offers good capability , and let in a FireWire 800 cable .
I traveled to Other World Computing ’s site to watch itsMac mini RAM installation video . ( Yes , I was freeloading by not also buy RAM and a hard drive there , but I ’ve return OWC plenty of my money in the yesteryear . ) With the contents of the video under my belt I grabbed a couple of putty knife and a Phillips # 0 screwdriver and had the older RAM out and the unexampled RAM in within half an hour . ( If you choose pictures to video , iFixit.com tender athorough upgrade guideas well . )
Upgrading the new miniskirt is the study of another article . I ’ll just offer that I had only one small problem while upgrading the RAM . The Modern mini has three antennas indoors arrayed around the sharpness of the inside skeleton . These aerial are clipped to the motherboard with lilliputian push button connectors . While tugging one thing or another , I managed to shift one of these connectors . The combination of large fingers and diminutive parts made it a small challenging to reconnect the antenna . With the assistant of a strong magnifying glass , some needle - nozzle plier , and a few deep breaths , I managed to put thing correct .
In plus to a magnify shabu and longanimity , I ’d recommend that your Phillips # 0 screwdriver have a magnetized crest . The four screws that hold the home figure to the bottom housing are tucked aside in empty posts and can be a little tricky to replace . Having them dangle from the end of a magnetic screwdriver is helpful .
With the mini back in one piece , I connect the Seagate arduous drive to the computer , reboot the mini from the home drive , format it with Apple ’s Disk Utility , and clone the home drive to the Seagate drive with Mike Bombich ’s freeCarbon Copy Cloner . Once everything was cloned , it was time to designate the faster Seagate drive as the startup , connect the mini to my media power train , and deploy the software program necessary to turn the mini into a maxi media waiter . Those stories and others extend over the next several days .
[ Senior editor in chief Christopher Breen blogs regularly about iPods , Apple TVs , and other accoutrements of the digital lifestyle at Macworld ’s Playlist blog . ]
