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bombart Wrote:Hey Ned,
I actually have the older generation mac mini (1.6Core 2 Duo) with the CrystalHD card in it and it runs really well for the most part. However, it wasn't trivial to set it up properly and upgrades to newer versions are always very troublesome. (TMI, I know).
I just figured that I needed a version that has a good video card. I wanted the newest one so I don't have to worry about bitrates and resolutions and the such for a few years.
I will try looking for an older one (prev. gen). Thank you for your advice.
Cheers.
Ah, I see. The newer minis did get a really nice performance jump in this last revision, but for an HTPC you probably would be better off with last year's model since the 2011 version lacks an optical drive.
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2011-09-04, 22:51
I have two new Mac Mini 2011, entry level i7 AMD 8GB with 720GB HD and Server quad i7 8GB with 2x500GB. I dedicated the entry level for HTCP, I solved all my problems using different refresh rate compatible with my MKV videos, no drops, working smoothly with hardware accellaration, low CPU demand and also low temperatures in the CPU. I am more than happy with my two mac minis, the server works as NAS with 2 3TB disks and the entry level host XBMC for more two ATV2 and playing nicely all my 800 HD videos (H.264). Nowadays I using XBMC 10.1 stable version, I would like to know if there is any advantage to take a nightly version? any suggestion on this?
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I'm thinking about going for one of these Minis for a combined media server and media player. The lack of optical drive is of no concern to me, as I have a dedicated Blu-Ray and DVD player to take care of all of that.
For a standard setup, is there anything I should know about? I read something about a bug causing the audio to disappear?
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Is there any way to get true native refresh rates on the Mac mini? I set XBMC to do that, but it just sticks to 1080p/60.
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davilla
Retired-Team-XBMC Developer
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"lots of options", and that's the problem. you present too many option to novices and they get confused and move on to something else. Our GUI is already filled with too many confusing options.
Most users just want to play their content and not spend time tweaking it. I know the WAF would plummet if hubby spent 5-10 mins before each showing, tweaking it.