[mythtv-users] How is the Mac mini as a front-end?

[Mattias Holmlund]

On 7/13/06, Marc Infield <marc at infielddesign.com> wrote:
> We are thinking of using a Macintel Mac Mini as a front-end but
> before I drop the money on a another project I would be interested in
> hearing about any experience people have had with it as a "family
> room" front-end (read as wife and child friendly). We would be using
> it primarily for MythTV and iTunes.

I have been using a Core Solo Mac Mini as a MythTV frontend since
April, and I am very happy with it.

>
> - How stable is are the macintel binaries?

Very stable for me. I use suspend-to-ram (by pushing the button on the
back of the mini) with MythTV still running whenever I don't use it.
Sometimes when I wake it from suspend, MythTV has to be killed and
restarted (I do it via ssh from another box), but apart from that it
works well.

>
> - Any limitations or setup issues?

The biggest limitation for me is lack of a remote control. I am using
a USB keyboard to control it right now. But there is a patch that adds
support for the Apple Remote (http://svn.mythtv.org/trac/ticket/2017)
as well as a binary with that patch included
(http://collectivity.goof.com/), so I am hoping to get rid of the
keyboard soon.

>
> - Will it drive a 1080p monitor? (We just got a Westinghouse LVM-42w2).

Don't know. I am using S-Video at 720x576.

>
> - Are there any sound issues? Does the TOSLINK adapter work?

Sound via TOSLink works perfectly for me. The optical plug is 3.5mm
and not the standard toslink type, but cables are available from
several manufacturers.

>
> - How is the over all usability? Does it integrate with frontrow?

No, it does not integrate with frontrow. Frontrow is a disappointment
to me. It doesn't seem to integrate easily with anything except Apple
products and it doesn't play MPEG2 TS.

/Mattias

-- 
Mattias Holmlund
http://www.holmlund.se/mattias/