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espenlg
November 22nd, 2008, 06:03 PM
Hi there,

I've decided to purchase a Mac Mini instead of ATV, but I was wondering what specs the Mac Mini needs to have to play 720p MKV-files properly?

Anyone have experience with this? Thanks!
SpaceBass
November 22nd, 2008, 10:14 PM
Hi there,

I've decided to purchase a Mac Mini instead of ATV, but I was wondering what specs the Mac Mini needs to have to play 720p MKV-files properly?

Anyone have experience with this? Thanks!

We have 4 mac minis 1.66ghz machines - one for each TV in the house. We have no problem streaming 1080p files from an appletalk share (AFP) ... needless to say, 720p is not a problem.

The same boxes also connect to an HDhomerun networked HDTV tuner and have no problem streaming 1080i HD live streams.

In other words - the 1.66ghz mini is an awesome front-end device :D

Are you having any issues?
espenlg
November 23rd, 2008, 02:09 AM
In other words - the 1.66ghz mini is an awesome front-end device :D

Are you having any issues?

1.66Ghz it is! I havent' bought it yet, but looking to buy something second-hand, and they come in all sizes as you know :-) Thanks!
kansei
November 25th, 2008, 10:07 PM
I have a 1.86 core2duo with 4GB of ram and yeah it plays any content just fine. It's really an awesome living room computer :)
xain09
November 26th, 2008, 03:52 AM
MacMini 1.66 : confirmed for 720p MKV files over a wired network.
Devi4nt
November 29th, 2008, 12:38 PM
I use a 1.86GHz Core 2 Mac Mini and it plays all types of files without issue. Im finding issues with DVD's but thankfully most of my media is stored and a 1TB WB Network Drive downstairs conntected to an N Wifi Router.
pzosa
November 29th, 2008, 01:37 PM
I use a 1.86GHz Core 2 Mac Mini and it plays all types of files without issue. Im finding issues with DVD's but thankfully most of my media is stored and a 1TB WB Network Drive downstairs conntected to an N Wifi Router.

I will second this one...exactly :)
pornmaster
November 30th, 2008, 03:27 AM
We have 4 mac minis 1.66ghz machines - one for each TV in the house. We have no problem streaming 1080p files from an appletalk share (AFP) ... needless to say, 720p is not a problem.

The same boxes also connect to an HDhomerun networked HDTV tuner and have no problem streaming 1080i HD live streams.

In other words - the 1.66ghz mini is an awesome front-end device :D

Are you having any issues?

What is the Bit Rate that you have the MKV files encoded at? Are you able to play back Blu-Ray ISO's?
cubsfan61
November 30th, 2008, 08:49 AM
I have a 1.83 C2D Mac Mini. It plays 720p and 1080p pretty well, but I do notice some slight stuttering, mostly during horizontal or vertical panning. Are there any settings in Boxee that will help the stuttering?? Thanks.

Kevin
SpaceBass
November 30th, 2008, 03:39 PM
What is the Bit Rate that you have the MKV files encoded at? Are you able to play back Blu-Ray ISO's?

Not sure about the bitrate - I'll have to look. I'm not doing the transcoding myself :)

As for blu-rays, I have run into problems there. Of course the biggest issue is the audio, that codec is still pretty much unplayable
harleyquinn
December 4th, 2008, 01:12 PM
I would say anything Core 2 Duo will be fine.

My experience:
Mac Mini Core SOLO 1.5 = Forget HD content.

Mac Mini Core DUO 1.8 = 720p and 1080p ~ok~ usually get a hiccup at the start, easily fixed by rewinding to the beginning and letting it play forward again.

Mac Mini Core 2 Duo = Screwing around at an Apple store, installed Perian, grabbed a MKV, and it played fine.

On my Core DUO, I choose to continue to run Tiger over Leopard, less CPU utilization, cooler temps. I like Front Row 1.x with Perian & DVDAssist still. (I like the fact in Front Row 1.x, I can bounce between the desktop, iTunes, Front Row, and Photos in Front Row, WHILE KEEPING THE CURRENT MUSIC/SONG PLAYING.)