Mac Mini Media Center

I decided to put an old Mac Mini to use as something other than a door stop. I had replaced my original Mini with one of the latest Intel based versions. Here's the spec's on the old one;

• Mac Mini (G4) one of the early ones.
• 1GB Memory
• 60Gb Int. harddrive
• Rowmote Software (using my iPod Touch as the remote for now)

I'm looking at implementing a more family friendly remote, using the standard Apple remote (from our iMac) and attaching an Infrared receiver (USB) from TwistedMelon to the Mini. Their hardware is called the Mantra TR1 and requires their Mira software, all for ~$32.00.

I'll be adding some external storage via the Firewire port at some point. For right now it pulls content from the other iTunes library's in the house and so far, with the Mini hardwired to our router, that seems fast enough.

The Mac Mini is connected to our HDTV (input 7) via a DVI-I to DVI-I cable. This resolved the problem where I was seeing a lot of video related noise using the DVI-D to DVI-D cable.

I'll do another post once I get the Mantra/Mira combo hooked up.