Mac Mini capable of running Windows XP/SageTV?

[mkanet]

Are there any issues with hardware acceleration, displaying video at 1024x758 or 1280x1024 with VMR9?

[jaminben]

I used to use a Mac Mini as my main client, it wouldnt run very well with VMR so I had to use Overlay. I didnt have any problems playing 720p or 1080i films / TV but it wouldnt play 1080p. Sold it in the end and got 2 extenders due to stabilty issues which wasnt always down to Sage but more of a general windows problem.

[guho]

I am using a Mac Mini Core2Duo 1.83 as my family room client. Works much better (=smoother with less CPU usage) under Vista than Mac OS X Leopard, go figure . I use the latest video drivers from Intel, SageTV 6.4.8. Settings: Overlay, SageTV MPEG Video & Audio decoder, no 3D acceleration. I get buttery smooth MPEG-2 1080i, 720p and SDTV playback. Have not tried any other file types. Have not tried XP but I think it will be fine too.

[autoboy]

Is there a reason you are not using VMR9 and acceleration? With overlay you are missing out on the hardware deinterlacing from "Intel Clear Video" which is like PureVideo and Avivo. It would be nice to know if a mac mini is capable of that without stuttering.

[mikesm]

The Mac Mini doesn't use the later chipsets. Basically, it's got no acceleration for bluray disks... It uses GMA950 integrated graphics chipset, basically what came in the Intel 945 northbridge, which is 3 generations behind the current Intel integrated graphics solution.

Better to go with a GM45 based minipc, or at least a G965 based minipc like the Aopen one, which is only 2 generations behind, but should accelerate MPEG2 just fine, and maybe can handle bluray with a really fast CPU. Don't count on good deinterlacing though...

[mikesm]

PS What you REALLY want is this: http://product.pconline.com.cn/bareb...en/244460.html and talked about here: http://ediatl.wordpress.com/2008/07/...e-mp45-series/

This is a really tiny (mac mini size) PC with integrated bluray disk as an option, and has the GM45 chipset on board. This should give you good hardware acceleration and handle 1080p fine, and should be capable of multichannel sound output over HDMI as well.

It's not shipping yet, but should be soon.

[autoboy]

He never mentioned Blu-Ray. For some that is unimportant. The 950 graphics still handles mpeg2 and the processsor is enough for decoding the HD-PVR. But yeah, that new box sounds cool except that I would almost just go for a laptop with the 780G and HDMI if you are looking for a slim client. A guy over at MissingRemote.com was selling his brand new HP notebook with a busted screen for $275. If it had the Nvidia 8600 in it instead of the 7600 I would probably have jumped at it.