Mac mini

[Gog]

I`ll probably be compared to the antechrist for suggesting this but is mac support considered ?

Even if it`s just for the client (hell, I REALLY don`t want to go through the hauppauge setup on a mac), the new mac mini at 500$ is a cool package with a DVI out. I could see that thing on top of my projector.

Gog

[jquinlan]

Its a good idea, the question is what version or precessor does the OEM linux version of SAGE require and can SAGE be installed on OSX or can Linux be installed on the Apple hardware with SAGE added next?

[mikejaner]

I would bet no on the whole Apple compatibility thing.
First, Apple is not really known for having alot of Home Theater apps and hardware made for it. They do video and audio production well though.
Second they are too expensive, with exception to this new one.
Third, OSX is too small of a marketshare to even consider for porting. Linux is alot bigger for OEM's.

[ErsatzTom]

I, and others, have offered to work on a mac port for free in the past. Frey just hasn't been interested. And, even though I would dearly love to be able to run Sage on all our Macs, I can't say I really blame them much.

t

[Menehune]

I did briefly look into getting a MyTV tuner for the MiniMac, but the lack of a Sage port turned me off.
If the miniMac was only a stand alone TV viewer, it may benefit IF the Hauppage software supports OS-X. I wonder if a cuctom kernel could be compiled using MythTV for the G4 processor?

[Gog]

I'm not expecting mac support myself either although I suppose the complexity is lower if you just do a client and don`t have to touch the tuning part of things.

I just got a sudden surge of mac envy and was thinking of ways to justify a new 500$ gizmo to the GF.

Gog

[GTwannabe]

I won't buy Apple due to their crappy customer support. My buddy got screwed on a 12" G4 iBook. After 10 months, the hard drive started grinding when warm and losing data. He brought it to the local authorized service center and demonstrated the very obvious hard disk grinding. The service center shipped the iBook to Apple in CA. 2 months later, he receives a call from Apple stating that they didn't find a problem and are shipping the broken laptop back to him with 6 days left on the warranty. They refused to replace the hard drive and repeatedly tried to sell him the $300 AppleCare 3-year warranty. Plus, they even had the balls to charge him $90 to look at the damned thing!

You'd think with the whole "Apple is so much better than PC" thing, Apple would offer world-class standard support instead of saying "screw you, unless you buy our $300 warranty"

Apple

[Wheemer]

wow... that's is very poor of them... I've only heard nightmares about their service from anyone that's used it.

[krutaw]

Originally Posted by Gog

I'm not expecting mac support myself either although I suppose the complexity is lower if you just do a client and don`t have to touch the tuning part of things.

I just got a sudden surge of mac envy and was thinking of ways to justify a new 500$ gizmo to the GF.

Gog

Depending on what the license is (in other words are they going to gpl it) for the linux flavor of the sage client, it could probably be ported to either a ppc version of linux, or straight to os x.

[ErsatzTom]

Er, I somehow don't think that there is going to be an opensource Sage any time in the foreseeable future. Not that I have any official insight, mind you. But I just can't imagine why in the world they would do that.

t

[krutaw]

Originally Posted by ErsatzTom

Er, I somehow don't think that there is going to be an opensource Sage any time in the foreseeable future. Not that I have any official insight, mind you. But I just can't imagine why in the world they would do that.

t

The real question will be if they use any GPL software in their code. If they did, they would have the release GPL portions of the code.

[indigo]

This is probably a little out there as it does defeat the purpose of buying a mac in the first place but, the only good version of linux for mac is yellow dog (http://www.yellowdoglinux.com/) they will probably have a version that supports the mac mini very shortly as many will want to use it as a server. But if you want a small pc look at this (http://www.ahanix.com/micromini.html)
Also there is no way that this thing will be used for anything but a client as it only has a 40 or 80 gig drive and one more thing the rumor is it's a notebook hd at 4200rpm, and if this is the case it will suck. Now don't get me wrong I like macs in fact I have 3, and I will probably be buying one of these to replace my aging iMac.

EDIT: as I see the customer service complaint, the reason it sucks is because you're not supposed to need it, I know it doesn't make sense but that's the mindset, now personally I have NEVER had any contact with Apple's CS support as I have NEVER had any HW or SW glitches, but what I can say is buyer beware I personally do not consider the G4 and G5 based desktops and laptops to be of great quality, in fact every time I have come into contact with these machines I have had NOTHING but problems. this is probably why I have held onto my two G3 iBooks and my G3 iMac. Now I'm done

[fidget]

Originally Posted by indigo

This is probably a little out there as it does defeat the purpose of buying a mac in the first place but, the only good version of linux for mac is yellow dog (http://www.yellowdoglinux.com/) they will probably have a version that supports the mac mini very shortly as many will want to use it as a server. But if you want a small pc look at this (http://www.ahanix.com/micromini.html)
Also there is no way that this thing will be used for anything but a client as it only has a 40 or 80 gig drive and one more thing the rumor is it's a notebook hd at 4200rpm, and if this is the case it will suck. Now don't get me wrong I like macs in fact I have 3, and I will probably be buying one of these to replace my aging iMac.

Actually, it comes with USB2 and FireWire 400, so you can connect external storage. When it comes to tuners, you can get this tuner.

It has always frustrated me that some vendors (*cough*) only provide products with software encoders for the Mac while they provide hardware encoders for the PC. Not that I'm bitter

In all reality, it shouldn't be that hard to port a Linux version to the Mac. After all there is a VLC client and server for MacOS X.

[iain]

Yeah, I was hoping to do the same. I have a license for Sage but I think I'll give Myth a go - there is an official port for Mac OS X.

[Outvit]

I am a happy Mac owner and I genuinly feel this Mini Mac is a complete ripoff.

[ruel]

Originally Posted by iain

Yeah, I was hoping to do the same. I have a license for Sage but I think I'll give Myth a go - there is an official port for Mac OS X.

thanks for the MythTV for Mac OS X info.

ruel

[Gog]

Originally Posted by Outvit

I am a happy Mac owner and I genuinly feel this Mini Mac is a complete ripoff.

Would you care to explain ? I read the specs and it`s not too bad. I probably could buy a better PC for less but that`s not relly the point with apple products

Gog

[pcuoco]

Now there's a website...

http://www.machtpc.com/

[atmasphere]

I'd love to see a port to OSX and think that the Mac Mini would indeed make a great box. It's small, sleek and more than powerful enough to handle the media center duties. All we need is a standard UI to control access to everything. A port from linux to OSX should actually not be that challenging and would interest even more people in utilizing their soon to arrive Mac Minis as home theater devices.

[ruel]

Just a FYI.

Putting the Mac Mini in your Dashboard:
http://news.com.com/Putting+the+Mac+...2-5539831.html

Mac Mini Car Installation (Classic Restorations is referred to in the CNET article, but their Mac Mini page currently a dummy page):
http://www.classicresto.com/macmini.html