Filed under: Surveys and Polls, Mac mini
Poll: What do you use your Mac mini for?
Here at TUAW, as you probably know, we really love the Mac mini. Some of us have a mini hooked up to our TV, some are used as servers, and some are used as great desktop computers (including mine). We wanted to ask you what exactly you use your Mac mini for, so we came up with this in-depth poll. There are several choices, so let us know how you use your Mac mini.
If your favorite use for a Mac mini isn't listed in the poll, you can also leave a comment below and tell us how you use your mini.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
John.B said 7:46PM on 10-23-2009
My mini replaced my AppleTV, but when it's not doing entertainment duty (with the flat panel TV) it's also the main living room computer (with a more normal sized monitor).
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joystiq said 7:49PM on 10-23-2009
Where are some tips for getting a mac mini to actually work with a TV? I bought one last night and the first thing I ran into was that I have 2 options
1) overscan on, the default, menus off the screen, unusable
2) overscan off, big border around the screen, crappy for video.
If mac mini can't get this basic thing right should I take it back or are there fixes for this?
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Jon Eric said 8:50PM on 10-23-2009
Joystiq - Check out the link below. Hopefully it will solve the issue you are having.
http://blog.adamnash.com/2008/01/24/yes-you-can-get-1080p-out-of-a-mac-mini/
russ_schroeder said 10:02PM on 10-23-2009
I had the same problem. I have a 50" Samsung 1080p plasma and my solution may be specific to Samsungs only, I'm not sure--depends on the options on your TV.
I initially had the TV set to 16:9 aspect ratio which led to the same problem you have. I changed the picture setting (aspect ratio) in the TV's menu to Just Scan while leaving overscan on on the mini and setting the mini's display resolution to 1080p and problem was solved.
robert.ritchie.jr said 11:41PM on 10-23-2009
The issue is with your tv settings. Just set the display to 1080p in the macs display settings and fiddle with your tvs display setting until you have filled the screen properly.
lens42 said 8:46PM on 10-24-2009
I had exactly the same problem. This was with a last generation Mini (before last week's upgrades) and I could not for the life of me get the image to fit properly on my 55" Sony. None of the display setting would work (image either too small or too large). I gave up and returned it. The whole point of spending too much for a Mac was to have a pain-free experience. No such luck.
Digaos said 12:56AM on 10-25-2009
I had the same problem with my LG TV.
The way to fix it is to make sure that you have the "input label" set to PC for the HDMI port you're connecting your mini.
It worked for me.
NutMac said 7:49PM on 10-23-2009
It would be nice if I can see the results without voting. I don't have Mac mini so I would have to vote to see the results, which would misrepresent the results.
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Ed said 8:06PM on 10-23-2009
Just click the 'vote' button without selecting anything. Seemed to work for me...
brian said 11:01PM on 10-23-2009
Yeah, that's a shortcoming of analog CRT TVs. Long story short, there's a lot of variety in how much a tube will show in relation to the plastic bezel that surrounds it, so a computer (not just a Mac--ANY computer) has two choices--"overscan" which overshoots the bounds enough to ensure that every bit of the screen is lit up (but, as you see, it pushes the menus completely past the visible area) or "underscan" and surround the data with black borders to ensure that every pixel of data is visible.
Fernando said 7:49PM on 10-23-2009
web server + ssh server for tunnels when I'm away + torrent machine + connected to tv for movies, all next to the dvd player. love my mini.
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CL said 2:46AM on 10-24-2009
That's exactly how I use mine. As a 24/7 torrent/ssh box, the low power consumption is perfect. As a living room HTPC, the small size is great and I have EyeTV installed besides watching Hulu/Netflix streams on it as well.
Shawn said 7:54PM on 10-23-2009
I selected secondary but in reality, it is my kids' computer. Would be good for that option, too! Cause I bet a lot of the secondary results are just that, for the kids.
I have mine hooked up to a nice samsung widescreen lcd, and my iMac G3 mouse and keyboard. Little hands do great with one button!
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Shawn said 7:55PM on 10-23-2009
joystiq, search TUAW, there has got to be tons of tips on setting it up to a tv.
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David Emery said 8:08PM on 10-23-2009
I have 2 minis, one running Leopard Server as the 'inside server', and a new Mini (purchased -last week- from the Apple Refurb store, damnit*) running Snow Leopard server as the 'outside server'. That machine is running IPNetRouter to provide an extra layer of security to protect my inside network.
The 'outside server' provides websites for a couple non-profits, and I plan to take advantage of the built-in Wiki. It also runs "radio free davebert," my CD collection in iTunes (album shuffle) broadcast through AirTunes (Airport Express) to a small FM transmitter (CC Crane model cranked to max legal power) broadcasting throughout the house.
The 'inside server' runs DNS, Open Directory and provides backup/file services.
* Between the refurb 2.0ghz FW800/120gb (5400 rpm) Mini, plussing it up to 4gb RAM, and a copy of Snow Leopard Server on eBay, I paid $950. For $50 more I could have gotten a 2.5ghz machine with 4gb, and -2x- 500gb (but only 5400 rpm) drives, if I had known to wait a week!
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ramkanda said 8:10PM on 10-23-2009
My mini is the perfect bedroom computer. Got it hooked up to one of Apple's 23" cinema displays. We use it to stream shows, play music, and play movies mostly, along with some light surfing before bed. Got an Apple wireless keyboard (for its tiny size, sexiness, and so we can take it to control from bed) and a Logitech trackball (so we don't have to mouse around) and so the whole business fits on a tiny 2ft x 2ft approx. desk. We have a keyboard stool taking up next to no space for when we want to sit right at the computer.
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ramkanda said 8:14PM on 10-23-2009
Should say "almost perfect". I would have loved a Blu Ray drive (got a few movies that I watch in the living room that I'd love to take to my room). For anyone using the mini as an entertainment center, what do you use to run it? I hate Boxee, XBMC, and Plex. Does Windows Media Center run well on it? There's no place for a cablecard, so I guess I'd have to EyeTV for cable...
James said 8:13PM on 10-23-2009
With my EyeTV and external HD with all my movies ripped to it the MM my HTPC of choice. Just needs bluray to be perfect.
joystiq check out http://www.madrau.com/indexSRX4.html for what you need to do. Allows custom resolutions.
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Khalil Amar said 12:42AM on 10-24-2009
@James, nice choice, I kept thinking whether I should go with a MM or a PS3.
a 1st gen. PS3 was my 1st choice since you can have the same setup you described.
a computer + PlayTV (Instead of EyeTV) + bluray + games + external HD for movies, although the ps3 has a 60 GB SATA and it reads mp4 and divx movies.
Anyways, you will have a good point by saying it's not as compact as the MM, silent, and it certainly doesn't run OS X.
but I thought I should mention here the comparison and specially when it is sold at almost the same price.
I have a MM at my day job.
it does convert for me movies from VCR tapes to mp4 files
and it converts audio tapes using garageband to play them then on another server with atalk and mt-daapd / daapd server on Fedora 11.
Mendo Dave said 8:15PM on 10-23-2009
@David Emery
I got my refurb Mac Mini a month ago, called on Wednesday when I got back from a trip, Apple shipped me a new one, same price, twice the RAM, faster CPU...no restocking fee for the return, they sent the return shipping label as well
Go Apple!
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