My Mac mini build
#1
Hi,

I'm basically an Apple hater but I own an iphone (my company's choice) and decided to buy a 2012 mac mini for my htpc build.
Just to test its performances and silence, I took the least powerful config (i5 and 4Go ram) thinking that I could afford a more evolved version when this one becomes useless.

I started to play with Mac OS a bit and XBMC there but for some reason it kept on freezing so i decided to switch to Windows 8.
The whole process took about one hour with boot camp and was fully automatic thanks to Apple's tools but it all went to hell after I decided to change my drive letters.
Mac OS is now unbootable and I had to restore a fresh version of the newly installed windows and install the mac drivers without the boot camp assistant which obviously isn't that smart after all.

Anyway, those first newbie mistakes done, I went with my regular softwares and XBMC.
I'm connecting to my NAS to fetch my holiday movies and play them in XBMC and I have to say that it all worked like a charm after migrating my config from my previous htpc. Just had to reconfigure the audio part as the mac mini can handle LPCM and dolby AAC capable receiver.

I have been using it for a couple of days now and not only does it look stunning but it is also absolutely silent. Haven't heard the fan once and under charge the whole system runs at about 55 degrees (celsius).

All in all I couldn't be happier of my shopping as it is the first time that I manage to get such a good looking, silent and performant htpc (with windows that is) for such a little price.

The only problem I have is the IR receiver. I couldn't manage to get it to work with my MCE remote. Right now I'm using my old mce receiver but would like to get rid of it as it is a small extra box and cable. Anyone has any input on that?

Anyway, for 600$ i couldn't dream of a better machine and I am now beginning to think about another one for my bedroom.
Hope this gives an insight to those who, like wondered for a while if it was worth considering it or not.
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#2
Keep us updated on how the system performs in the future.
Windows8 isn't officially supported by Apple / Bootcamp, so you're technically using Windows7 drivers.
My girlfriends Macbook pro also got Win8, but unluckily it's a big mess. Keyboard stopped working, standby doesn't work anymore etc etc.. see this discussion: https://discussions.apple.com/message/20991970#20991970

Wouldn't be surprised if the system runs even smoother once it's "officially" supported.

For others, I'd recommend to go with Windows7 for the time being.
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#3
I have to say I don't use apple keyboard as the main point was to run Windows 8 with MCE remote and LPCM (apple doesn't support PCM if I understood correctly).

Windows 7 and 8 are usually extemely close to each other in 99% of cases so it doesn't matter that much which os those two OS you run on.
Note that I'm just talking about mac mini, I know there are tons of people having issues with mac book pro for exemple.
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#4
(2013-02-19, 11:57)Airchtit Wrote: Hi,

I'm basically an Apple hater but I own an iphone (my company's choice) and decided to buy a 2012 mac mini for my htpc build.
Just to test its performances and silence, I took the least powerful config (i5 and 4Go ram) thinking that I could afford a more evolved version when this one becomes useless.

I started to play with Mac OS a bit and XBMC there but for some reason it kept on freezing so i decided to switch to Windows 8.
The whole process took about one hour with boot camp and was fully automatic thanks to Apple's tools but it all went to hell after I decided to change my drive letters.
Mac OS is now unbootable and I had to restore a fresh version of the newly installed windows and install the mac drivers without the boot camp assistant which obviously isn't that smart after all.

Anyway, those first newbie mistakes done, I went with my regular softwares and XBMC.
I'm connecting to my NAS to fetch my holiday movies and play them in XBMC and I have to say that it all worked like a charm after migrating my config from my previous htpc. Just had to reconfigure the audio part as the mac mini can handle LPCM and dolby AAC capable receiver.

I have been using it for a couple of days now and not only does it look stunning but it is also absolutely silent. Haven't heard the fan once and under charge the whole system runs at about 55 degrees (celsius).

All in all I couldn't be happier of my shopping as it is the first time that I manage to get such a good looking, silent and performant htpc (with windows that is) for such a little price.

The only problem I have is the IR receiver. I couldn't manage to get it to work with my MCE remote. Right now I'm using my old mce receiver but would like to get rid of it as it is a small extra box and cable. Anyone has any input on that?

Anyway, for 600$ i couldn't dream of a better machine and I am now beginning to think about another one for my bedroom.
Hope this gives an insight to those who, like wondered for a while if it was worth considering it or not.

Dude, if I am hearing you right, you still have Windows 8 on your mac mini.

I have a similar setup except I am running Windows 7 on my Mac mini 2011 model (upgraded to 8GB Ram)

Now I know personally how hard it was to get the damn builtin IR on macmini to work on Windows. I finally gave up on it and bought myself a TIVO SLide Bluetooth remote control which hooks up to the mac mini built in Bluetooth.

Of course the goal is to have a universal remote that can control TV, MACMINI and possibly a/V receiver and TIVOSlide remote does it splendidly.

What I did have to do additional here is download Melloware's intelliremote software ($20) and configure my remote for XBMC/WMC and other programs I use on my mini. It is cheap, very easy to configure and you can set it up to do all sorts of cool stuff. (and tivo slide has a qwerty KEYBOARD), I am very happy with that setup.

Dont know if it will run equally well on windows 8 though but might be worth a look.
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#5
Hi,

I've had my build for about two months now so i thought I would give an updated feedback.

I gave up on using the integrated IR receiver as the wife doesn't care as long as she doesn't see any cables in the room.

Everything still runs smoothly and in perfect silence.

The wifi is fast enough to handle streaming any file I might have on my nas and the mac itself is running cool enough to be placed inside a closet (with an open back so that there is a good airflow.

Two months later I really can't express how happy I am with that buy.

My only regret is that I can't seem to get a common database shared between my different xbmc instances but that has nothing to do with the mac itself.
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