please help (MCE questions for a total newb)

[griffin]

Hi,

I am totally new to the world of macs and I am not that computer saavy to begin with.

I just bought a 2 GB core duo mac mini. I wish to use it as a media center setup running windows media center 2005. I know there are threads about this on here, I've searched them and nothing has worked or resolved my problems. I pretty much need simple step by step instructions on how to do this.

My setup includes the mini, parallels (software i was told to buy), the tv tuner is an hauppauge wintv-hvr-950 and of course windows XP MCE2005 on 2 discs. I tried to install windows and had no real issues. it recognized my tv tuner and all that stuff. However it kept telling me my video card and/or drivers were not compatible with media center so no video would show.

I have since removed everything (i think) in order to start all over with some sound advice. I really need some help because I had a PC which ran pretty well that I will switch back to if this doesn't work. I have 14 days to return my mac for a refund so this needs to be done quickly cause if it doesn't work it's going back.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[zarmanto]

I do have some recommendations for you which might help -- but I don't think that they're exactly along the lines of what you were expecting.

First of all, whoever told you to buy Parallels and a Mac Mini either didn't know you were planning to use the computer as a media center, or their expectations/ideals are simply too high. Virtualization via either Parallels or VMWare is great for running Word and IE -- but I don't think you're going to get the performance required to view high definition television signals via your Hauppauge using that solution.

But here's the hard pill to swallow: I'm not entirely certain that a Mac Mini in particular is going to have enough horse power in the first place, as we're basically talking about a computer without a dedicated video card -- it's using shared memory for video. That said... you can probably test my doubts by going to the Apple website, and viewing some of their HD movie trailers in the QuickTime section. If the highest quality trailers will play via the Mini without stuttering (after they've been fully downloaded, that is) then you're probably going to be fine using that Mac with your Hauppauge.

After you've completed that test -- assuming that the Mac Mini isn't already being packed back up for a return trip to the Apple Store, that is -- you have two basic options, as I see it:

Option one: You can install Windows via BootCamp (http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/) instead of via Parallels. There's actually a chance that you've already tried this option, and simply neglected to mention it in your post. If that's the case, then proceed directly to option two. If not, then you probably need a brief primer on the difference between BootCamp and Parallels: In short, Parallels lets you run both OSes at the same time, while BootCamp essentially grants all of your computer's resources to a single OS at a time. Generally speaking, hardware support is much better when you're using BootCamp.

Option two: Rather then trying to convince Windows Media Center Edition to play nice with your hardware, I would recommend that you try out EyeTV from Elgato (http://www.elgato.com/index.php?file=products_whatiseyetv). (It's possible that you already have a copy of EyeTV Lite, as according to the Hauppauge website (http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/products/data_hvr950.html), it comes with your tuner.) EyeTV is a very robust software solution for using TV Tuners under MacOS X; I've been using it for awhile now with an EyeTV Hybrid -- which is basically a rebranded version of the exact same Hauppauge tuner that you have. I think EyeTV has a very well designed interface, and I'm sure that it will meet your needs quite handily.

[griffin]

Thanks a ton for the info. I have not tried bootcamp in fact I have no idea what it is or how it works but i'm definately gonna look into it. Nor had I looked for the eyetv thing but I have heard of that one. As for the power of my mac mini, I took your advice and downloaded a 1080P trailer from apple (for ironman if your curious) and it worked flawlessly, no stuttering whatsoever in fact it was quite amazing to look at.

All that being said I'm gonna try a few things and post my results. I still have about 10 days left to return so i'll be working feverishly to get this right cause for everything else I really like the mac.

Thanks again, and for anyone else keep that advice coming.

cheers

[zarmanto]

Glad to hear that the trailer worked so well. Actually, it just occurred to me... if you haven't already tried out BootCamp, then frankly, it'll have the solution to your drivers problem as well. BootCamp is Apple's own solution for booting Windows on an IntelMac, and it comes complete with a collection of drivers for all of Apple's hardware. So if you install the video drivers from BootCamp, that will no doubt fix your problem.

(I still recommend EyeTV, though. :) )

[specter]

I think Mac Mini is not the best option to use it for these purposes... I would advice a MacBook Pro with Boot Camp+Parallels installed. This will be a nice media-center then. And also you'll be able to run Windows simultaneously with Mac OS, as it has been already said.
________
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[zarmanto]

I think Mac Mini is not the best option to use it for these purposes... I would advice a MacBook Pro...

While I'm sure that every Mac user out there would absolutely love to have enough spare change sitting around that they could just casually snap up a $2K MacBook Pro to use as their media center, instead of that lowly $600 Mac Mini... I'm afraid that's simply not the case for most of us.

The reality is that the best option for any given task isn't always the fastest machine that you can buy, but rather, sometimes it is the cheapest machine that you can buy which will acceptably accomplish the specific task at hand. After listening to my own initial expressions of concern, (which vaguely paralleled your own) griffin has already reported that he perceives acceptable performance from the Mini, based upon his testing.