Your Mac mini as a Media Center

Do an Internet search on "Mac mini" and "media center," and you will find a fair number of references, including some to a couple of groups planning to write open-source software to smooth the way. However, in playing with the Mac mini and experimenting, I've decided that, except for a few purposes, creating a true media center using a Mac mini is still too much of a science fair project for my liking: too much trouble, too little reward. The Mac mini does have a role, though, if you limit yourself to things that are easy to do and actually useful. I will focus on two of these: using the Mac mini as a music hub and viewing and recording programs on your television.

Using your Mac mini as a music hub

Thanks to iTunes and AirPort Express, your Mac mini is a great central repository for your music and is capable of wirelessly streaming it to speakers and stereo systems around your home. AirPort Express can output either conventional analog or digital (optical) audio, selected by plugging in the proper cable. For many people, this feature alone is worth the cost of the Mac mini (and is described in Chapter 5).

Receiving radio programs on your Mac mini

Griffin Technology (www.griffintechnology.com) offers some truly wonderful Mac accessories, many related to audio or the iPod. You should visit the Griffin Web site to see what the company offers.

Among the items you will find is the Radio Shark, an AM/FM radio receiver that attaches to a Mac (or PC) and lets you listen to over-the-air radio or record it for later listening. You can also set up automatic recording, in effect making using Radio Shark as a radio TiVo for your Mac mini.

In Chapter 10, I discuss some interesting audio applications from Rouge Amoeba Software, including Audio Hijack, which allows you to record any audio your Mac mini can play (such as from RealPlayer) and to schedule recordings of programs on the Internet. Another, Airfoil, allows you to wirelessly transmit any audio your Mac mini can play to an AirPort Express device connected to remote speakers or a stereo system.

Television and your Mac mini

If you want to use your Mac mini to record television programs, you will make the acquaintance of a German company named Elgato Systems (www.elgato.com). Elgato specializes in turning all-in-one units, like the iMac, into expensive television sets.

But the Elgato hardware and software can also be used with the Mac mini, as part of your home entertainment center, ideally also connected to your stereo system and a huge screen with a DVI input. The device you need is Elgato's EyeTV 200, discussed next.

tip

Elgato makes an HDTV tuner for Macintosh use. However, the company does not recommend it for Macs with less than the high-end G5 processor, which leaves out the Mac mini.

EyeTV 200

Elgato's EyeTV 200 can turn your Mac mini into a TiVo-like device, capable of recording (and displaying) television programs as you desire, up to the capacity of your hard drive. You can also use it to display live television programs on your Mac mini. I have been using EyeTV 200 with my Mac mini for a couple of months now, and they work together quite well.

The $299 EyeTV 200 can pick up broadcasts received over the air. Connect a TV antenna to the ANT IN port on the device. Likewise, you can connect a cable television feed to the ANT IN port and receive unscrambled, unencrypted channels. The benefit of receiving programming over the air or via cable is that the EyeTV's internal tuner can be controlled by the software, allowing the device to change channels as needed to record your favorite programs.

You can connect EyeTV 200 to a cable TV box or satellite receiver in either of two ways:

• If your box has audio and video outputs, connect the red and white audio jacks and the yellow video jack to the same-colored ports on the EyeTV receiver. Special three-conductor cables are available for this purpose, and you probably already have a bunch of them. This is called composite video.

  For better quality, if your cable box or satellite receiver has an S-Video output, connect it, instead of the yellow video cable, to the EyeTV. You will still need the red and white audio cables connected.

• If your cable box/satellite receiver has an RF output, connect a coaxial cable from the RF output on the box to the ANT IN port on the EyeTV 200 device. You will then tune the received signal on channel 3 or 4 on the EyeTV 200. This is not the preferred way to get a signal into EyeTV as RF is of distinctly lower quality than either the composite video or S-Video used in the first method.

The problem with either of these methods is that you have to select channels using the cable box or satellite receiver rather than the EyeTV software. That means if you want to record a program on channel 6 at 7 P.M. and another on channel 9 and 10 P.M., sometime after the end of the first program and the beginning of the second you will have to change the channel on your box. This is how some of the very first VCRs worked, and, frankly, it's stupid. But until the consumer electronics and cable/satellite industries get their acts together, it's how things are.

EyeTV 200 can also be connected to many other video devices, such as DVD players, VCRs, TiVos, and cameras. By feeding their outputs into an EyeTV connected to a Mac mini, you can record programs and edit them if you like before copying them to a CD or DVD.

You connect these devices to the composite video and S-Video inputs on the EyeTV 200 box just as you would to a cable box or satellite receiver. Sadly, the EyeTV 200 box does not have a digital input that would allow higher-quality dubs from digital sources.

To connect the EyeTV 200 box to your Mac mini, use the included FireWire cable. It's only 3 feet long, but you can buy a longer cable if necessary. There are two FireWire connections on the EyeTV 200 box. Do not try to daisy chain other FireWire-powered devices with EyeTV 200.

You have now completed the hard part of installing EyeTV 200. Installing the software is simply a matter of inserting the CD and dragging the program to your Mac mini's hard drive. The installation process includes determining what channels are available in your area, either over the air or cable, as well as establishing a TitanTV.com account for access to the online program guide.

You don't have to always be connected to the Internet to use TitanTV, which is an independent service used with a variety of PC and Mac TV tuners. The software will automatically download program information (if you tell it to) for use when you aren't online. You can also set the EyeTV software manually to record a particular channel at a specific time, but that's not as easy or as fun as pointing and clicking in the TitanTV program grid.

Getting It All Connected

It used to be easy to get video from a VCR into a TV set. The VCR contained a modulator that generated a TV signal, usually on channel 3 or 4. A piece of coaxial cable with an F screw connector on each end connected the output of the VCR and the antenna jack on the TV.

For you to view the picture from the VCR, the TV had to be tuned to the channel used by the modulator: channel 3 or 4. The picture this method produced looked like television, which was all we really had to compare it to. Cable boxes and other devices also connected to TV sets in this manner.

You can still use the ANT, cable, and RF inputs and outputs to send video and audio around your home entertainment system. But modern AV components, including the Mac mini, offer much better alternatives. I will explain what these are and how most can be used with a Mac mini.

• Composite video. Are you familiar with the yellow, red, and white three-wire cable assemblies used to connect AV equipment? Sure you are, because this is the most common means of making those connections. Composite video is better than RF, but you have much better alternatives. The yellow cable carries the video, and the red and white cables are used for stereo audio.

• S-Video. This is what used to define high-end home video for most people. S-Video separates the video signal into separate color and luminance channels. With S-Video, you get a picture that starts doing justice to your DVD, satellite system, or digital camcorder. S-Video uses a round multipin connector, which is usually black. S-Video requires a separate audio connection.

• Component video. You might think that the three connectorsred, green, and bluetransmit those colors from your device to your screen. That's what I always assumed, but then I learned that component video separates the signal into two color components and one luminance component. That means it's a shade, so to speak, better than S-Video and finds its way into HD satellite receivers, DVD players, and cable boxes. Component video requires a separate audio connection.

• DVI. This is the connector that you will find on the back of your Mac mini and other Apple computers. DVI allows a digital-to-digital connection between your Mac and a screen or other video device. DVI is great for DVD players, satellite receivers, cable boxes, digital camcorders, and other devices. It also allows content providers to, in some cases, control what you can do with their content. DVI requires a separate audio connection.

  Included with your Mac mini is a DVI-to-VGA converter used to connect your Mac to a monitor that lacks a DVI input. (I recommend leaving the adapter always connected or taped to the back of the monitor so it will be available when you need it.)

  Apple also sells a $19 DVI-to-video adapter that allows your Mac mini to connect to any S-video or composite videoenabled device.

• HDMI. This is a digital connection that carries video and audio on a single cable. The Mac mini does not support HDMI.

• VGA. This is the standard PC video connection. If you want to connect a Windows PC to your new monitor, make sure it has a VGA input.

When purchasing a large home theaterstyle display, you need to make sure it has the appropriate connectors. Many still lack DVI, which is something you want. Also, many HDMI-equipped monitors lack a DVI connector, though some have both.

Climb in back of your TV set if you have to so you can make sure it has the inputs you need.

Accessing content remotely

The design of the Mac mini makes it easy to bring the computer into the den or family room and connect it directly to your home entertainment system. But suppose you want to keep the Mac mini on your desk and access your media content (music, photos, video, and so on) remotely?

The easiest way to do this is with a wireless AirPort network, capable of connecting all the computers (and other wireless devices as I am about to explain) in your home in a single network.

For the purpose of this chapter, I am assuming that you already have an AirPort Extreme or other 802.11g wireless network established. If you don't, that's okay, toojust return to Chapter 5 to see how to set up a home network.

But before I continue, let me offer a bit of advice: Networking Macs really is easiernot surprisinglyif you use Mac hardware. That solves any potential compatibility problems before they start and also gives you the benefit of Apple's commitment to ease of use. Creating a wireless network isn't that difficult, but if you've never done it before, the Apple tools make it pretty easy to accomplish. And yes, your Windows computers will connect to an Apple base station just fine.

And in case you're wondering, I am using an AirPort Extreme Base Station as the center of a fairly complex all-wireless network involving a DSL Internet connection, a Windows 2003 Server, a Mac mini, three Mac notebooks, an iMac, three Windows desktop systems, and a couple of Windows notebooks. I am also running three AirPort Express devices to extend the network and play iTunes in different rooms of the house. My plan is to add more AirPort Express units in the future.

AirPort Express

Apple describes AirPort Express (with iTunes) as a tool to "enjoy your iTunes music library in virtually every room of your house." The device, a small white box that plugs into a wall outlet, allows you to share a broadband connection and a USB printer and even create an "instant wireless network" when you are traveling.

Here's how I use it: After you install AirPort Express, the name of the deviceone of mine is called Bedroomappears in your iTunes player. You can then choose to have your Mac (or Windows PC) send the music from iTunes to the selected AirPort Express unit instead of to the speakers sitting next to the computer. You cannot, by the way, have both the speakers and AirPort Express playing at the same time, and a computer can send music to only one AirPort Express unit at a time, although different computers can simultaneously talk to different AirPort Express units.

Each AirPort Express unit has three ports: one for Ethernet, one for a USB printer, and one for either a standard stereo cable or an optical audio cable. Upstairs in my bedroom, the audio output of the AirPort Express unit is connected to the AUX input on a Bose Wave Radio, but it would work equally well feeding a pair of powered speakers or a stereo system.

Thanks to AirPort Express, an iTunes playlist selected on the Mac mini downstairs can play to the Bose Wave Radio at my bedside upstairs. If you think of the iTunes playlist as a commercial-free radio station that you control, you've got the idea. If you think of it as an iTunes playlist, you'll want to actually control itskip songs, read song titles, and so onthings AirPort Express doesn't do.

For that, you will need the Keyspan Express Remote, a 17-button infrared remote-control device that connects to the USB port on the AirPort Express device, giving you the ability to control iTunes wirelessly. You can skip a song, go back a song, pause, control the volume, and issue other commands just by pointing the remote at the IR sensor in the AirPort Express unit.

The Keyspan Express Remote can do the same connected to the USB port on your Mac mini and can control other applications as well, including PowerPoint and QuickTime and Real media players. And it also works with Windows computers and applications. Not bad for $59.95.

If you want more control of your music, you'll have to either use an iPod, which has a screen and allows you to select different playlists, or place a Mac mini or other computer beside your bed.

Here's a creative use for an AirPort Express base station: Take it along with your Mac mini or another Mac or Windows portable to a party or other event. When you arrive, hook up AirPort Express to the stereo or sound system, and you can use iTunes to stream music from your computer. In Chapter 10, check out the review of MegaSeg DJ software.

What "Media Center" Means: Apple vs. Microsoft

Microsoft has a product called Windows XP Media Center Edition, and a number of companies offer PCs designed to take advantage of it. None of these have sold very well, but Microsoft has put a lot of work into this and can be expected to stick with it until it either catches on or something else replaces it as a way to bring Windows PCs into home entertainment centers.

What the Microsoft Media Center is about is media consumption. It allows you to watch content that is stored on your PC on a screen that is connected to the PC or to one of several devices similar to the Elgato EyeHome Digital Media Player that's sold to Mac users. These can be connected to screens in other parts of your home.

Windows Media Center also allows you to play stored music, look at your digital photos, and do the other kinds of things you'd do if you were sitting in front of your computer. Especially nice is a 10-foot user interface designed for use from across the room (for instance, when you're sitting on the couch watching TV) with a remote control. This is something I'd expect Apple to include with Mac OS at some point in the future.

As I said, Windows Media Center is about consumption. While Microsoft has some nice tools for creating digital media, they are limited and/or cost extra.

Apple, by comparison, is about media creation. That's why iLife is included with so many Macs, including the Mac mini. With iLife, you can edit your home videos and then burn them onto a DVD, use iTunes to create and manage a music library, and use iPhoto to edit digital photos and manage your picture collection. Apple relies (for now) on third parties for the sort of television and radio features that come with Windows Media Center PCs, but then surges ahead with the wildly popular iPod family of music playback and photo-viewing devices.

There's really nothing wrong with either approach. Both simply reflect the heritage of the companies responsible. Apple has always been strong with the people who create content, while Microsoft has always been very mass-market oriented. It's just now that the mass market has started arriving at the place Apple has been for many years.

EyeHome Digital Media Player

AirPort Express is great for sending audio around your house, but there is more to life than sound. For those other things, you need the Elgato Systems EyeHome Digital Media Player, a $219 companion product to the EyeTV tuner and personal video recording system.

EyeHome Digital Media Player allows you to access the content stored on your Mac mini, such as music, video, movies, and photos, from your TV and home entertainment system. EyeHome includes its own IR remote control, which you can use to control media playback using a user interface that appears on your monitor.

The media player connects to your monitor using S-Video, component video, or composite video signals for video, and RCA or S/PDIF digital connections for sound. The media player is intended for use away from your computer, so it requires a connection to your home network: via Ethernet or AirPort Express.

Using the media player with video requires the higher speed offered by an AirPort Extreme Base Station. The older, original AirPort is adequate only for music and pictures. The media player does not support HDTV video.

You can use the EyeHome player to watch movies stored on your computer in a variety of formats, including those used by the EyeTV system. You cannot, however, watch a DVD from your Mac mini's DVD drive. Only content on your hard drive can be played on the EyeHome player, and, besides, most DVD content is encrypted.

Another gotcha is that your iMovie files will have to be converted to a supported format before EyeHome can play them. QuickTime movies are not supported. Some iTunes music (MP3, WAV, and AIFF formats) will play through the device. Encrypted AAC files, such as your Apple Music Store purchases, will not.

Even with these significant limitations, EyeHome is a good way to extend digital content stored on your Mac mini to other rooms in your house.