Looking to buy Mac Mini 2012 for media server - Please Advise

[ollyinto]

Hi All,

I recently moved over from the world of windows to mac, I have a 2012 macbook pro with retina display 2.5ghz i5 , 8gb Ram with 128gb SSD.

I love my new macbook and it work perfectly for all day to day work/tasks but as I am sure you will understand the hard drive is very small.

I am looking to buy a mac mini to have connected to my main TV and store all music/films on. I also want to use it to back up photos / office files to.

My main question is will the 2012 entry level mac mini running 10.83
(2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5,8GB memory,500GB hard drive1) Store and run a relatively modest collection of music and films (1080pHD) direct to my lounge TV (it will be connected direct to this tv) and then to an ATF in my bedroom?

Please give me your opinions and feel free to advise on the benefits if any (could be overkill for me) of the i7 mac mini and the fusion drive?

 

[CamFire]

The entry model will do, save perhaps a larger HDD. Just make sure the movie compression is done "off-peak" and Handbrake will do an excellent job with a queueing system running overnight.

 

[bpsmith]

The quad core mid range model will be a lot faster at converting, if you have the cash, but as campfire put it, you can queue up your stuff to convert overnight if need be anyway. All down to your budget really. Don't upgrade RAM with Apple though, as tends to be cheaper with Crucial and the like.

Definitely need a larger hard drive though. Grab at least 2TB of USB3 to attach direct. I use ThunderBolt drives, but USB3 is a good in between for saving cash these days.

 

[ollyinto]

Thanks for your replies,

Looking at it again I think I will go for the quad core i7 not that much more money.

@ bpsmith - I agree I will upgrade myself with crucial ram rather than pay apple, I suppose I can also upgrade to fusion drive if I feel the need in the future (I have read a few posts about this)

 

[bpsmith]

I have the 2011 model, bought in 2012, 2.0GHz i7 Quad Server model. Extremely happy with it, especially with 16GB RAM installed.

Great central Server system and very fast conversions, compared to prior 2010 Core2Duo it replaced.

 

[ollyinto]

OK, so my Mac Mini arrived!! (2.3 i7 model)

I have set it up with my Sony TV (KDL-40HX853)

It came with OS 10.8.2 but I have installed the upgrade and it is now 10.8.3

I have connected it to the Sony TV on HDMI port and the picture quality is not perfect.
I have looked at the mac mini display settings and it recognises the display as sony TV and is set to Resolution best for display.

I am wondering if there is anything else I need to do on the TV menu settings?

 

[CamFire]

What's "not perfect" for you re the picture quality? I've heard of people staying away from the Intel 4000 GPU, but am not sure why.