Posted on 11/28/2005 11:29:33 PM PST by Swordmaker
Then let's hope they up the horsepower a lot with the Intel transition, because I don't think the current mini can push 1080p.
You can do it on a Mac already, too.
But the point is packaging it into a small, quiet, affordable computer that the average consumer can run as easily as any other applicance, such as a DVR. I don't believe the PC or the current Mac setup qualifies yet.
Because you and I currently rent that box. I hate renting. And it would be cool if I could also use the box for playing music and other things since it's already taking up the space.
Have we claimed so? The head node is of the Power architecture (looks a lot like an early PowerPC, but 64-bit), and the SPUs are basically Power VMX units. So while the Cell isn't part of the PowerPC line of processors, it is part of the PowerPC's larger family, the Power architecture. Just call them close cousins.
I've seen report that the current mini cannot decode HD at 1080p, but everything else works at that resolution. I hope the next model can output 1080p HD too.
TiVo-like DVR functionality... unknown whether Apple will scrap the 2.5-inch hard drive currently featured in the Mac mini in favor a standard 3.5-inch hard drive, both to boost storage capacity that heavy media users demand and to trim costs; such a move would undoubtedly result in a larger Mac mini.Considering this is an Apple CPU, capacity will be frustrating, and it will be necessary to order a pre-ship RAM upgrade. But this is buzz-inducing, because it sounds like this Mini will be the first of the Intel Macs. Towers will be next, then (sometime late in 2006?) laptops. Then, early in 2007, a supply of used machines as the bleeding edge Mac mavens spend $thousands on the upgraded models. ;')
I'm still going to have to rent it...it's the digital converter.
More like close cousins in an in-bred family.
Also, I don't think Apple would do that. It would make the box much bigger and give off a lot more heat an noise -- all things anathema to a mini.
However, Hitachi has made a breakthrough with perpendicular recording on hard drives, so a 160GB 2.5" drive could be in the wings.
That description better fits the Xbox360's triple-core PPC, not the Cell. (I'm not saying the 360 isn't a PPC. I'm just saying that description is more applicable to the 360.)
The chip in the 360 is essentially a triple-core simplified PPC with some memory-handling ideas from the Cell thrown in (developers can use the L2 cache like the Cell's SPE local memory). The Cell is essentially a simplified PPC with multiple SIMD units attached (which themselves look a lot like first-generation PPCs).
Yes. I know all that.
I was speaking in relative terms, and made that clear.
I build my own computers, for audio and graphics production, and I've been thinking about making an entertainment center. I'd use 9dB - 11dB fans such as SilenX and a desktop case which would have the same size and look of a DVD player. It would of course have a lot more hard drive space than a Mac mini, and a DVD burner, something neither a Mac mini nor TiVo has, and a surround sound Audiophile soundcard. And naturally, unlike a Mac mini, it would be fully upgradable.
The Superdrive Mac Mini has been available for a while now. I haven't tried it, but it should burn DVDs just fine. The Blu-Ray Superdrives should be available next year.
Counting the rest, you're probably still above the sound level of a mini, and about three times as big, and probably pull over twice as much power (not good in something that will be running 24/7).
and a DVD burner, something neither a Mac mini nor TiVo has
You can get a DVD burner with the mini. The mid-range model and up also comes with wireless and bluetooth built-in.
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