[jrebman]

Well, I finally did it and took advantage of Amazon's 12 month same as cash financing on a new Mac Mini.  I haven't setit up yet because I still need to get a copy of XP or Vista to run on it as the Apple OS doesn't have a lot of robust support for screen reader access.

My question is this:  I have a 28" Toshiba LCD TV that we use for videos and will want to use as a monitor for the Mini, but I've read conflicting information about the DVI to HDMI conversion that will be needed to pull this off.  Some people say that the DVI to HDMI dongles won't work and that you need to buy Apple's $100 DVI to HDMI converter box -- is this true?  Is there any advantage to one over the other aside from cost?

Now, this is where my complete lack of video knowledge will make itself perfectly clear -- is there a way to hook up to HDMI sources to this one TV?  Ideally I'd like to have both the ability to use the Toshiba as a monitor for the Mini, and as a normal video screen for the Oppo DVD player -- do I need some sort of switch, mixer, or what?

I'm not really interested in HDTV, and the Toshiba, I believe, is not HDTV capable, and audio will be via a DAC, so I'm not worried at all about the video signal in the HDMI connection -- if that matters.

Thanks for any help,

Jim

[Bemopti123]

Try the forums at 123Macmini for more specific experience.  I have tried to connect a first Generation MacMini G4 to a Samsung 1080p 40" flatscreen via a DVI to HDMI cable, it did not work.  Then I tried it via a VGA input in the Samsung.  It worked, but I was pretty sure I was not getting the maximum resolution I could, so I dismantled the system.  The newer Mini might interact differently.

I would post a ? in the forum and if that does not suffice, I would go to a place like BB or CC and get some cables to experiment.  The worst you can do is to spend some money in the gas.

Some monitors will give you no picture IF you set the computer up to a strange resolution that is not supported, I read this was one of the problems with older Sharp Aquos.  I think there is a resolution matching software called X something for OSX.  I do not know how your Mini will interact with XP or Vista with an external monitor, that is a different ball game. 

Paul

[yooper]

I have an HDMI/DVI cable hooked between my TV and Mini.  http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10231&cs_id=1023104&p_id=2405&seq=1&format=2

As Paul mentioned, supported resolutions come to play here.  Even if your TV supports a resolution which can be selected from the Mac Mini, you wont get an accurate resolution on your TV (wont fit properly), you will see black bars surrounding the computer display, or you will have to much screen (overscan) which will cut off some of the display.

I use displayconfigx to combat the above issue http://www.3dexpress.de/

SwitchresX http://www.madrau.com/ is an alternative to DisplayconfigX.

Mark

[jrebman]

Thanks guys,

Looks like I'm going to have to dig a bit deeper to see what happens when running Windows on the Mini and how that plays out with regards to video, because whatever I end up using it has to work in a Windows environment.  In fact, if I could get the Mini to boot directly into Windows and leave OSX off the machine completely, that would be even better.  I'm not dissing OSX, and I have no love affair with MS, I just need a competent screen reader, and for the foreseeable future, those only exist in the Windows world.

I'd be happy to use the Mini headless, but my wife would like to be able to surf, do email, etc. on the same machine.

Thanks,

Jim

[andrewbee]

Jim,

Why buy a mac mini if you only want to run windows? Why not just buy a windows machine?


Andrew

[jrebman]

Andrew,

Fair question, but basically it comes down to size and noise levels.  The equivalently quiet PC would cost a bunch and be a lot bigger, and because the USB cable would have to run across the living room floor and would be near the maximum length, a laptop was not really a practical solution either.

Believe me, I did my homework, and for my needs the Mini with a full Windows wireless keyboard was the best overall compromise.  Another reason for not going with a laptop is that many of the screen reading functions use the numpad in combination with various modifiers, and the numpad insert key itself is used as a modifier for the screen reader, and the finger gymnastics one has to perform for some fairly common functions can get very tedious, very quickly.  There is an alternative laptop layout, but it's hard enough mastering one set of commands that I want to stick with the one interface.

-- Jim

[Doublej]

It might/might not cost a bunch but it wouldn't need to be much bigger.

Dell just launched their Studio desktop which is about 8"x8"x4" and starts at $500. There are lots of other brands in the same size category but when I looked a few months ago they typically ran at least $800. AOpen is one mini brand.

http://minipc.aopen.com/us/index.htm

I thought one could configure boot camp to always boot to Windows?

Andrew,

Fair question, but basically it comes down to size and noise levels.  The equivalently quiet PC would cost a bunch and be a lot bigger, and because the USB cable would have to run across the living room floor and would be near the maximum length, a laptop was not really a practical solution either.

Believe me, I did my homework, and for my needs the Mini with a full Windows wireless keyboard was the best overall compromise.  Another reason for not going with a laptop is that many of the screen reading functions use the numpad in combination with various modifiers, and the numpad insert key itself is used as a modifier for the screen reader, and the finger gymnastics one has to perform for some fairly common functions can get very tedious, very quickly.  There is an alternative laptop layout, but it's hard enough mastering one set of commands that I want to stick with the one interface.

-- Jim

[jrebman]

Ok, so I finally wised up and decided to listen to you guys.  The Mini went back to Amazon today -- still about a week within my 30 day return window.  It will eventually be replaced with an ASUS Eee Box b-202 when they come out -- probably two of them - one for each system.  These are $350 with XP Home installed, 4 USB ports and a DVI out.  20 watts total power consumption, 80g, single core intel 1.6g processor and 1 gb ram -- no optical drive, 9" x 7" x 1".  Pretty much all you need for a media player.

And now with iTunes 8 available and accessible with my screen reader on XP, it's all falling into place rather nicely.

-- Jim

[K.C.]

I have a couple of Minis running 1080P 40" displays. I run OS X most of the time but have Vista installed and use it for a few things. I use a DVI to HDMI cable and run 1920 X 1080 res..

I'm just watching the Belgian Formula 1 Gran Prix on one of them now. On this one the audio is handled by a Benchmark DAC-1 USB > a Threshold S200 and a pair of Quicksilver Silver 60s > Paradigm Signature S4s.

Looks and sounds great.

[GHM]

I have a couple of Minis running 1080P 40" displays. I run OS X most of the time but have Vista installed and use it for a few things. I use a DVI to HDMI cable and run 1920 X 1080 res..

I'm just watching the Belgian Formula 1 Gran Prix on one of them now. On this one the audio is handled by a Benchmark DAC-1 USB > a Threshold S200 and a pair of Quicksilver Silver 60s > Paradigm Signature S4s.

Looks and sounds great.

KC your Mini's must have a newer video card? Previous versions like a good friend of mine..isn't capable of 1080P resolution. 720P is as good as it gets.
His isn't all that old either..maybe 1 year old.

[K.C.]

Both are the current generation 2GHz Duo 2 and they drive 1080P just fine.

[GHM]

Both are the current generation 2GHz Duo 2 and they drive 1080P just fine.

That's cool I wondered when Apple would finally get the Mini up to speed. Glad to read they finally did it. My friend nor I realized the problem with earlier versions until he moved up to a 52 inch flat panel as a display... everything looked fuzzy. I think he has decided to go with a Dell down the road.