My Next Mac Mini • Hacker News Board

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#181

Post by dbg31415 » Sat, Jan 28, 2017, 5:28 PM UTC

I use a Raspberry Pi hooked up to my NAS and it's great. All for about $100.

Approximate setup I used:

* Amazon.com: CanaKit Raspberry Pi 3 Complete Starter Kit - 32 GB Edition: Electronics || https://www.amazon.com/CanaKit-Raspberry-Complete-Starter-Ki...

* Amazon.com: Air Mouse,ELEGIANT 2.4G 6-Axis Portable Mini Wireless Air Mouse Remote Control Keyboard for PC HTPC IPTV Smart TV and Android TV Box Media Player: Computers & Accessories || https://www.amazon.com/ELEGIANT-Portable-Wireless-Control-Ke...

You can also get some game controllers and RetroPie and turn your Raspberry Pi into a sweet little gaming machine. I have every NES, SNES, Genesis, and N64 game ever made I think. Plus it plays every video format (tends to struggle with 4k video outputs... I don't have a 4K TV so I just re-downloaded the video after I saw the issue).

* RetroPie - Retro-gaming on the Raspberry Pi || https://retropie.org.uk/

* Amazon.com: Buffalo Classic USB Gamepad for PC: Computers & Accessories || https://www.amazon.com/Buffalo-Classic-USB-Gamepad-PC/dp/B00...

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#182

Post by Entangled » Sat, Jan 28, 2017, 5:30 PM UTC

The next Mac Mini should be the exact size of an Apple TV but in aluminum case, with the most RAM it can get and the fastest processor in the world.

We pay for quality and we expect Apple to deliver. That NUC is ugly as fuck.

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#183

Post by coredog64 » Sat, Jan 28, 2017, 5:31 PM UTC

zymhan wrote: post #91

mynegation wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be a fair criticism if cards were not so obviously stacked against me, the end user and maintainer. New versions of software are written for new and more powerful hardware. I don't know about Mac mini specifically, but it is incredibly hard or even impossible to upgrade Apple products with new hardware.

If you can make a Mac Mini into an HTPC, you can follow some Youtube videos to replace a Hard Disk and RAM. It's just a few screws and a single cable.

I just refreshed my memory by looking at the iFixit guide for the 2010 mini, and it is the same cast-iron PITA that any late model mini is. I had to buy special tools and a cable and it took 2 or 3 tries to get it right. The whole time I was nervous that I was going to miss disconnecting some cable and ruin the thing.

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#184

Post by wl » Sat, Jan 28, 2017, 5:31 PM UTC

intrasight wrote: post #162

fowlerpower wrote: post #157

Someone here needs to explain it to me because I just don't understand. We have the largest computer company in the world, a shit load of people work there, supposedly smart people. Yet they can't put together a refresh of many of their desktop machines. Why the fuck not? What do all those people getting paid all that money do all day? I can only imagine the conversations, "it takes years it has to be super innovativ…

I think what you're missing is that Apple pursues high-margin endeavors, and competing with a $300 NUC isn't going to be a high-margin business. Some easy money for Apple would be to sell OS licenses for Intel NUCs.

Apple could sell a $300 NUC for $600 and people would still buy it. The issue is that Apple doesn't sell anything decent in this form factor that runs macOS.

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#185

Post by sh_tinh_hair » Sat, Jan 28, 2017, 5:35 PM UTC

finstell wrote: post #34

Nowadays, I kind of enjoy seeing posts about people abandoning Apple ecosystem. Although it's painful, I myself have been yet another avid fan of pretty much Apple offered, it feels like this is not going to last forever. When they do the math, iPhone might seem the most lucrative (they seem not to care about anything else) but since they are killing the ecosystem with no Mac Pro, no Mac Mini and with so called pro M…

OsX has always been the alt-users paradise. As a sysadmin and developer I've disliked it from the start. Windows I could use for gaming and when I had to. Linux and FreeBSD are fine for every conceivable use I have d2d.

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#186

Post by voltagex_ » Sat, Jan 28, 2017, 5:36 PM UTC

stoolpigeon wrote: post #108

CoolGuySteve wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had whatever the latest iPhone was for the past 8 years. But at some point I realized a whole Huawei/HTC/LG/whatever Android phone could be purchased for the price of an iPhone screen repair and it's pretty much adequate for what I want to do. So now I'm using a Nexus 5X. It's okayish, but costs 1/3 the price of the iPhone 7 that would also be relatively ok. Phones are just phones these days. The awkward part is th…

I chuckled at this because I have a 5X too and I like it but my wife's Moto G4 Plus is amazing and cost something like half of what I paid for my Nexus, so I feel like I paid more than I needed to for a solid phone.

I think the 5X gets security updates until September 2018. Meanwhile, my Moto X Style, which was top of the line not too long ago, got the September 2016 rollup... in January 2017. Nougat was rumoured but I'm not betting on it.

I haven't installed Cyanowhatever it is now - mainly because the IR sensors and gestures are really handy.

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#187

Post by yalogin » Sat, Jan 28, 2017, 5:37 PM UTC

The problem is evenntoday there is no replacement of comparable alternative to the Mini. The Intel NUC is just a kit not a machine. So I cannot order it for my mom. Either the machine has no profit margin or the other companies are clueless to not bring a worthy competitor to market in all these years.

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#188

Post by voltagex_ » Sat, Jan 28, 2017, 5:38 PM UTC

WayneBro wrote: post #136

mobiletelephone wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't buy this argument. Developers will work on platforms that have users with money to spend, even if the development hardware is poor value. In this sense, Apple has us hostage!

I build iOS apps but I avoid giving Apple any money wherever I can. I buy all of my Apple hardware used from third parties. I don't buy any apps, music or books from Apple. I only use free apps. The only time Apple gets a cent from me is when I pay for my developer license.

At a guess, developing for their platform is the most valuable thing for Apple.

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#189

Post by Joeri » Sat, Jan 28, 2017, 5:38 PM UTC

lebrad wrote: post #36

Joeri wrote: post #14

One of the big selling points of the mini is that it's really quiet. Does anyone with actual experience know how the NUC compares? From what I've read it's significantly louder, which is not what you want from a living room PC.

I have a 2011 Mac Mini and the fan gets annoyingly loud when under load. I was also annoyed by the fan in my NUC so I put it in a fanless case. It's dead quiet, and stays cool enough to run under load without throttling.

I have a late 2009 mini, and the fan is never loud, not even after sustained load. That's the thing holding me back from replacing it.

Re: My Next Mac Mini

#190

Post by benologist » Sat, Jan 28, 2017, 5:38 PM UTC

Damogran6 wrote: post #65

That NUC looks like it would be SO close to my needs...but the need pushing a new, small, quiet computer into the living room is VR...and I don't think it would quite do that. (Perhaps a TB3 dock to a gtx1070?) I'm not ever sure if the blocker is processing power or physical video ports.

There's another NUC called Skull Canyon that's a quad core Skylake i7 with Thunderbolt 3. It's not quiet, but there's a fanless case coming for it so it's going to be. It's about the size of a VHS video cassette, or ~2x the NUC the OP mentions.

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/nuc/nuc-kit-nuc6i7kyk...