[opendtv] Mac Mini Review, was: Re: Re: object-based compression
- From: Kon Wilms <kon@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 06 Feb 2005 12:24:48 -0800
> A Mac Mini can put together very complex media compositions in real
> time, with high quality image scaling and composition techniques that
> were once the exclusive realm of expensive video switchers and
> keyers. Everything can be anti-aliased, and each object can be
> blended with transparency.
>
> D: What has amazed me and others was, the very low power graphics card
> included in the Mac Mini, considering I see cursor traces using an radeon
> 9200 128 Mbyte graphics card in this pc (no it isn't tft smearing, as I use
> a crt monitor).
Speaking of which, I just purchased one. Here is my 'no spin zone'
review:
As I initially guestimated, 256MB of ram is not enough to do much on the
machine. It was sluggish and unresponsive. Two instances of Safari up,
and it was in swap city. Craig you were wrong on this one. Apple, stop
selling it with 256MB ram.
So I pulled the stick and put 1GB RAM in the machine. Now it runs fine
and is quite responsive as a desktop.
I started by removing the apps I didn't need or want (nearly all the
default apps -- garage band, etc) from the system and searching for open
source apps and versions of those that I use. I found good replacements
for the ones that were not ported to OSX.
As for the video, the ATI chipset has much the same problem as my
desktop ATI - running the system in 1920x1200 generates 'pixel
corruption noise' on my monitor screen (no this is not the screen, the
cable, or the monitor (or the OS)). So I have it running on the DVI-VGA
connector. Apparently it must have a 165Mhz TMDS which explains the
maxing out right around 1920x1080@60Hz. Nvidia and some other
manufacturers fixed this issue by tweaking the blanking interval times,
and ofcourse you can drop the refresh rate. Unfortunately (yes I
re-iterate) the ATI sucks -- besides the XML configuration file to tweak
the ATI driver there is not much else to do. ATI's 'control panel' can't
even identify their own chipset (it comes up as vendor unknown - I
suspect either ATI or Apple changed a bit on the firmware ID. Stupid.).
I had some friends over, and we ran a test of the DVD player at the full
desktop resolution. Color needed tweaking out of the box, and the video
exhibited tearing at high motion scenes. Obviously the video card cannot
handle full-screen video at 1920 resolution. Which is a pity. I didn't
have time to try H.264 but I suspect the poor 1.42Ghz CPU will be the
limiter there. Incidentally I notice the CPU can be overclocked to
1.5Ghz with a simple motherboard resistor modification.
As for the mini being a media center contender, it will need:
A. IR built in with eye on front bezel. Please no more comments along
the lines of 'use bluetooth or wifi keyboards for control' - that is
unacceptable, end of discussion.
B. Faster CPU
C. Better video chipset
D. Ability to tweak the driver (if I want it in analog DVI mode don't
assume I do not).
E. If your chipset can't support resolutions, don't advertise it as
such.
F. Software. All the sites I could find that are supposed 'media center
projects' are nothing more than a couple guys making mock screenshots
and looking for developers.
G. A Sat/DTV tuner box that isn't twice the size of the mini.
So this is clearly early in the ballgame and the hype around this 'mac
mini media center' idea is on the verge of sheer stupidity.
Having said all this though, as a hardcore Linux/OpenBSD user, after
some tweaking, installation of Fink, X11 tools and Eclipse (the current
version of XTools doesn't seem that good - Tiger looks to have a good
offering though), I am quite at home and enjoying OSX.
Some minor gripes and comments -- It is unfortunate that tools like a
desktop switcher are not built into the OS, and the only good option out
there costs $40. If Apple wants to attract more Unix brethren they will
need to do some work to encourage open source. In fact, Apple should
start making use of open source tools -- include them in the OS! Having
said that, the open source projects out there for OSX (gui tools) are
top notch.
Thats my 2c.
Cheers
Kon
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