Mac Mini or Nas

Marlie · 4 Dec 2013 at 22:53

Hi Guys, looking for new media set up for my living room.

Been doing lots of research but still can't decide on what set up.

Going to ring Virgin tomorrow to see if they will move my super hub from upstairs in my office to downstairs living so that will be the start.

Now I'm not sure whether to buy a mac mini £469 and 3tb external £85 or buy a something like a Synology DS213J and 2 3tb hard drives £360. I really want to run Plex but heard the DS213j is not cannot run Plex. I already have a 2013 macbook pro so don't know if mac mini is just being greedy.

Any help would be greatly appreciated?

Thankyou

Raymond Lin · 4 Dec 2013 at 23:05

I think Netgear ReadyNas 104 can run Plex. I have one but not got the HDDs yet.

memyselfandi · 5 Dec 2013 at 04:48

If you want to run Plex on a NAS bear in mind that it might well not have enough CPU grunt to do transcoding if you want to stream to devices rather than fat clients so you may need to be more careful of what formats your media is in.

Marlie · 5 Dec 2013 at 14:16

So do you reckon it will be better buying a mac mini and external?

Neodite · 5 Dec 2013 at 15:20

Will you ever want to add your media to other rooms in the house?

A Nas + a Pi in every room you want media is probably the best idea.

Marlie · 5 Dec 2013 at 15:29

No mainly lounge, we have a tv in our bedroom but don't watch it that much. What is a Pi?

covenantuk · 5 Dec 2013 at 15:40

There's cashback on the HP microservers at the moment bringing them down to about £100. See the thread in the Servers forum if you want to know more.

Marlie · 5 Dec 2013 at 20:31

Neodite said:
Will you ever want to add your media to other rooms in the house?

A Nas + a Pi in every room you want media is probably the best idea.

Sorry what is a Pi?

MartynB85 · 5 Dec 2013 at 20:48

Marlie said:
Sorry what is a Pi?

A Raspberry Pi, basically it's a tiny 'computer' that was designed for educational purposes. You can install an os specifically for media playback - raspbmc and open elec. They do work well for what they are.

I run xbmc on a mac, works pretty well, obviously much more powerful than a pi so you can pimp out xbmc and it runs no problem.

FerretBoy · 6 Dec 2013 at 05:03

I'd get an intel Nuc over a Mac Mini, in fact I did. With a silent case, rather than the one it comes in.

Microserver makes an awesome NAS if you can get the £100 cashback.
I also have 2 raspberry pis and one WD TV Live. The Pis are great for rooms where you don't need XBMC to look amazing as the ui is a little slow on the PI.

hartgeh3 · 6 Dec 2013 at 18:15

I have a Mac mini connected to a HP Microserver N36L (with quiet mods) with 4x2TB HDD running all my media through Plex and works flawlessly.

There doesn't seem to be many cashback offers from HP at the moment apart from the N54L at £130, but I would wait till they get back down around £100 mark.

Marlie · 6 Dec 2013 at 18:25

Thanks Guys,

So you don't think Mac mini and 3tb external would be any good?

covenantuk · 6 Dec 2013 at 18:31

The Mac mini would work, just it's a very expensive option.

Marlie · 6 Dec 2013 at 18:38

Would a synology nas and wd tv live work with plex?

Raymond Lin · 6 Dec 2013 at 18:43

roku definitely does.

Marlie · 9 Dec 2013 at 17:05

does anyone run the mac mini media set up here?

MartynB85 · 9 Dec 2013 at 21:45

Marlie said:
does anyone run the mac mini media set up here?

Yep. I stuck an ssd in mine, it boots up with xbmc ready in about 10-15 seconds.

Raymond Lin · 9 Dec 2013 at 21:46

MartynB85 said:
Yep. I stuck an ssd in mine, it boots up with xbmc ready in about 10-15 seconds.

Which year of Mac Mini do you have and do you have Maverick installed ?

MartynB85 · 9 Dec 2013 at 21:54

I have the 2011 I think, it's on 10.8 at the moment. To be honest I only use it to run xbmc, it works just how I want it so I don't mess with it...
If you get one I'd definitely fit an ssd and a bit more ram, mine only came with 2gb.

Raymond Lin · 9 Dec 2013 at 21:59

MartynB85 said:
I have the 2011 I think, it's on 10.8 at the moment. To be honest I only use it to run xbmc, it works just how I want it so I don't mess with it...
If you get one I'd definitely fit an ssd and a bit more ram, mine only came with 2gb.

Well, the basic spec comes with 4G of RAM, 500G HDD. Fusion drive upgrade only available on the next model up stupidly enough !

I've also read Frodo 12.2 isn't stable on Maverick and only Beta release only or Gotham ?

I was going to get a Roku to run Plex client but the truth is I really LOVE XBMC's interface and the way it works so I am willing to pay a little more and get something to run XBMC whether it is a HTPC or Mac Mini. Leaning towards Mac Mini because I have a lot of Mac stuff and it'll just blend into my network.