- Mac media center keyboard install#
- Mac media center keyboard pro#
- Mac media center keyboard Bluetooth#
- Mac media center keyboard plus#
- Mac media center keyboard tv#
However, external USB removable media drives are inexpensive and they operate just like an internal drive-allowing you to play movies and install disc-based software. If you still depend on DVDs and CDs then you may be annoyed that there’s no slot in the front of the mini for your discs. What the mini doesn’t have-and hasn’t had for a couple of iterations-is a removable media drive. And it supports digital audio in and out. It carries a gigabit ethernet port, for when wireless isn’t fast enough. The mini has an IR receiver and comes with Apple’s remote, so it can be controlled from the couch. It includes four USB 3 ports for plugging in additional storage devices and media peripherals. Unlike most of today’s Macs it still retains a FireWire 800 port (though it also has a Thunderbolt port). It includes an SDXC card slot for directly accessing the pictures stored on a camera’s memory card.
Mac media center keyboard tv#
It sports an HDMI port, which allows you to jack the computer directly into your TV or HDMI-compatible AV receiver. Today’s Mac mini offers other advantages as a media server. I chose to save that $200 because the base-model’s processor is fast enough for a media server, and because, while storage is important for this kind of use, an external hard drive offers more space for less money.
For another $200 you can purchase a Mac mini with a i7 processor and a 1TB hard drive. That mini includes a 2.5 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of memory, a 500GB hard drive, and the Intel HD Graphics 4000 chipset built into the motherboard. I chose the $599 base-model Mac mini for my media experiment, largely based on its price and performance. But is it the perfect solution for those anxious to cut the media cord? I spent a month with one to find out. Small, not obscenely expensive, and capable of accessing media locally as well as online, the Mac mini has a lot going for it. Turns out that Apple produces a device fitting that exact bill: the Mac mini. What many of us want is a device as intelligent as a computer but one that’s at home in the living room, attached to a big-screen TV. It makes for a less-than-satisfying group-viewing experience, and it’s hard to shake the feeling that you’re, well, sitting in front of a computer. Not only can it play locally stored music, video, and slideshows, but it can also bring you any media found on the Internet, including streaming TV programming, movies, and music.īut sitting in front of a computer monitor-regardless of its resolution-can be limiting. In search of a solution, some people have turned to the most powerful media device in their home-their computer. But the ultimate goal-watching exactly what you want to watch when you want to watch it-remains elusive.
Mac media center keyboard plus#
Progress has been made, via cable and satellite services that deliver a trillion channels plus on-demand programming, as well as set-top boxes that have access to online music and video services. Sadly, we know only too well where this one sits in the cleric’s win/loss column.
Mac media center keyboard pro#
System Preferences > Keyboard & Mouse > Keyboard tab >"Modifier Keys." button.Īlthough the Cordless MediaBoard Pro lists for US$79 you can find it on Amazon for US$67 (new) or US$54 (used).Trot back to the 16th century and corner famed prognosticating monk Nostradamus, and it’s quite likely that when posed the question: “Will those living in the year 2013 be able to call up any media programming they like from a single box?” he’d respond with an enthusiastic “Mais oui!” Granted, you don't often need Option, but does keep it from being the perfect keyboard. My only complaint is that while the ALT key can be remapped to Command there is no valid key to use for Option. Peay uses his with a Mac mini running El Gato's EyeTV hooked up to a Sony HDTV.
Mac media center keyboard Bluetooth#
It's a Bluetooth keyboard and trackpad that was designed for use with the Playstation 3 but works just fine with a Mac.
As anyone in a home with pets and/or kids can confirm, they frequently go missing and/or have their batteries drained at the most inopportune time.Īfter lamenting the fact that Apple doesn't make a decent media center keyboard on my Podcast, listener Michael Peay tipped me off about the Logitech Cordless MediaBoard Pro which was released last fall. The Mac mini is a drag to navigate in the living room however because I'm always hunting for the BT keyboard and mouse. The problem is that I have an Apple TV and a Mac mini, but I greatly prefer the mini as my media center – thank you very much. The problem is that Apple won't listen because they'd prefer that we buy an Apple TV and use their teensy stick-of-gum Front Row remote. I've been bugging Apple forever to release a Bluetooth keyboard with a built-in trackpad for use with a Mac media center.