Mac Mini HTPC

The Mac Mini appeals for several reasons. It is possible, in theory, to use this one tiny computer to replace the functions of your VCR/DVR and DVD/CD Player. The Mac platform is stable thanks to it's UNIX roots.The new 2009 Mini's have plenty of horsepower to process the video, especially with an inexpensive RAM upgrade to 4GB (see the video below for more on that).

I am using iTunes for music on the mini, Plex for movies and video, and EyeTV for recording and watching live tv. My goal is to have one integrated application but right now I'm switching between these. The mac comes with FrontRow, but you'll see in some of the links below that Plex is widely regarded as superior. The main advantage to Plex is the stunning visual interface. But it takes some time to set up and load your files into the library. Go for the Aeon skin - it's very nice.

My HP MediaSmart Server provides storage for music, movies, TV shows and photos.
The network is mixed Wireless-N and -G. We have two HP Pavillion laptops running XP and Vista, respectively. The Mac Mini is set up in the living room and hooked up to my HDTV.

Next Steps:
- Purchase antenna for attic and run cable to an HDHomeRun device, which will convert the HD signal to ethernet and run through the wireless router to all nodes of the network.

- Refine remote control to really give full control of all menus in EyeTV and Plex.

- Research and implement optimal solution for playing recorded TV on bedroom tv.

http://123macmini.com
http://macscripter.net

Here is the script that I am currently using. It triggers when a recording finishes and encodes the file as an mp4. I find that it's working reasonably well, though the HandBrake process takes a long time and uses most of the CPU cycles.

property HANDBRAKE_CLI : "~/bin/HandBrakeCLI"
property HANDBRAKE_PARAMETERS : " -O -I -f mp4 -e x264 -x level=30:bframes=0:cabac=0:ref=1:vbv-maxrate=1500:vbv-bufsize=2000:analyse=all:me=umh:subq=6:no-fast-pskip=1 -b 1000 -2 -T -E faac -B 128 -R 48 -A Deutsch -w 640"
property TARGET_PATH : "/Volumes/RecordedTV/"
property TARGET_TYPE : ".mp4"
property SOURCE_TYPE : ".mpg"
property SHELL_SCRIPT_SUFFIX : " > /dev/null 2>&1 & "

on RecordingDone(recordingID)
tell application "EyeTV"
set new_recording_id to (recordingID as integer)
set new_recording to recording id new_recording_id
my export_recording(new_recording)
end tell
end RecordingDone

on run
-- tell application "Finder"
-- open location "//Volumes/Bartholomew/RecordedTV/"
-- end tell

tell application "EyeTV"
set selected_recordings to selection of programs window
repeat with selected_recording in selected_recordings
my export_recording(selected_recording)
end repeat
end tell
end run

on export_recording(the_recording)
tell application "EyeTV"
set recording_location to location of the_recording as text
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to "."
set recording_path to text items 1 through -2 of recording_location as string
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to ""
set recording_path to POSIX path of recording_path
set input_file to my escape_path(recording_path & SOURCE_TYPE) as string
set output_file to my escape_path(TARGET_PATH & my get_recording_name(recording_location) & TARGET_TYPE) as string
set cmd to HANDBRAKE_CLI & " -i " & input_file & " -o " & output_file & HANDBRAKE_PARAMETERS & SHELL_SCRIPT_SUFFIX
do shell script "echo \"" & cmd & "\" > /Users/justin/shellscript.log"
do shell script cmd
end tell
end export_recording

on get_recording_name(recording_location)
set oldDelimiters to AppleScript's text item delimiters
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to "/"
set path_components to every text item of POSIX path of (recording_location as string)
set recording_folder to item -2 of path_components as string
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to ".eyetv"
set recording_name to first item of every text item of recording_folder
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to oldDelimiters
return recording_name
end get_recording_name

on escape_path(the_path)
set oldDelimiters to AppleScript's text item delimiters
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to "/"
set path_components to every text item of the_path
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to oldDelimiters
repeat with counter from 1 to count path_components
set path_component to item counter of path_components
set item counter of path_components to my escape_string(path_component)
end repeat
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to "/"
set the_path to path_components as string
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to oldDelimiters
return the_path
end escape_path

on escape_string(the_string)
set chars to every character of the_string
repeat with i from 1 to length of chars
if "!$&\"'*()/{[|;<>?` \\" contains (item i of chars as text) then
set item i of chars to "\\" & (item i of chars as text)
end if
end repeat
return every item of chars as string
end escape_string