Other Potential Uses

We've already mentioned the fact that this system is rather limited in terms of expansion opportunities. However, that doesn't mean that you can't expand it at all. If you're looking for gaming support, there's really not much that you can do, since the integrated graphics are far from adequate - unless your idea of gaming is Solitaire and Minesweeper, in which case, the MiniPC will work great! (3D games from 5 or so years back also run fine, if you want to replay some classics.) So, what else can you do to improve this device?

One area that seems like a good fit would be to use it as an HTPC. The CPU is generally fast enough, the DVI port works well with HDTVs that have DVI connections - and component output is available for any other HDTVs - but there are a couple of areas that are lacking. First, there's no way to capture video with the basic configuration, and second, the audio output is limited to stereo speakers. Both of those shortcomings limit the HTPC potential, but can you work around them? The answer is "yes", but it will of course cost some money.

First, we'll start with the audio aspect. There are quite a few USB audio devices on the market today, including a couple Audigy 2 products from Creative. In a rather odd twist, you may find that the external USB audio devices are almost as large as the MiniPC! So, if you demand more than stereo audio, you'll need to get a USB audio device. As we said earlier, it would have been nice for AOpen to add one more audio port on the rear, enabling the already present 5.1 audio support, but they didn't. S/PDIF would have been useful for connecting to a home theater sound system as well. Anyway, external USB audio is actually not a terrible way to go, as placing the audio logic outside of your computer can avoid a lot of interference and noise problems. There are audiophiles that use USB audio for just that reason, and while gaming performance isn't terribly good for USB devices (due to the latency and jitter associated with the USB bus), the sound quality for audio and movies will usually match most PCI card solutions. Besides, gaming shouldn't be a concern with the MiniPC.

Now, let's look at video capture. You can find a decent number of USB based TV tuners now, so as long as you get a USB port replicator, you should be fine. AOpen even recommends a couple of USB TV Tuner cards in their manual, though the listed brand (NewSoft) wasn't one that I recognized and seemed to be intended more for OEMs than end users. HDTV capture is going to be more difficult, as there aren't many products on the market that will do HDTV capture over USB. However, you may not even need to worry about a TV capture device.

The MiniPC does come with a Firewire port, so if you have a cable or satellite box with a Firewire port, you can jump through some hoops to get that configured as a video capture device. When we say "jump through some hoops", though, we really mean that. Getting Firewire video capture to work with my Comcast cable box (a Motorola 6200) took only a small amount of effort, as following several of the online guides that cover the topic worked. Others with similar hardware have not been so lucky, and the cable/satellite provider as well as their chosen set-top box (STB) is going to determine, to a large extent, whether or not you succeed with Firewire TV capture.

For my part, I just went with the instructions in this thread at the AV Science Forum, and it worked like a charm. Using CAPDVHS, recordings can be scheduled, though you can only record the channel to which the STB is tuned. (You may have to search for additional software to get your PC to tune your STB - I haven't tried that yet, as I haven't really had a need.)

(Note: If you use that link, please be courteous and do some research before posting questions. Chances are good that someone has already posted a similar thread, and forum etiquette is that you should at least spend some time searching and reading before starting a new "HELP ME!" thread. But I digress...)

If the Firewire option works out, the capture quality is very good - it looks just like what your set-top box would output to the TV, since it's simply capturing a digital AV stream. You don't get encrypted channels, but that's how things are supposed to work from the content provider perspective. You may also miss out on analog channels, though that appears to vary by STB (it worked for me, though there were small hiccups in the audio and video at times). Given that you can get all this for the price of a Firewire cable - about $20 online for a 6 foot cable - it's definitely something to look into. Unfortunately, your experience may vary as not every STB works well, and not all content providers fully support what you need. Besides, you're spending $10 a month for the STB already, so you can't eliminate the rental fees like you can with a regular TV tuner solution.

As for the MiniPC, live output of 1080i and 720p content using VLC (download here) used about 60% of the CPU power, as did playback of recorded HDTV content. The only issue was with interlacing present on 1080i content, which can be solved in a couple of ways.

VLC has several options for deinterlacing, with the "X" algorithm being the best. Unfortunately, the X algorithm (diagonal averaging) struggles on the MiniPC, maxing out the CPU and still dropping about half of the frames. Linear mean was similar in CPU demands. Most of the other algorithms offered work at 80% or lower CPU usage, including the traditional Bob, Weave, and Blend modes. The "average" algorithm produced a generally pleasing result, though it's certainly not as good as some of the more refined algorithms. Media Player Classic also has support for the basic deinterlacing algorithms (Bob, Weave, and Blend).

Another option is to use the NVIDIA PureVideo decoder - and despite the name and source, it works with the Intel IGPs as well as ATI cards. CPU load is once again around 80%, and you have to pay $20 if you want to use it past the 30-day trial period.

Note that HDTV files get rather large, averaging 7GB per hour of HD content. On the other hand, watching the 2006 Winter Olympics using only the MiniPC (with a networked PC providing additional storage space) was far more pleasurable than trying to watch it "live". One other note is that CAPDVHS files were rather choosy in how they would run; some would play in VLC, while others wouldn't; those that wouldn't would usually play in Media Player Classic, but not always; the final option was to try Media Player 10, and between those three programs, every CAPDVHS file worked fine. It may have simply been a codec issue, but it's something to keep in mind if you try Firewire capture and have issues.

Anand did some similar tests back when he looked at the Mac Mini, and his results were quite a bit different. Capturing content seemed to be a bit easier (though likely that's simply a matter of finding the right software for the task). However, playing back the recorded MPEG-2 transport was too much for the Mac Mini at the time. He noted, " The end result is that anything above a 13Mbps stream ends up dropping frames on the 1.25GHz Mac mini, meaning that basically all HD streams are unplayable on the mini even though they record fine. " That's definitely an advantage that the AOpen MiniPC holds over the Mac Mini, though with the recent launch of the Intel-based Mac Minis, that advantage is going to be short-lived.

There are naturally other ways to use such a small box. You could mount it in a wall next to a plasma or LCD display, with only the front panel visible. One use that some people are already taking advantage of is the ability to use the MiniPC as a car A/V unit, and considering the power and flexibility available it will definitely work well in that role. You can also find other peripherals to help out. Basically, anything that can be done with USB ports (i.e. connecting a printer) is possible. Realistically, though, you probably won't be looking to add a ton of external devices. What's the point of getting a super small PC if you're just going to connect a bunch of other bulky peripherals?

[Thanks to nvmarino for pointing out a few of the relevant links for getting Firewire recording from a Cable STB to work!]

Power Usage and Noise Levels Price, Availability, and Alternatives
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  • JarredWalton - Friday, March 3, 2006 - link

    "...*original* Mac Mini...."

    The Core Duo version was officially launched this past week.
  • mlittl3 - Friday, March 3, 2006 - link

    Jarred,

    Since the article was posted today, I don't think anyone is going to care about the original Mac Mini. The computer industry moves and it moves fast. If Aopen's mini is better than what Apple put out in the past, then Apple has solved that problem with the new Mac Mini. That is the important issue today.
  • JarredWalton - Friday, March 3, 2006 - link

    I Aopen had sent this to me in the past week, I wouldn't have bothered with the review. I've been putting this unit through it's paces for a lot more than a week, so the launch of the new Mac Mini is a non-factor. I mentioned it, I suggested it's a better choice right now (at least, I feel I did), and I really wouldn't recommend this model to anyone unless it were to sell for $650 or less. (Core Solo is for all intents and purposes equal to Dothan, so if it matches the Core Solo priced Mac Mini it would be fine.)
  • JarredWalton - Friday, March 3, 2006 - link

    First word: "I" should be "If..."

    Update #2: I'm betting not many people bothered reading the whole article, so they missed the comments on page 10 implying that the new Mac Minis are clearly faster. ("...with the recent launch of the Intel-based Mac Minis, that advantage is going to be short-lived.") I've updated the conclusion to make more specific mention of the Core Duo Mac Mini priced at $800.
  • Sunbird - Friday, March 3, 2006 - link

    Looks like they followed my http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=937">advice on the styling (I can dream cant I?) and its not silver and blue.

    I like it.
  • Sunbird - Friday, March 3, 2006 - link

    A question though:

    Is all the hardware OSx86 compatible?

    Then you could enjoy the best of both worlds on one little box...
  • plinden - Friday, March 3, 2006 - link

    I'm afraid I'm going to have to sound like an Apple fanboi now, but AOpen are still playing catchup with Apple:
    quote:

    In typical Wintel fashion, AOpen has cloned the original Mac Mini with a system that is going to be faster in nearly every area. Here are the specifications.


    So to compare the specs:
    Processor: Intel socket 479 (Celeron M to Pentium M 740) - Intel Core Solo/Duo
    RAM: 1 X DDR2 SO-DIMM (Maximum 1GB of RAM) - 2 GB RAM Max
    Hard Drive: 2.5" PATA Notebook HDD - Same HD
    Graphics: 915GM (Intel GMA900) - Intel GMA950
    Optical Drive: Slim CD/DVD slot load - same or similar, i.e. combo or superdrive
    Expansion Slots: 1 X Mini-PCI (for WiFi) - no expansion slot but WIFI and bluetooth included by default
    Audio: Realtek ALC655 AC'97 2CH (Speaker/Headphones + Microphone) - S/PDIF output
    Power Suply: 65W (19V, 3.5A) External Adapter - 85W power supply
    Internal connections from motherboard to HDD and ODD
    Front Ports: None. Power Button, HDD Activity LED, ODD Eject Button - same
    Rear Ports: 2 X USB2.0 - 4xUSB2.0
    2 X 3.5mm Audio (speakers and microphone)
    LAN (GbE) - same
    1 X DVI-D and 1 X TV-Out (S-VIDEO, Composite, Component) - 1xDVI, no TV out
    1 X Optional WiFi Antenna wireless G included

    All for $599 - $799 (for 512MB RAM).
    Despite the moaning over on Mac forums, this is still a much better deal than the MiniPC.
  • mlittl3 - Friday, March 3, 2006 - link

    The hard drive in the Mac Mini is SATA not PATA.
  • JarredWalton - Friday, March 3, 2006 - link

    Which is basically what I say in the conclusion. This MP915 has been done for about three months now, and available on the market for just over a month (and a bit longer in Europe/Asia). MP945 will go up against the new Mac Mini, but the real question is whether or not it can come close to matching Apple's price. I'd like $850 with Core Duo 1.86 GHz (or higher), XP Home, 60+ GB HDD, DVD+RW, and 1GB RAM standard. I've said as much to AOpen, so we'll see if they can do that or not.
  • JarredWalton - Friday, March 3, 2006 - link

    Ack!


    Bold off Let's see if that works.... :p

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