Home Page Forums Archives MacMAME OT - Headless low-end Mac...

nm

I'm thinking in addition to MacMAME I would use it as an NFS/print server/backup server, but the question is: is 256MB RAM enough to do all that? I'd only be supporting one node, so I'm sure the non-MacMAME stuff would be fine, but is 256MB RAM enough to run the games that come with MacMAME? I'd also have to get the bluetooth keyboard/mouse and bluetooth/airport modules, so the price quickly rises when you start throwing in options. If I could work nicely with the minimum memory spec, I could probably justify it since I'd only use a head to play games and do the initial config -- assuming Remote System Control would allow me to do normal maintenance stuff.

Whoah, bin that idea, Remote sytem Control is a few hundred quid alone! Well, I suppose I could use accessibility options to make the system more usable on a lower res display; it's just a shame they don't support better than s-video output to TVs...

I saw HD content captured from an EyeTV 500 played back on the Mini Mac (the high end model with faster CPU) at full HD resolution and no apparent frame dropping. It was gorgeous. Since many HDTV's today have DVI in, you're set to use this little guy as an HD PVR.

Did you know most HDTV's have EDID data on the DVI port? You plug them into a Mac and the Mac knows the resolutions (phosphor RGB values, etc.) supported. Go ahead, mirror or extended Desktop....

Someone needs to make a wireless (Bluetooth) X-Arcade controller so you can sit back and play MAME on your TV from the comfort of your couch.

True, if I had a spare ��2000 I could buy a 30" LCD set that was also xVGA compatible and I'd be cool, but if I could buy a 30" LCD tv, I'd just get a 15" Powerbook with a 128MB video card...

I'd never run OS X on anything less than 512 MB.

You'd have to have an HD TV to gain any benefit. There's no point in having anything better (ie. component output) for standard def TVs.

I just got done watching the keynote on Quicktime.

A few thoughts:

Steve's RDF is doing fine. He seems to have made a full recovery from his pancreatic cancer. It's good to see him healthy.

Having the President of Sony on stage may have only gotten a passing mention most places, but this is a huge thing for the video industry. If Sony and Apple are indeed working together, this could really accelerate the acceptance of HD in filmmaking.

Steve Needs bifocals. Everytime he sat down at the Mac, he switched glasses.

Steve says "boom" alot. I think there's a drinking game in there someplace.

The live text wrapping in Pages is awesome. That is a nifty app. It would be really cool if they could make it output HTML. It'd be great for web page design.

GarageBand is amazing. Unfortunately, it seems to require musical talent.

The keynote is worth watching just to see some of the new iLife apps in action. If more people who were considering buying computers saw that, they'd think, "Why buy anything else?" I hope Apple is running demo videos of iLife in their stores, so passersby could just check 'em out and see what those things can really do.

Don't count on it. The brick on my 30" (yes, I do) has a cable that is only just long enough to put it on the desk beside my G5. No way I could put it on the floor.

Anyone remember the Apple/Bandai Pippin?

It's too bad there is only 1 memory slot. The 256MB model is out of the question, the 512MB is priced reasonably, and the 1GB has a sharp increase in price.

Does anyone know if 512MB enough to run a half dozen or so apps without a major performance hit?

Yeah, the price for 1GB was nuts even by Apple standards. I'll take my chances with 512MB. (Oh yes I did).