The Low End Mac Media Center
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- 2006.03.02
Snow storms and decrepit phone lines may have knocked me off course the last couple weeks, but now I'm back on track. Since Verizon finally repaired my phone lines, I may even be able to get DSL again.
Short story: I had DSL for almost a year before service evaporated into the ether and Verizon decided they didn't want to spend time fixing the aging phone lines. Fast forward four months to the present time. Since the problem began effecting my home telephone service and dial-up connection (by the consequence of running along those same wires), Verizon was forced to repair the problem. Hence, my reason behind pondering a return to the world of DSL.
The Low End Mac Media Center
Nevertheless, it's time to revisit my media center project. Most of my computing revolves around email and light Web browsing. The writing I do can be accomplished with a simple text editor or the ancient (but thoroughly well developed) Nisus Compact.
I enjoy listening to music and occasionally watching television while I peck away at ye olde keyboard. Not wanting to have several pieces of equipment cluttering my work area - beyond my family of old Macs anyway - I decided dedicate one of my Macs for the sole purpose of entertainment.
But which Mac would prove the best tool to meet my multimedia demands. Ideally, it would have DVD playback, television tuning, and perhaps a remote control, all to accompany the more routine task of digital audio jukebox.
Performa 6400?
Except for DVD playback, my description could imply a leaning towards the Performa 6400. Yes, the very same Performa 6400 I have periodically mentioned in past columns.
Revealing my
contrarian nature, I promptly arranged a trade sending the Performa
6400 across country in exchange for a PowerBook 1400c/133 and a grab bag of
assorted Mac goodies.
Perhaps this decision seems incongruous to my goal of building a media center, but I want to assure the dedicated Low End Mac readership that this task was not decided on some bout of whimsy. Instead, I choose to believe this event transpired through clear-headed critical thinking.
The 6400 certainly has many features that seem ideally suited for media center duty. In no particular order: TV tuner with remote, FM antenna, audio/video/S-video inputs, a fast G3 processor upgrade, and an ATA bus for accepting cheap, fairly large hard drives (up to 128 GB).
But not all was rosy with the 6400, or I would have made do without the trade. In no particular order, my reasons for deciding against it include being limited to thousands of colors (unless a video card is added), the case is a bear to work with in comparison to the 7600's outstanding case design, and I have too many 7600 upgrade parts to ignore better flexibility and usability.
I was simply aghast that the Performa 6400/Power Mac 6500 design team could commit such egregious transgressions against us poor, hapless Mac users. I spend too much time fiddling with my computers to not appreciate an easy to access case design. Still, I did find the 6400/6500 case to be pleasing to the eye in a curvaceous, beige sort of way.
Power Mac 7600
Unbeknownst to me, the Power Mac 7600 was already upgraded with a G3 processor. Coupled with the amount of upgrades I already had for that family of Macs (RAM, PCI cards, hard drives, etc.) and the truly brilliant ease of use, I chose to part with my heavily upgraded Performa 6400.
Although I don't currently own any high capacity SCSI drives, I did get both my USB/FireWire card and 10/100 ethernet card functioning with the 7600. These upgrades should allow me to connect high capacity external drives to hold all my media files. Hopefully this will correct the one sore spot the 7200, 7500, 7600, 7300, 8500, 8600, 9500, 9600 model Macs all have - there is no cheap way to add high capacity hard drives without an ATA PCI card.
Having the ability to use two or more monitors with a minimum of fuss is another perk. In theory, I could have one monitor facing my relaxation area and another facing my work area, each displaying millions of colors with separate resolutions and desktops if need be.
Okay, enough fluff. I'm sure everyone who has made it this far is wondering how I went about assembling my Mac media center. I won't go into much detail today, but I'll provide an overview of topics for the rest of this series.
The Digital Jukebox
First, I decided to approach this project in segments. I needed to determine which aspects of the media center were most important to me. For instance, I tend to listen to audio much more than I watch television/videos or spend time gaming, because it requires the least amount of dedicated attention. As such, my next article will focus on digital audio jukebox functionality.
Setting up a digital audio jukebox requires several steps, which will be broken down as such:
- An overview of the different digital audio formats and the various digital audio software available for the classic Mac platform.
- My favorite ways of getting my physical music collection into digital form, included an overview of software and hardware.
- Sources of digital audio on the Web compatible with the classic Mac OS platform. I have a decent selection of places to find digital audio downloads (either paid or free, but all legal), but I'm not terribly familiar with the different sources of streaming audio on the Web, especially these days with dial-up being my connection to the world. I'll need feedback from readers to fill out any information on online radio stations.
- How to connect your new Mac jukebox into other audio/media components.
While explaining each of those steps, I'll give examples of how I worked through setting up my own digital jukebox.
Okay, I apologize for declaring an end to the fluff while not adding anything terribly exciting, but I needed a teaser for the next series of articles.
Back to 680x0
I should mention before we part yet again, my intentions of getting back to more 68k Mac information. I know most Mac users are using shiny PowerPC or - gasp - Intel-powered Macs with their new-fangled OS X (or "OS eX", as non-Mac people tend to call it).
I continue to accomplish many important tasks by using simple
680x0 Macs from the bygone era of Sculley and Spindler. Please look
forward to future articles featuring twin LC IIs powering a collaborative network
environment, a PowerBook 520c used to
monitor headless Linux and Mac devices, and how a free 1 MB
word processor can be used to manage a project involving multiple
documents scattered across multiple folders, drives, and networks.
- Link: Low-end Mac Treasure Trove Found on Craigslist
- Link: File Sharing Nightmare with OS X and the Classic Mac OS
- Link: Performa 6400
- Link: Power Mac 6500
- Link: Power Mac 7600
- Link: PowerBook 1400
- Link: Nisus Compact
Recent Embracing Obsolescence articles
- Steve Jobs stirs up the DRM hornet's nest, 02.12. Stripping DRM would level the playing field for players and allow digital music services to compete on price, quality, and selection.
- SoundApp an audio workhorse for PowerPC, 680x0 Macs, 12.22. For those using the classic Mac OS, SoundApp can convert tracks, play music, and look up CD tracks online.
- The iAudio G3: More features than an iPod nano at an iPod shuffle price, 12.14. The iAudio G3 lets you avoid DRM lock-in while providing multiformat support, more features than an iPod nano, and a price lower than Apple's iPod shuffle.
- Does Zune improve the DRM landscape or just increase confusion?, 12.08. Microsoft has forsaken backward compatibility with its own PlaysForSure standard to take on the iPod. Won't that just further confuse potential customers?
- More in the Embracing Obsolescence index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: Macintosh LC, Oct. 1990 - only 3" tall, the LC was the least expensive color Mac in 1990.
- List of the Day: Mac OS 9 List covers Mac OS 9 as both a freestanding OS and as Classic mode in OS X.
- October 15 in LEM history: 90: Mac IIsi, LC, and Classic - 97: Yale threatens to drop Mac support - 99: Decelerate your Mac - Time magazine on Jobs and Apple - 01: Is Microsoft the enemy? - 02: Confessions of a Mac to PC convert - The IT job market - 03: Microsoft's holding pattern - 04: October 1990: The first low-end Macs - Dual core 'Books - 07: When to pick Tux - SteelSeries 4D the best mousepad ever? - Irrational rantings of an Intel hater
Recent Content on Low End Mac
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- G3 and Low End G4 Mac Performance Comparison, Simon Royal, Mac Spectrum, 10.15. Factors that impact performance are the version of CPU, the size and speed of the Level 2 cache, and how much RAM is installed.
- The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Apple Design, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 10.15. Apple has produced some beautiful computers and iPods over the years, but also a few of the ugliest and most ungainly computers ever seen.
- 3 Reasons to Use a Mac, and Pismo Troubleshooting, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 10.15. Why one Windows user is also a Mac user, a Pismo that can't see its AirPort card, and sources of kernel panics.
- Best MacBook Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.15. Used 1.83 GHz, $649; 2.0 SD, $750; refurb 2.1 GHz, $849; 2.4, $1,049; black, $1,099; new 2.1, $869 after rebate; 2.4, $1,175 a/r; black, $1,194 a/r.
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- MacBook (Unibody), 10.14. The MacBook gets the same aluminum treatment as the MacBook Pro - and dedicated GeForce 9400M graphics.
- 15" MacBook Pro (Unibody), 10.14. The new MacBook Pro's case is carved from a block of aluminum for increased strength.
- MacBook Air (GeForce), 10.14. More storage, a video port, and GeForce 9400M graphics improve the MacBook Air.
- MacBook White, 10.14. Entry-level white MacBook gets a SuperDrive, retail price reduced to US$999.
- Death of the iPod 'Way Off in the Future', Tim Nash, Taking Back the Market, 10.14. Someday Apple will decide that the iPod is no longer profitable and discontinue it, "but that day looks to be way off in the future."
- Best Intel iMac Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.14. Used 20" 1.83 GHz, $599; 2.0, $730; 2.16, $800; 24", $950; refurb 17" 1.83, $699; 20" 2.0, $949; 2.4, $999; 2.66, $1,299; 24" 2.4, $1,299; 2.8, $1,549; 3.06, $1,899; rebates on new.
- Best iBook G3 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.14. Used 300 MHz clamshell, $150; 366, $199; 500 CD, $149; 800, $190; 600 DVD, $200; CD-RW, $240; 700 Combo, $250; 900, $369; 14" 600, $230; 900, $449.
- Best Classic iPod Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.14. Used 60 GB color, $150; used 30 video, $140; 80, $170; refurb 80 classic, $169; new 120 GB, $240; refurb 160 GB, $249; new, $280. New & refurb include shipping.
- Will Apple's Rumored $800 Notebook Be a Netbook?, Charles W. Moore, 'Book Value, 10.13. Netbooks are hot, and with the economy in turmoil, Apple needs to offer a netbook for the OS X crowd.
- Best Titanium PowerBook G4 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.13. Used 667 MHz Combo, $480; 867 MHz, $530; 1 GHz, $590; SuperDrive, $900.
- Best Classic Mac OS Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.13. System 6, $10; 7.1, $12; 7.5.1, $4; Mac OS 7.6, $13; 8.0, $13; 8.1, $48; 8.5, $25; 8.6, $20; 9.0, $20; 9.2.2, $20; more.
- Best Xserve Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.13. Used G4/1 GHz, $999; G5/2 GHz, $1,499; new 2.0 4-core Xeon, $1,900; refurb 3.0 4-core, $2,299; 2.8 GHz, $2,599; 3.0 8-core, $3,499; 3.2, $3,699.
- More links in our archive.
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