I’m all about consolidating as many components into as few devices as possible. But sometimes additional hardware is unavoidable. This is how I felt about my beloved Sirius Satellite Radio. Commercial-free channels like Chill, Alt Nation, and (yes) Big 80s mean I’ve been willing to add a Sirius receiver to my spartan set of HTPC hardware to get the amazing programming into my Mini.
BOTTOM LINE: Plex is hands-down the finest media manager/player available for the Mac HTPC enviornment. Gorgeous and exponentially more flexible than Front Row, it rules HD playback, handling 1080p material with ease.
Among the many features VLC brings to your Mac HTPC is the ability to create and save video playlists to control playback of more than one file at a time. And its compatibility with almost any format allows mixing more than one file type not a problem, unlike some other programs (iTunes, I’m looking in your direction…). Best of all it’s simple: just load up the playlist, save it if you like, and press play when you’re ready to watch!
With a little imagination, this feature can be a huge advantage in a HTPC environment. I use it on a regular basis in a variety of situations and I thought I’d share a couple of the most common.
Well, it took Rogue Amoeba more than a year to develop and after many replies of “It’ll be released when it’s released” in their now-dead forums, RA released a major upgrade to their Airfoil application today.
A definitive list of apps that help my Mac Mini HTPC realize its full potential.
Plex – Amazing (and free) media manager/player that has no peer. Read my full review here.
