With the wealth of digital media available these days, we’re seeing more and more customers looking to hook up their Macs to their big-screen HDTVs to use as a media center. The good news is that not only is this setup a breeze, but it looks and sounds fantastic.
Two new products by Kanex Apogee we’ve recently started carrying in the store make setup easier than ever by routing BOTH the video and audio signals to one HDMI cable (available separately), that is then plugged directly into your television or AV receiver.
If you are plugging your Mac directly into your HDTV, check out the Mini DisplayPort to HDMI with USB Audio adapter ($59.99). This adapter takes the HD video signal from the Mini DisplayPort and stereo audio from the USB port and runs both signals to a single HDMI port, avoiding the mess of cables you’d need ordinarily. From the adapter, all that is left for you to do is to connect a single, standard HDMI cable to your TV.
Those with a surround sound setup will definitely want to spend the extra $10 and go with the Mini DisplayPort to HDMI with Digital Audio adapter, which features a Toslink optical cable to transmit crystal clear digital audio in 5.1 to your AV receiver or home theater setup. It plugs into the headphone/audio out on your Mac, and transmits the audio and video directly to your home theater setup again via a separate HDMI cable. The digital signals can be processed by your receiver and you’ll be able to enjoy your movies in the highest definition video AND audio!
Both of these products support 1080p video and are the perfect way to get your Mac hooked up quickly so you can spend less time fussing with cables and more time enjoying your media. (Please note that these adapters will only work on newer Macs with a Mini DisplayPort.)
Come in and check them out!