apple tv
- Thread starter porkrind
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a) are you going to game a lot? If not, the 360 will be a waste.
b) are you going to watch DVDs only or are you going to do a lot of movies download and/or playing movies in non-DVD formats - i.e. x264, DivX, XviD...?
c) LCD TV, does it support HDTV?
Personally, I've got a LG Home Theatre System set up along with the HDTV that came along with it - that player plays almost everything I've chucked at it (apart from RMVB).
I basically burn whatever movies in DivX/Xvid format to a DVD - usually 2 to 6 movies in 1 standard DVD and watch it at good quality. No need for any fancy "media hub" TBH.
Perhaps a change in the player with a 5.1 sound set up or something - matching with your TV, of course, but then again, that's my point of view...
b) are you going to watch DVDs only or are you going to do a lot of movies download and/or playing movies in non-DVD formats - i.e. x264, DivX, XviD...?
c) LCD TV, does it support HDTV?
Personally, I've got a LG Home Theatre System set up along with the HDTV that came along with it - that player plays almost everything I've chucked at it (apart from RMVB).
I basically burn whatever movies in DivX/Xvid format to a DVD - usually 2 to 6 movies in 1 standard DVD and watch it at good quality. No need for any fancy "media hub" TBH.
Perhaps a change in the player with a 5.1 sound set up or something - matching with your TV, of course, but then again, that's my point of view...
porkrind said:
Then perhaps you should find a 360 to try out - it's graphics is awesome on a decent HDTV. If you're not going for the graphics, there's always the Wii.
To get an Apple TV to play DVDs is atat too expensive, no?
How about a new DVD player that plays region free and support all major formats (in case...) and a GBA/DS for your occasional gaming needs
There's alway the Mac Mini, which is more than just a DVD player, you can surf the web, do your work, play odd little games and a good entry into OS X if you haven't already tried it...
I kinda agree with wush about the "expensive repeater" comment.
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You can hack the AppleTV to be a complete OS X system (albeit with limited memory). There are loads of hax to make it do exactly what you want. So xvid et cetera, which it doesn't do out of the box.
http://wiki.awkwardtv.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://wiki.awkwardtv.org/wiki/Main_Page
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Unless you go for hacking the apple TV (you need a mac to attempt this) its the most limited option for playing back HD footage.
I have a 360 and a macbook. I tried the 360 media streaming, I didnt like it. On so many occasions I have found myself using the VGA port on my Samsung HDTV to connect to my macbook and just watch my stuff like that, with the convenience of my apple remote.
It works so well I'm thinking of getting a mac mini to live permanently under my tv. No need to convert my content, or burn stuff to discs, the tv display is essentially your monitor, just fullscreen your videos and there u go.
I have a 360 and a macbook. I tried the 360 media streaming, I didnt like it. On so many occasions I have found myself using the VGA port on my Samsung HDTV to connect to my macbook and just watch my stuff like that, with the convenience of my apple remote.
It works so well I'm thinking of getting a mac mini to live permanently under my tv. No need to convert my content, or burn stuff to discs, the tv display is essentially your monitor, just fullscreen your videos and there u go.
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Right firstly: Recording TV on a mac mini. This can easily be done using one of the usb DTV tuner thingies made by Miglia. My friend has one, you can use thier provided ariel or your own, and tune into all the freeview digital chanels, and record, or timed-record as much as you want (its all standard definition of course).
The Xbox plays HD content fine. However what videos, and how you play them is the complication. Firstyl, no DivX/Xvid here. IIRC its only .wmv and .mpg (mpeg 1 and 2 i think, defo not 4). Format support is going to be expanded to include H.264 and Mpeg4 come the update in may (officialy confired) which basicaly makes it as good as an AppleTV already.
If you're intending to play videos often, the only realistic way to do this is through Media Centre on XP or Vista. The xbox will stream videos off the aformentioned file types off your host computer. There is a way to get it to play friendly with macs apparently. That article has been posted on TUAW in the past week if you want it.
The mac mini will afford you ultimate flexibilty, by far. If you put VLC on it, it will play anything you throw at it. You wont have to faf about converting files, and will play stuff off usb hard drives and cd/dvd media fine (these are the main drawbacks of using 360 or AppleTV). As I've just explained it will record digital tv too, so really... it's a no brainer...
....not forgetting it as OSX and nifty remote too
The Xbox plays HD content fine. However what videos, and how you play them is the complication. Firstyl, no DivX/Xvid here. IIRC its only .wmv and .mpg (mpeg 1 and 2 i think, defo not 4). Format support is going to be expanded to include H.264 and Mpeg4 come the update in may (officialy confired) which basicaly makes it as good as an AppleTV already.
If you're intending to play videos often, the only realistic way to do this is through Media Centre on XP or Vista. The xbox will stream videos off the aformentioned file types off your host computer. There is a way to get it to play friendly with macs apparently. That article has been posted on TUAW in the past week if you want it.
The mac mini will afford you ultimate flexibilty, by far. If you put VLC on it, it will play anything you throw at it. You wont have to faf about converting files, and will play stuff off usb hard drives and cd/dvd media fine (these are the main drawbacks of using 360 or AppleTV). As I've just explained it will record digital tv too, so really... it's a no brainer...
....not forgetting it as OSX and nifty remote too
I still think the best option is an original XBox, but they do look big and clunky under the TV. The next best thing is the mini, and it looks pretty cool under the TV too 
I've been using one for a while as a media box, playing things from an external harddisk and streaming over the network and it's been fine. I don't bother with VLC, I just use FrontRow with xvid etc. installed and i've yet to throw anything at it that it couldn't play.
I've been using one for a while as a media box, playing things from an external harddisk and streaming over the network and it's been fine. I don't bother with VLC, I just use FrontRow with xvid etc. installed and i've yet to throw anything at it that it couldn't play.
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I have an original xbox with xbmc installed, and it's no good for HD footage, its 700mhz cpu and 64mb ram can't handle it. Mini 'for the win'.
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chex said:
There were some reports of the hacks auto restoring when the AppleTV merely thinks it is corrupt, but it is trivial to sidestep. Apple is not trying to thwart you, as in MS's XBOX and XBOX360, from hacking the machine. There is some obfuscation, and a running program called Watchdog (which you disable). Apart from that - it is wide open.