AppleTV2 and XBMC: Easy mediacenter for $129
konstie
Melbourne, Victoria
1907 posts
yeah i've got a mate who has done this. full HD it struggles a little bit, but it's a pretty good setup!
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orbitor
Brisbane, Queensland
8757 posts
It is very good. The only crummy bit is that it can't output 1080P. But 720p suffices in most situations.
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Pinky
Melbourne, Victoria
11963 posts
Great option for the price. Unbeatable.
I like my media PC to be good enough for gaming though. Saves buying a console.
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Midda
Brisbane, Queensland
7651 posts
Alternatively, if you're willing to spend a little more for something that will handle 1080p without breaking a sweat, I bought an Acer Aspire Revo 3700 for about $300 (close to 12 months ago, so they're probably cheaper now). It's about the size of a Wii, maybe a touch smaller, has HDMI and optical out and runs on the nVidia ION 2 platform. I run XBMC on it with SickBeard and SABnzbd, so I never have to manually download any TV shows. It uses around 18 watts at idle, and about 28 watts under full load, so I don't bother turning it off.
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deadlyf
Queensland
2329 posts
Do you even need them any more? Don't new TV's come with the ability to play digital media? I can play 720p stuff right off of a USB HDD on my Samsung TV.
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Eorl
Brisbane, Queensland
4693 posts
Do you even need them any more? Don't new TV's come with the ability to play digital media? I can play 720p stuff right off of a USB HDD on my Samsung TV.
The hassle is always updating the external HDD. With a media server, I could just log in via link or ftp, and chuck whatever I need on there, or as Midda has, Sab and Sickbeard.
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deadlyf
Queensland
2330 posts
Well they have RJ45 ports as well and I think some come with wireless so you might be able to use a network drive. I actually haven't used it much myself as I have a media PC but it seems like a pretty handy alternative.
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natslovR
Sydney, New South Wales
7570 posts
My samung plays over my network (rj45) using ps3media server (so plays from within RARs). If i am going to watch a 1080p mkv i will copy it to usb first though.. it chokes a bit on FF & RW.
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Midda
Brisbane, Queensland
7652 posts
Do you even need them any more? Don't new TV's come with the ability to play digital media? I can play 720p stuff right off of a USB HDD on my Samsung TV.
For starters, not everyone has a TV with media support, but even when you do, there are still a fair number of specific requirements the files need to meet in order to be compatible. There are ways around that, like PS3 Media Server, but even that isn't 100% reliable (plus you need a fast CPU to transcode quickly enough and a network with sufficient bandwidth).
After years of dealing with all of that, I eventually just dropped $300 on the Aspire Revo and haven't looked back. It's so much easier, plus it's handy having a Windows PC connected to the sound system, so I have Grooveshark running frequently too.
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teq
Brisbane, Queensland
12217 posts
herp apple over priced derp fan bois omg
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herp apple over priced derp fan bois omg
Haha got a bit of a martyr complex teq?
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HeardY
Gaelic newb
Sydney, New South Wales
20279 posts
meh my Samsung TV hasn't NOT played a file I've thrown at it.
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fpot
Gold Coast, Queensland
20297 posts
Pretty fucking gay it can't do 1080p what a piece of shit.
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teq
Brisbane, Queensland
12218 posts
fpot still upset that his daddy touched him inappropriately I see
Haha got a bit of a martyr complex teq?
I stand by my herp derp |
fpot
Gold Coast, Queensland
20298 posts
Seriously though, how long has 1080p been the standard?
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boba
Cainer
Brisbane, Queensland
3711 posts
E.T.
Queensland
4130 posts
m3nt4l
Brisbane, Queensland
1894 posts
^yes, it can read most .iso's. It doesn't however show the menu's just straight to the movie.
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groganus
Brisbane, Queensland
2277 posts
I ran an appletv with xbmc for awhile.
Ended up inviesting a few hundred into a decent media centre pc... nothing compares to it...
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IVY_MiKe
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
572 posts
Do you even need them any more? Don't new TV's come with the ability to play digital media? I can play 720p stuff right off of a USB HDD on my Samsung TV.
Yes, the general conformity of DLNA means most TV's and the Current consoles (sorry ninten-fags, the Wii isn't and never will be a 'current' console) can play media from a suitable DLNA server... But running XBMC isn't just 'streaming media' there's a whole load of meta data benefits to running XBMC.
I've avoided the ATV2 setup because of it's wanting 1080P performance, tho for $130 it's not expensive Teq, it's a pretty ballsy piece of hardware.
And for those of you about to say, 'hurr what about the Western Derpital Live' as stated above, XBMC users aren't simply wanting their media 'streamed'... (and srsly, even the most basic alternative DLNA playback devices have an immediately prettier, more usable interface... whilst those WD jobbies are solid hardware, WD's interface sucks the fat one)
As a recent convert to Sick Beard and Couch potato I think XBMC is the next logical step at my place... I srsly wish I hadn't updated my PS3 way back when coz I'd love to have modded it and be running XBMC on that!
THAT would be a true 'one stop media playback shop'.
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darkjedi
Hobart, Tasmania
3324 posts
I've avoided the ATV2 setup because of it's wanting 1080P performance, tho for $130 it's not expensive Teq, it's a pretty ballsy piece of hardware.
I was on the fence about it initially, but took the plunge and haven't been disappointed at all with my ATV2. It fits the niche I needed very nicely (media centre for the bedroom tv on a 32" TV), hasn't skipped a beat on most of my HD content and the times it has flipped out, it's been because Wireless-N is not suited for streaming high bit-rate 1080p content. For $128 and about 30 minutes of time investment to get it JB'd/XMBC loaded, they're well worth it.
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teq
Brisbane, Queensland
12220 posts
tho for $130 it's not expensive Teq, it's a pretty ballsy piece of hardware.
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trog
AGN Admin
Brisbane, Queensland
35387 posts
The WDTV Live is the best thing I have seen yet. I think you can still get the older models for like $99 if you look around (no wifi, worse remote, few other features missing by the looks of the new model boba linked), but it is probably one of the best pieces of hardware I've bought ever.
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Mantorok
Brisbane, Queensland
6297 posts
MSY sell the Patriot Box Office for $110 with a USB wireless adaptor, so there's not much point getting an older WDTV Live for $99.
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blahnana
Brisbane, Queensland
729 posts
Except that nobody in their right mind is streaming HD over wireless anyway...
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shrapse
Brisbane, Queensland
3764 posts
Except that nobody in their right mind is streaming HD over wireless anyway...
My Mac Mini running Plex streams full HD over wifi just fine.
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Opec
Brisbane, Queensland
7483 posts
The WDTV Live is the best thing I have seen yet. I think you can still get the older models for like $99 if you look around (no wifi, worse remote, few other features missing by the looks of the new model boba linked), but it is probably one of the best pieces of hardware I've bought ever.
Yeah this. I got myself a new version of WDLive (2011 version) with WiFi (N support) and am extremely impressed with it so far. The UI is fantastic, fast network streams 720p over WiFi no worries, extra services are actually not bad, plays everything I've thrown at i, updates the firmware a couple of times now (it can notify you automatically if you set it to) and it's TINY - I think it's smaller than the iTv?
Not bad for ~$120 really.
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Eds
Brisbane, Queensland
9882 posts
fukles
Brisbane, Queensland
5998 posts
How much faster does it get Eds?
Have you tried different skins? I haven't tried plex yet but now I'm thinking I should give it a go ay.
Interesting to note it intergrates with some lg and samsung tvs.
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TiT
Brisbane, Queensland
4642 posts
Yes how good is Plex? I have HP Microserver and want that to run as media server, then download clients to all PC's in my house that would be awesome...
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Eds
Brisbane, Queensland
9886 posts
I find with plex it handles large libarys well, but again, that is just my experiance. Im using PlexAeon with minumul amounts of options( just TV Shows and Movies)
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Jayman
Brisbane, Queensland
607 posts
I have an old wdtv live. It's does the job, but it's not really comparable to the XBMC / Plex experience with metadata for each show etc. Do the new ones have anything like that and that's why people are so impressed with them?
If not, I'll probably do what Midda suggested and get a Revo or similar for a bit more soon.
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I haven't noticed any difference in speed between xbmc and plex, but the media manager in plex is better imo. Less scraper issues, and a decent interface to correct matches and metadata
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shrapse
Brisbane, Queensland
3765 posts
Plex's media manager is just pure awesome and the thought of having to ever use xbmc's back end ever again makes me cringe.
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TiT
Brisbane, Queensland
4643 posts
sweet might give it a go on my server once i get everything off it
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Nathan
Brisbane, Queensland
3893 posts
Speaking of XBMC, the first beta of v11 is out
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Hogfather
Cairns, Queensland
11617 posts
Fuck, I like the Plex watch on ipad / phone shit.
Hmm.
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d0mino
Melbourne, Victoria
5212 posts
i have atv2, and I am using air video server and the iphone app to stream media to the atv2. Works ok.
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Hogfather
Cairns, Queensland
11621 posts
Yeh that's our setup; but it doesn't remember on the air video what we've watched on the xbmc obviously, or where we stopped watchign something.
Thinking about a dedicated mini PC thingy under the tv with Plex that served it all would be awesome.
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