Apple TV

LostInDharma

Hi,

My popcorn hour just died So Im looking to get a new media player. Is the Apple TV a good alternative.

I mainly want to stream films and TV shows from my home PC to TV. Will the apple TV do this ? Will it play most formats ? Do you need to jailbreak it to do that ?

Thanks

maggy_thatcher

The AppleTV will only (officially) stream from iTunes (via Home Sharing), AirPlay, or "special partners" (iCloud, Netflix, etc.).

It can't stream from DLNA servers or anything like that.

The latest AppleTVs haven't been jailbroken yet.

LostInDharma

maggy_thatcher wrote: »

The AppleTV will only (officially) stream from iTunes (via Home Sharing), AirPlay, or "special partners" (iCloud, Netflix, etc.).

It can't stream from DLNA servers or anything like that.

The latest AppleTVs haven't been jailbroken yet.

Thanks, sounds like its not for me then

keith_d99

LostInDharma wrote: »

Hi,

My popcorn hour just died So Im looking to get a new media player. Is the Apple TV a good alternative.

I mainly want to stream films and TV shows from my home PC to TV. Will the apple TV do this ? Will it play most formats ? Do you need to jailbreak it to do that ?

Thanks

I use both - popcorn hour for mkvs and the like, Apple TV for Airplay, photos, the odd rental. If you have an iphone/ipad - I would defo recommend it.
I did get XBMC onto it - but never put any other effort into getting it working properly.

BTW my popcorn hour packed in about a year back - you can order a new board from Popcorn Hour - think it worked out about €60.

andy1249

My popcorn hour just died So Im looking to get a new media player. Is the Apple TV a good alternative.

Its not an alternative at all. In no way , shape , or form , could the ATV3 even remotely do what a popcorn hour could do.

Its sold as a standalone unit , but in reality , its an accessory for the ipad , iphone , or a mac pc. Even as an accessory to any of those , it still has limited capabilities when compared to the likes of the popcorn hour.

ATV's only come close when jailbroken , and with the new units , jailbreaking is a long long way away. Its the most secure ios device on the market , and there are no obvious hacks , so no methods used in previous jailbreaks will work.

LostInDharma

keith_d99 wrote: »

I use both - popcorn hour for mkvs and the like, Apple TV for Airplay, photos, the odd rental. If you have an iphone/ipad - I would defo recommend it.
I did get XBMC onto it - but never put any other effort into getting it working properly.

BTW my popcorn hour packed in about a year back - you can order a new board from Popcorn Hour - think it worked out about €60.

Any chance you know where you ordered this from. I've been searching around the net with no luck.

keith_d99

LostInDharma wrote: »

Any chance you know where you ordered this from. I've been searching around the net with no luck.

I logged a ticket with support - it actually cost me even less - $50 including shipping.
Can PM the support message if you like - my problem was green light flashed then nothing (A-100)

LostInDharma

keith_d99 wrote: »

I logged a ticket with support - it actually cost me even less - $50 including shipping.
Can PM the support message if you like - my problem was green light flashed then nothing (A-100)

Yes please do

Gin Fizz

I like the way you can get iTunes on the TV through the apple tv box

mdfire

I had a popcorn hour A200 until last week when I sold it. Media compatibility wise it cant be touched, however I hated it from the day I got it.

I initially spent literally days getting it to set up and recognise my network. The UI is awful and the unit itself was prone to freezing and/or crashes. Adding movies meant going onto a pc and running Yamj. On top of that the family couldnt use it.

I have a jailbroken ATv 2 with firecores ATv flash and xbmc installed. Sure ive had to covert a few movies so that it can play them but it streams from my NAS beautifully, is plug and play, and my 5 year old can use it. And movies added are updated to the library automatically with the movie info. Painless.

True, it doesnt give 1080p or HD audio but when I think of how much a ball ache the popcorn hour was thats a compromise im happy to make. My aim to just put the feet up, crack open a tin and enjoy a movie rather than messing around with a buggy linux box.

Jax Teller

Does anyone know if there something similar to the apple tv but android ?

maggy_thatcher

Coletrickle88 wrote: »

Does anyone know if there something similar to the apple tv but android ?

There is a product called Google TV, but it's not really targeted outside the US. It was launched two years ago, and the primary launch partner (Logitech) have pulled out of it without ever expanding into Europe. Last I heard Sony were going to launch something here with it sometime in the autumn, but I'll believe it when I see it.

jaggiebunnet

looking at getting an ATV and have a few questions I hope might get answered...

...firstly netflix...really pisses me off that my 6 month old Samsung is not going to get this app and so apple tv would fix that, but tbh after looking for 5 mins netflix appears to have a poor selection - has anyone persisted using it for longer than 3 months?

I read here that it doesn't do DLNA - does that mean you need to have a laptop running with itunes and your drive of movies on all the time to access them? does that mean essentially the NAS I have has no more benefit over a wired drive to the laptop?

can you only get the new version of the ATV from the apple store?

I have been going 360 in the past few months and beginning to think that for the hassle, cost and quality it is actually easier just buy the blurays online - do people think the ease of use (have an iphone, hopefully ipad later in year) will see me reconvert to being a streaming enthusiast before I go back and dig out the video recorder black and white tv?

maggy_thatcher

jaggiebunnet wrote: »

looking at getting an ATV and have a few questions I hope might get answered...

...firstly netflix...really pisses me off that my 6 month old Samsung is not going to get this app and so apple tv would fix that, but tbh after looking for 5 mins netflix appears to have a poor selection - has anyone persisted using it for longer than 3 months?

I still use Netflix - but only because there's a few shows that I never got around to watching back when they were on originally that gives me plenty of catch-up (24, Doctor Who, etc.)

jaggiebunnet wrote: »

I read here that it doesn't do DLNA - does that mean you need to have a laptop running with itunes and your drive of movies on all the time to access them? does that mean essentially the NAS I have has no more benefit over a wired drive to the laptop?

Yes - it will not play DLNA content. If you have your own movies, it can only play them from a machine running iTunes. Your own music can be accessed either from iTunes, or, if you've paid for it, iTunes Match. If you've a NAS drive, and a Samsung TV with an ethernet port, can't you just continue watching those programs through the DLNA app in the TV?

jaggiebunnet wrote: »

can you only get the new version of the ATV from the apple store?

No. I got mine in Power City. You can also get them from Currys/PCWorld. They all charge roughly the same price.

jaggiebunnet wrote: »

I have been going 360 in the past few months and beginning to think that for the hassle, cost and quality it is actually easier just buy the blurays online - do people think the ease of use (have an iphone, hopefully ipad later in year) will see me reconvert to being a streaming enthusiast before I go back and dig out the video recorder black and white tv?

Blu-Rays do have a better picture/sound quality than streams (the data rate just isn't there yet to compete), but it's very handy just to pick up the remote, switch over to the ATV channel and start watching, rather than getting up, hunting for the right disc, and sticking it in the slot - especially for TV shows. Personally, I've a mixture...

jaggiebunnet

maggy_thatcher wrote: »

If you've a NAS drive, and a Samsung TV with an ethernet port, can't you just continue watching those programs through the DLNA app in the TV?

Yeah I agree, my thinking I guess really is I am trying to get rid of the clutter and multiple devices, would rather a single point of entry as it were, but yeah I guess I could get over the fact I have a NAS too - but it would be annoying that I have to leave the laptop on at the sametime.

maggy_thatcher wrote: »

Blu-Rays do have a better picture/sound quality than streams (the data rate just isn't there yet to compete), but it's very handy just to pick up the remote, switch over to the ATV channel and start watching, rather than getting up, hunting for the right disc, and sticking it in the slot - especially for TV shows. Personally, I've a mixture...

Again yeah I agree, just debating whether I take the apple plunge I guess or whether I go google play or netflix or both or what really...thanks for your thoughts !

L'prof

jaggiebunnet wrote: »

I read here that it doesn't do DLNA - does that mean you need to have a laptop running with itunes and your drive of movies on all the time to access them? does that mean essentially the NAS I have has no more benefit over a wired drive to the laptop?

The ATV2 is jailbreakable, so you can put XBMC on it and access your NAS through it. No jailbreak for the ATV3 yet.