Apple TV 2 + XBMC = WIN!

[slackerinabox]

Absolutely love my apple tv now that it has xbmc on it. Itune video rentals and netflix make it very wife friendly, while the xbmc integration works wonderfully - mkv, xvid, etc. etc. playback with out an issue so far! All for $99! my wd live's collecting dust now

 

[her209]

Does it support the Aeon skin?

 

[Patranus]

Does it support the Aeon skin?

Yes but it is a bit slow at the moment. I suggest one of the Dharma compatible Rapier skins.

For something that is 1/2 the cost of a boxee and is running the first version out the door it does a great job.

When you look at what the xbmc crew has done since the first version of xbmc, well, I can't wait until they get a few versions out the door.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Yes but it is a bit slow at the moment. I suggest one of the Dharma compatible Rapier skins.

For something that is 1/2 the cost of a boxee and is running the first version out the door it does a great job.

When you look at what the xbmc crew has done since the first version of xbmc, well, I can't wait until they get a few versions out the door.

I'd hope that Apple opens up the private API that the XBMC team is using so that they can submit it to the App Store.

 

[Aikouka]

I'd hope that Apple opens up the private API that the XBMC team is using so that they can submit it to the App Store.

Is there some rule that the applications on the App Store must use the public APIs?

 

[slag]

Is there some rule that the applications on the App Store must use the public APIs?

Too bad its using XBMC. The interface leaves a lot to be wanting imho, but I realize im in the minority. I tried using it a year ago or so and it was just not intuitive.

 

[Patranus]

Too bad its using XBMC. The interface leaves a lot to be wanting imho, but I realize im in the minority. I tried using it a year ago or so and it was just not intuitive.

Huh?
What interface do you prefer that is better than XBMC?

 

[Slick5150]

I tried it and it it buckled with some 1080p content. Some worked ok, some really didn't.

 

[Emulex]

how well does it play multi-part rar files before the full download is complete? like the xbox1?

 

[Chapbass]

how well does it play multi-part rar files before the full download is complete? like the xbox1?

What software plays nice with incomplete multipart rar files? obviously you could par2 them together, but assuming you're trying to play something before it finishes downloading, I guess I haven't seen any software that uses that.

Granted, I can't say I've tried to play much with things still rared, I usually extract em...

 

[Modelworks]

What software plays nice with incomplete multipart rar files?

The WDTV Live with custom firmware plays them fine.

 

[Modelworks]

I tried it and it it buckled with some 1080p content. Some worked ok, some really didn't.

It will never be a good 1080p player. The problem is in the internals of the chip. The bus that transfers video doesn't have a high enough bus speed for 1080P full bitrate video. Some 1080P video will play but it is going to be limited to low bitrates.

 

[slag]

Huh?
What interface do you prefer that is better than XBMC?

WMC7 though probably because I'm just used to it.

 

[Slick5150]

There were a few Realtek based players annoucned at CES with XBMC built in. Those will likely end up being better options if full 1080p support is important to you.

Or there's the Boxee Box if you prefer Boxee to XBMC (that thing plays everything I've thrown at it without a hitch).

 

[Emulex]

you know so you can start an ftp and hit play instantly (like most streaming services) as long as the bitrate < ftp bitrate then you are good to go. no need to extract or use the end bit of the RAR.

 

[Modelworks]

There were a few Realtek based players annoucned at CES with XBMC built in. Those will likely end up being better options if full 1080p support is important to you.

Those are the next generation chipsets which should be out summer/fall. The current media chipsets from realtek and sigma designs are more than capable of playing back content the problem is they lack support for accelerated gui interfaces and xbmc really needs that to handle its interface. The current chipsets were designed for DVR and blu ray players where the interfaces are pretty basic. With embedded platforms the decoding of the video doesn't have anything to do with the video chipset, instead it is decoded by a dedicated dsp and the video chipset just overlays on top of the video. While they can playback at full 1080p they lack the ability to do fancy interfaces. The next generation chipsets have full 2d&3d acceleration for overlays, menus, etc.

 

[jtvang125]

How well do these set top boxes (WD live...ect) play with shared drives on a Windows 2003 server? I have a W7 HTPC but it does take a lot of maintenance to get it working correctly.

 

[Patranus]

How well do these set top boxes (WD live...ect) play with shared drives on a Windows 2003 server? I have a W7 HTPC but it does take a lot of maintenance to get it working correctly.

After the jailbreak and adding my network share, The AppleTV 2 with XBMC added all my folders and secured all of the meta data/cover art automatically.

My network share is organized in the following way
/Television/Show/Season XX/Show Name - SXXEYY - Episode.ZZZ

I am coming from a Windows 7 Media Center HTPC with Media Browser.

 

[Modelworks]

How well do these set top boxes (WD live...ect) play with shared drives on a Windows 2003 server? I have a W7 HTPC but it does take a lot of maintenance to get it working correctly.

Internally they all run the same software for shares, a *nix variant running samba. As long as the network is set up properly with the media players having the correct settings , same workgroup and any passwords needed then it usually works fine .

Only problem I am currently aware of is if windows live is installed it interferes with samba shares.

 

[Rio Rebel]

I picked one up today, but there's apparently more to it than I expected. I don't have that particular USB plug, and it sounds like right now you have to have a Mac to perform the jailbreak on the Apple TV.

 

[slackerinabox]

I believe redsnow's available for windows, right? pwnage tool as well, but it all depneds on the firmware version of your unit, I guess.

I must add the best thing is that XBMC and its great codec support are there if I need it, but the vanilla experience is still there without much change, so I never have to worry about my wife needing help... HUGE advantage to flakey WD live

 

[Aikouka]

I believe redsnow's available for windows, right?

Yes: https://sites.google.com/a/iphone-dev.com/files/home

EDIT:

I don't have that particular USB plug, ....

Heh, good thing you mentioned that... I thought it was mini-USB, but turns out it's micro-USB and I'm pretty sure I don't have one of those cables. Ordered one off Monoprice along with some other back-up cables (better having extra than spending 5-10x as much at Best Buy for one).

 

[Rio Rebel]

Just read on avsforum that this version of XBMC does not currently support iso files...the hits just keep on coming.

 

[Aikouka]

Just read on avsforum that this version of XBMC does not currently support iso files...the hits just keep on coming.

Just remember... the key words are, "not yet."

 

[Emulex]

Just read on avsforum that this version of XBMC does not currently support iso files...the hits just keep on coming.

pretty soon it will almost be as good as the xbox1 for $25

or a beater htpc for $99