Netflix support is built into the AppleTV as for Hulu... I don't recall it being there, but if there was support, it'd probably be the terrible Hulu Plus thing anyway.
I'm really interested in this, can the apple tv with xbmc handle netflix/hulu?
So how does it compare to xbox1 in terms of multi-part rar file playback before the rars are done downloading (PRE+1s)
I picked up an appleTV tonight and gave it a try with xbmc. I played streams from my network just great. However for some reason it wasn't able to stream from the internet very well. I installed a hulu plugin for xbmc and it worked fine in 480p, but when I used my hulu plus account to try 720p it would re-buffer every 20-30 seconds. This doesn't happen on my macbook.
I'm going to take it back today, I think I'm going to go the full on htpc route. That said, the appletv was a really nice device size, power, and streaming from inside the network wise.
I purchased an ATV2 last night and got it set up with XBMC. Very difficult using greenpoison until I figured out the gotcha. I followed the directions listed in a link earlier in this thread, but nowhere do they mention that you need to have itunes installed first. I was doing this with an XP32 netbook I rarely use which didn't have itunes on it and of course, the device wasn't recognized. The first step in doing any of these methods (at least on windows), should be to install the latest Itunes. Everything was gravy after that.
After I figured out I needed Itunes installed, it all went smoothly. I expected it to overwrite the Apple TV interface, however, all it did was add another menu icon which allows me to load up XMBC as an app. I prefer this to what I was expecting. Its easy to close XBMC down and go back to appletv and use their netflix app.
I do have issues with playing back some of the movies attached to my network drives. A few movies crash XBMC and make it drop back to the appletv interface. Some refuse to play, others are 1080p which play for about 10 seconds and then buffer for 10 seconds, rinse and repeat. I'm using a powerline setup through my electrical outlets. I fully expected this after reading through this thread. I think I need to create filters to only show certain types of movies.
I went with a mac mini instead of building a small PC. It's dead quiet in my living room and so far is working great with hulu desktop, netflix, and xbmc. All that is left is a remote control and deciding how to handle the upstairs TV.
On the upside, I can use the computer for more tasks (Dedicated backup/media server, flash/emulator gaming, etc).
Could be the powerline setup is the root cause of the problem. I have Gigabit running into my ATV2 and XBMC hasn't dropped a movie yet, even large 10-15GB MKV's.
Could be, but I don't think so. I think I need to upgrade to gigabit. This version of powerline I have (not real powerline), is only 100 mb. This MKV I was watching also experienced weird anomalies in media center 7. I think it was the way it was encoded or something. I should just recode it and make sure its "normal".
How about if you play the weird file back locally on your media center instead of over the network? (assuming the media is at a separate location)
XBMC is doing a killer job on my ATV2, GUI is a bit slow but not bad, although I'd really like Plex to stream because I like the integration and the controls more (no launching a separate app!).
WMC7 though probably because I'm just used to it.
Really tempted to pick one of these up for the price. I just want something I can stream Netflix to, rent movies/shows from time to time on iTunes, and then rip all my DVD's to a drive and watch them via the ATV. Besides laptops, I don't have any dedicated PC's I can host media on though. Can I hook up a NAS device like a WD My Book to my network and access the content on that from the ATV with XBMC?
I have been testing XBMC and also Media Browser Plugin for Media Center. I find that while XBMC looks nice I'm missing much of the WMC features. The Media Browser plugin with Codec packs handles everythig for me.
http://www.mediabrowser.tv/
Could be, but I don't think so. I think I need to upgrade to gigabit. This version of powerline I have (not real powerline), is only 100 mb. This MKV I was watching also experienced weird anomalies in media center 7. I think it was the way it was encoded or something. I should just recode it and make sure its "normal".
I need to try out the PS3 media share software, however, as of now, XBMC on the ATV2 is just not stable enough to work, at least for me.
I used it when I used WMC7. I liked it. I'm now on XBMC on both my PC's HTPC setup and on my ATV2. The ATV2 crashes on at least 2 movies I've tried and all 1080p content gets buffered so much that its unwatchable. I've relegated myself to using the netflix part of ATV2 until the devs can figure out if its a SMB issue or what with the ATV2 since I have plenty of bandwidth available via the powerline adapter. I need to try out the PS3 media share software, however, as of now, XBMC on the ATV2 is just not stable enough to work, at least for me.
I've watched 1080p content on my ATV2+XBMC without a single slowdown :\.
some people have buffering issues, some dont. Its weird. I can stream hd netflix all day long but cant stream hd content from my xbmc pc. Its very weird.
some people have buffering issues, some dont. Its weird. I can stream hd netflix all day long but cant stream hd content from my xbmc pc. Its very weird.