Alternative to Apple TV2 for running XBMC

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79 posts

Master Geek

#434429 2-Feb-2011 18:48

StarBlazer:
jonherries: Worthwhile noting before you run out an buy one:

This is a tethered jailbreak

That means everytime you restart the AppleTV it needs to be connected to your Mac via usb.

Jon

Noted Thanks. Does this include standby - if there is such a thing?

No only if power is lost completely.

PANiCnz

989 posts

Ultimate Geek

#434431 2-Feb-2011 18:53

Standby is fine for tethered hack. Only way to turn out off is pull out the power cable.

The sigma chip in a large number of settop boxes aka wdtv will soon support xbmc but that will take longer than atv2 and won't be back ported to existing devices such as wdtv

JimmyH

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Uber Geek

#434433 2-Feb-2011 19:06

If you just want a cheap robust media player that you can network and plug USB drives into, and aren't 100% determined to have the XBMC interface and TVNZ on demand, I can recommend the WD TV Live.

I love mine, and DSE is selling them for just over $200 at the moment. Elegant, albeit with a somewhat ugly interface, and inexpensively does what it says it will reliably and well. Once I get my wireless network sorted and buy a NAS box, I will be getting a second unit for the bedroom.

jpollock

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#434653 3-Feb-2011 08:56

If you're looking for XBMC on a small, cheap device with HD, have a look at the Boxee Box.

http://www.boxee.tv/

It runs Boxee's XBMC fork, but they do feed changes back upstream. It is open source like XBMC, but I don't know how open the box itself is.

Jason

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gehenna

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#434657 3-Feb-2011 09:06

jpollock: If you're looking for XBMC on a small, cheap device with HD, have a look at the Boxee Box.

http://www.boxee.tv/

It runs Boxee's XBMC fork, but they do feed changes back upstream. It is open source like XBMC, but I don't know how open the box itself is.

Jason

$429 compared to $169. No brainer.

StarBlazer

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#434672 3-Feb-2011 09:35

gehenna:
jpollock: If you're looking for XBMC on a small, cheap device with HD, have a look at the Boxee Box.

http://www.boxee.tv/

It runs Boxee's XBMC fork, but they do feed changes back upstream. It is open source like XBMC, but I don't know how open the box itself is.

Jason

$429 compared to $169. No brainer.

Yeah - that's my problem - $429 is not in budget.

At the moment my preference I think is to wait until the next generation WDTV units which will ship with XBMC (or similar).

I just know though that it will only be on the top models and will be out of my budget. Hey look my coffee cup is half empty!! :)

I guess my only other option at the moment is if there is something I can plug into my 5 year old laptop that will give me HDMI output! I've looked for PCMCIA cards but can't find anything.

Procrastination eventually pays off.

gehenna

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#434676 3-Feb-2011 09:51

StarBlazer:
At the moment my preference I think is to wait until the next generation WDTV units which will ship with XBMC (or similar).

Will that ever happen? WDTV's aren't computers, they don't have the same architecture....so I'd be doubtful of seeing xbmc or similar on one...though if you have links to some info about it I'd be keen to read it.

The aTV2 version of xbmc is great as is, but will only get better as more bugs are squashed and more plugins are matched up to the iOS architecture. The only difference between other players is it doesn't support attached storage, but for me that's a non-issue because all my content is stored in another room anyway. The benefit of being able to use the aTV as a proper aTV (iTunes rentals, music streaming, airplay, etc), plus having the option to load xbmc if I want, plus having the option of streaming netflix, far outweighs any downsides.

Those downsides include slight buggyness with certain plugins, 720p output and stereo audio (currently but optical is coming). I have no 1080p content that I'll be streaming to it so big woop :)

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jpollock

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#434704 3-Feb-2011 10:44

gehenna:
jpollock: If you're looking for XBMC on a small, cheap device with HD, have a look at the Boxee Box.

http://www.boxee.tv/

It runs Boxee's XBMC fork, but they do feed changes back upstream. It is open source like XBMC, but I don't know how open the box itself is.

Jason

$429 compared to $169. No brainer.

Wow, that RRP is insane. It's US$199, or NZ$255. I recommend looking for another way to buy the device than Dick Smiths.

Jason

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http://blog.jason.pollock.ca

garvani

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#434713 3-Feb-2011 10:57

hmmmm just looked through 2 of our dlink suppliers (dove and ingram) and i don't see boxee, i wonder if DSE has it locked down in NZ? anyway have flicked an email to my rep. At the Ingram roadshow last year i had a lengthy discussion with the boxee rep and he assured me the price would be a lot lower than the $429 quoted, and that we could buy it through ingram so i dont know whats going on there! DSE are well knowen for just running with the RRP, we undercut them everytime because of this.

StarBlazer

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#434764 3-Feb-2011 12:21

gehenna:
StarBlazer:
At the moment my preference I think is to wait until the next generation WDTV units which will ship with XBMC (or similar).

Will that ever happen? WDTV's aren't computers, they don't have the same architecture....so I'd be doubtful of seeing xbmc or similar on one...though if you have links to some info about it I'd be keen to read it.

XBMC have confirmed they are working with Sigma (the makers of the WDTV chip) and that an XBMC port is currently in development.

http://xbmc.org/theuni/2011/01/12/more-about-sigma/

As regards the HD - if I replaced the XBox it would be good for the replacement to be at least as good as the TV - 720p seems an oversight by Apple - surely by now they should be defaulting to 1080p!

Procrastination eventually pays off.

gehenna

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#434766 3-Feb-2011 12:27

It can process 1080p but outputs it at 720p so its probably going to output 1080p at some point in the future. Even sooner if the xbmc devs can figure it out.

reven

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#434855 3-Feb-2011 14:36

daskip:
StarBlazer:
jonherries: Worthwhile noting before you run out an buy one:

This is a tethered jailbreak

That means everytime you restart the AppleTV it needs to be connected to your Mac via usb.

Jon

Noted Thanks. Does this include standby - if there is such a thing?

No only if power is lost completely.

what about a software reset? xbmc on my original apple tv often required a software reset, would i have to rehack it after that?

gehenna

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#434858 3-Feb-2011 14:39

reven:
daskip:
StarBlazer:
jonherries: Worthwhile noting before you run out an buy one:

This is a tethered jailbreak

That means everytime you restart the AppleTV it needs to be connected to your Mac via usb.

Jon

Noted Thanks. Does this include standby - if there is such a thing?

No only if power is lost completely.

what about a software reset? xbmc on my original apple tv often required a software reset, would i have to rehack it after that?

When I did a reset from the remote (Menu+Down) I had to tether again to boot it up. So essentially remote reset is a waste of time because you have to end up doing a hard reset and tether anyway.

reven

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#434873 3-Feb-2011 15:01

gehenna: When I did a reset from the remote (Menu+Down) I had to tether again to boot it up. So essentially remote reset is a waste of time because you have to end up doing a hard reset and tether anyway.

thanks for that, they will make me think twice about buying it. AT1 always required a reset from the remote (about every 3 days for me). if they can get around that, then i will definitely buy one (1080p scaled down to 720p doesnt bother me, as long as it can playback everything without stuttering).

gehenna

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#434877 3-Feb-2011 15:07

reven:
gehenna: When I did a reset from the remote (Menu+Down) I had to tether again to boot it up. So essentially remote reset is a waste of time because you have to end up doing a hard reset and tether anyway.

thanks for that, they will make me think twice about buying it. AT1 always required a reset from the remote (about every 3 days for me). if they can get around that, then i will definitely buy one (1080p scaled down to 720p doesnt bother me, as long as it can playback everything without stuttering).

Been running for a week today without a reset. Once a non-tethered jailbreak comes out I'll be redoing everything so it's not a problem for me right now. Just have to realise it's early days so far, may as well be talking about jailbreaking the first gen iPhone :)

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