TVs with ethernet ports

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xarqi

727 posts

Ultimate Geek

#444546 1-Mar-2011 19:46

timmmay: WD TV Live (or something like that) is apparently worth a look too.

I took a look - trialled it at home. It's a nice idea but it had some problems that were deal-breakers for me. For example, (I think I mentioned above) FF and RW don't work reliably for some file formats; there's only a 10 minute skip ahead feature - no good for skipping ads; you can't tweak settings while a file is being played - you have to stop and restart; you have to find your network shares and authenticate with every restart; WD support is script-driven with little indication that questions asked have actually been read and considered.

I sent the WD TV Live HD back. There's a version called the Hub, but indications are that it has its own issues. I tried a WD MyBook World Edition (which has NAS and DLNA servers built-in). I reformatted it as HFS+ so it could be used directly on my Mac via USB if needed. This format is said to be supported for the WD. I could mount it from my Mac via SMB, but I got privilege errors when I tried to delete files. They seemed to be deleted anyway, one at a time only for a batch request, but the space did not become free. Essentially, it corrupted the volume directory.

Next time round I'll take a look at the ATV I guess, but the "jailbreaking" thing doesn't sit well with me. I may get a Mac mini instead and use that as a server.

Handle9

11391 posts

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#444554 1-Mar-2011 20:01

xarqi:
timmmay: WD TV Live (or something like that) is apparently worth a look too.

Next time round I'll take a look at the ATV I guess, but the "jailbreaking" thing doesn't sit well with me. I may get a Mac mini instead and use that as a server.

What part of jailbreaking are you uneasy about? I used to be a bit hesitant about it but modchipping brought us XBMC in the first place and IMO XBMC is easily the nicest streaming STB implementation around.

xarqi

727 posts

Ultimate Geek

#444557 1-Mar-2011 20:05

Handle9:
xarqi:
timmmay: WD TV Live (or something like that) is apparently worth a look too.

Next time round I'll take a look at the ATV I guess, but the "jailbreaking" thing doesn't sit well with me. I may get a Mac mini instead and use that as a server.

What part of jailbreaking are you uneasy about? I used to be a bit hesitant about it but modchipping brought us XBMC in the first place and IMO XBMC is easily the nicest streaming STB implementation around.

I'd need to research the process a bit - find out what it did - see if it infringed on any licence I'd agreed to - see if it was legal and moral - find out if there were warranty implications - find out if it was reversible - consider if I could 'brick' the device some time in the future - that sort of thing.

Dunnersfella

4086 posts

Uber Geek

#444564 1-Mar-2011 20:07

I was initially uneasy about jail breaking - having never done it before.

But as it's no longer tethered, can be jail broken on Windows and OSX, loses none of the original functionality... it's a no brainer.
Plus if you don't like it, just plug the ATV2 back into iTunes, click the 'restore' button and you're back to a fresh install.

Handle9

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#444568 1-Mar-2011 20:13

As far as morals and legality go I have no compunction - I'm not pirating or stealing anything. You could make the argument I'm in breach of contract with the license but that's not a criminal issue, it'd at best be a civil matter. IANAL though.

Worst case is potential bricking and I researched it pretty thoroughly before I went ahead.

To me it came down to a $169 investment in a device that had superb functionality once jailbroken and installed GNU software. No brainer as far I'm concerned and I'm stoked with the result now.

xarqi

727 posts

Ultimate Geek

#444570 1-Mar-2011 20:26

Thanks for the advice, both of you. I'll definitely consider the ATV if I'm faced with the situation I was in again. As it turned out, I 'solved' my problem by buying another 2 TB drive for $160. Cheap discs means no need for compression, means no need to worry about encapsulation/codec compatibility.

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