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ATV Questions

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dave.h.3g

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 22, 2008
56
0
Hi everyone,

currently in the market for an ATV, and was looking for some clarification. I know there's information everywhere, I've read through a lot but just wanted to make sure I understand how the ATV will work. I want the ATV basically to replace my lost airport express for airplay/wireless music playing through my sound system, and also want to be able to watch movies/tv shows I have on my mac through the tv without cables. so here are my questions:

1. How long/difficult is it to jailbreak ATV2?
2. If buying off craigslist, is there anything I should worry about? (I will obviously test before buying)
3. Is screen mirroring possible with ATV2? or just playing videos through an application?
4. I have to have my tv on to play music through my speakers right (with my speakers connected to the tv)? One thing I liked about the airport express is being able to just hit play and have music come on
5. What are some of the best features (in your opinion) or apps for a jailbroken ATV2?
6. How does the remote app work with ATV2?

I think that's about it. thanks for your help
 
W

waw74

macrumors 601
May 27, 2008
4,682
949
1. pretty easy, should be under 1/2 hour if it goes well.

2. if you want to jailbreak, make sure it's a 2.

3. depends on your iOS device, iPhone 4S and ipad 2 & 3 will, anything before those won't.
  • The only difference between a 2 and a 3 is
    • the 3 does 1080 and can't currently be jailbroken
    • the 2 is only 720 and can be jailbroken.
    all other features are exactly the same.
    That should answer all of your "can an aTV2 do ...." questions, if the 3 can do it so can the 2.
  • it also depends on the app, a lot of the "mainstream media" channels like ABC or cartoon network don't support airplay, so you get mirroring if your handheld device supports it, meaning you'll get it in a smaller window on your TV. The image will be as tall as your screen, but there will be black bars on the sides, how big depends on if you're in portrait or landscape mode. You'll possibly also wind up with ads, or playback controls on the screen.
  • The default video player will play full screen on the aTV, as will youtube.


4. if your aTV is connected to an AV receiver with HDMI, then your TV won't have to be on. basically anything in the cable path between the aTV and the speakers will need power, if the Television is not in that direct line, then it can be off.

5. I only use Plex. I could accomplish the same thing with an un-jailbroken unit, via airplay from an iOS device.
Plex doesn't play well with the newest OS on the aTV, so if you were going to do this, you would need to make sure it has the older OS.

6. you sign in to the same appleID on both devices and the aTV will appear in remote app, you have gesture control, so swipe up to move up.... Also if an onscreen keyboard comes up on the aTV, a keyboard will appear in remote app.
 
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