Apple TV: What new features do you get when you jailbreak apple tv

[Che Castro]

I did a google search and only saw how to's tutorial

I want to know what you can do with a jailbroken apple tv

The new one

[rgarjr]

Main feature is u can install XBMC or PLEX and stream pretty much any type of video from your computer or NAS or Time Capsule.

[Che Castro]

Originally Posted by rgarjr

Main feature is u can install XBMC or PLEX and stream pretty much any type of video from your computer or NAS or Time Capsule.

Does your computer have to be on to run xbmc & plex on the apple tv?


Which is better a jailbroken apple tv or the new roku ?

[rgarjr]

XBMC can stream your movies without any computer being turned on, assuming you have a hard drive attached to your network. So yeah pretty much XBMC is the reason to jailbrake.

[brand]

Originally Posted by rgarjr

XBMC can stream your movies without any computer being turned on, assuming you have a hard drive attached to your network. So yeah pretty much XBMC is the reason to jailbrake.

Plex can stream from a remote server so technically your own personal computer does not have to be on if you have public access to someones Plex server.

[rgarjr]

can u log into someones Plex media server via internet and watch movies from their library?

[brand]

Originally Posted by rgarjr

can u log into someones Plex media server via internet and watch movies from their library?

If they forward the right ports and setup the server for it. You are at the mercy of their Internet up speed though.

[utl768]

will the hacks enable mkv support and are the hacks reversible

[brand]

Originally Posted by utl768

will the hacks enable mkv support and are the hacks reversible

Yes and Yes.

[Che Castro]

Originally Posted by rgarjr

XBMC can stream your movies without any computer being turned on, assuming you have a hard drive attached to your network. So yeah pretty much XBMC is the reason to jailbrake.

How can it stream from my hardrive if my computer is off?

When my pc is off so is the external hardrive

my tv & pc are in separate rooms

I still want to know which is better a jailbroken apple tv or the latest roku ?

[Che Castro]

Since this section of the forum doesnt get that many views

Maybe apple tv is not that good

[mbleopard]

Originally Posted by Che Castro

How can it stream from my hardrive if my computer is off?

When my pc is off so is the external hardrive

my tv & pc are in separate rooms

I still want to know which is better a jailbroken apple tv or the latest roku ?

You can't your computer has to be on. You either have to leave your computer on or purchase a NAS (network attached storage), its basically an external harddrive that just plugs into your wireless router.

I have no experience with roku but i recently setup a jailbroken atv2 with xbmc NAS and a harmony one remote and so far have little to no issues. There is an issue with Apple trying to update the apple tv which will cause the apple tv to kick you out of xbmc but there is an easy fix for this. The only other issue is the apple tv tends to stutter a bit during 1080p playback. Overall the setup was easy and overal usability is very high, I would recommend it. Plus you have to remember this was the first XBMC release for the ARM architecture and will be optimized in future releases.

[waw74]

Originally Posted by Che Castro

How can it stream from my hardrive if my computer is off?

Originally Posted by rgarjr

XBMC can stream your movies without any computer being turned on, assuming you have a hard drive attached to your network.

for plex to work, you must have a computer on and running the plex media server.

for XBMC to work, you only need your files available on the network, so some sort of NAS, like apple's airport extreme among many other options.

the main difference in the 2 is, the Plex Media server (running on a computer not the appleTV) will convert the file as you are watching it, while XMBC plays the file on the appletv.
Plex gives you the ability to play a larger selection files, as some large HD files can choke the processor on the appleTV.

if all of your video content is purchased from the iTunes store, there's really not much reason to jailbreak, as that content won't play in Plex or XBMC anyway.

[penter]

Originally Posted by mbleopard

Plus you have to remember this was the first XBMC release for the ARM architecture and will be optimized in future releases.

What does this mean? Will the interface get faster and better?
Right now I'm only using Plex because it organized my collection perfectly, and the interface is fast and intuitive...