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Alternatives to ATV ... can we start a discussion?

I

itsjustmeee

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 28, 2008
603
7
So ATV is "workable" with the hack, but still not powerful enough to stream Netflix There's the xbox and the PS3, but if you're not really into gaming what other alternatives are there to stream video and audio from a Mac to the TV? Products like Asus O!Play, LG BD390 are tempting, but it would be nice to have it all at a decent price ... wi fi, the ability to play all video formats, stream Netflix, and flexible enough to run boxee, plex or any other program ....... what are the options??

(yeah, I know. A mini, but I would like to see something for a bit less, and with an HDMI ..... any ideas?)
 
Donar, that looks really nice. Does it have built in wifi or do you stream via ethernet?
 
I have connected it through ethernet. I think ASRock has a newer one in the works (or already out) which should have wireless and a built in IR Receiver.
-> but i dont know if WiFi/IR will work out of the box with current XBMC live.
 
itsjustmeee said:
So ATV is "workable" with the hack, but still not powerful enough to stream Netflix There's the xbox and the PS3, but if you're not really into gaming what other alternatives are there to stream video and audio from a Mac to the TV? Products like Asus O!Play, LG BD390 are tempting, but it would be nice to have it all at a decent price ... wi fi, the ability to play all video formats, stream Netflix, and flexible enough to run boxee, plex or any other program ....... what are the options??

(yeah, I know. A mini, but I would like to see something for a bit less, and with an HDMI ..... any ideas?)
Click to expand...

Define not powerful enough. I stream via ATV all the time. I am using the N standard and connected at 300 Mbs/s (yes there is overhead so it is a bit less but it works without a problem). Not really sure what more you want.
 
There are already discussions about alternatives. Such as a mac mini, a mini htpc (windows box), the HP Mini HD TV, etc. All of those are better than the ATV imho (and as a previous owner).
 
Defining "not powerful enough". I've read on other blogs and websites that it is not powerful enough to run Silverlight which leaves out netflix. And I've also read that it can have a hard time once in a while with high def and can skip or stutter a bit.
 
There have been MANY MANY discussions about the various choices out there.

Personally I run a Mac Mini in my living room with PLEX but for my bedroom (and for fun) I'm getting ready to buy a Acer Aspire Revo 1600 ($199.00) from newegg and I'm going to install linux + xbmc or xbmc live on it. It runs XBMC perfectly and there should be no issues.

Regarding wifi since the 1600 doesn't come with it automatically you can be a pci-e wifi n card on ebay for around $20 and add it to the revo to solve that issue.

It's small and doesn't use a lot of energy or generate too much heat.

Take a ganders at it, XBMC's forums have lots of happy users of it.

Also, the word on the XBMC street is that soon they'll have the drivers out for the Broadcom Crystal HD card and that (which is also purchasable via ebay for around $25) will give the Apple TV the decoding power it needs for 1080p.
 
robotartfashion said:
Also, the word on the XBMC street is that soon they'll have the drivers out for the Broadcom Crystal HD card and that (which is also purchasable via ebay for around $25) will give the Apple TV the decoding power it needs for 1080p.
Click to expand...

link?
 
for the features PS3 is the best value out there. even if you don't play games it's the best BD player
 
ATV is made to stream iTunes hd content. No reason it ain't powerful enough to stream Netflix.
 
There is no, none, zip, nada, ain't happening reason for Apple to stream or have anything to do with Netflix:eek:


Why are some of you keep bring this up:confused::confused:
 
Support for SD Television

Would like to see resolution settings and device connections for SD televisions for a while to come. No reason to fill the landfills with working televisions.
 
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