Upgraded ATV gen 1 - what now?

[billhinge]

Hi

Having upgraded my ATV gen 1 to Crystal HD and 1 TB internal storage and installed XMBC on it what now?

My needs are simple, I mainly use iTunes to buy new TV series season passes, box sets and rent movies (I went down the whole home theatre thing about 15 years back but don't bother much now so exotic sound and pixel peeping isn't a requirement)

So I looked at XMBC that was installed when I jailbroke ATV but why would I need it, what does it add?

If I want to view a DVD I just rip it, capture in ITunes and download to the ATV. Do XMBC, Crystalbuntu etc offer me something I'm missing? I do have other content supplied through my IPTV set top box so I'm not totally reliant on ATV

With these linux builds as the primary OS, can you still buy TV season passes via iTunes ?

Simplicity is a requirement, I like the one touch purchase and download to ATV (no streaming) and dislike over complex & deep menus

 

[MultiFinder17]

The primary advantage of the Crystal HD card is that it allows the original Apple TV to play 1080p content. As there is no version of iTunes available for Linux, you will not be able to purchase/stream/download any content from the iTunes store.

 

[priitv8]

XBMC gives you (after all, it stands for Xbox Media Center)
- totally different UI and ecosystem (own plugins, loadable skins etc)
- multi-format support
- DTS passthrough support
- external subtiles support (like in VLC)
- ability to connect directly to network shares without iTunes inbetween

I might have missed smth but that were the major ones I noticed.
BTW i liked more the simpler UI of the NitoTV and its ability to install stuff and tweak kexts (I needed the Composite video enabler and Nito allowed to install it and make load on every boot with a single klick). Although there are some darn good-looking skins available for XBMC.

 

[billhinge]

The primary advantage of the Crystal HD card is that it allows the original Apple TV to play 1080p content. As there is no version of iTunes available for Linux, you will not be able to purchase/stream/download any content from the iTunes store.

Thanks, wasn't sure about that but thanks for confirming. I was brought up on Unix but strangely I can't love Linux so never use it 🙂

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XBMC gives you (after all, it stands for Xbox Media Center)
- totally different UI and ecosystem (own plugins, loadable skins etc)
- multi-format support
- DTS passthrough support
- external subtiles support (like in VLC)
- ability to connect directly to network shares without iTunes inbetween

I might have missed smth but that were the major ones I noticed.
BTW i liked more the simpler UI of the NitoTV and its ability to install stuff and tweak kexts (I needed the Composite video enabler and Nito allowed to install it and make load on every boot with a single klick). Although there are some darn good-looking skins available for XBMC.

I guess the best thing is try it and see, thanks for your help - It has to be easy enough for the missus to use

 

[billhinge]

Another quick question

I attempted to download 1080p iTunes content to ATV 1 with the Crystal HD card installed (OS X kext installed and working) but iTunes refuses to play it

So does this mean the Crystal HD only gives me smoother 720p from iTunes content?

If I wish to utilise the Crystal HD card to view 1080p then I need to use XMBC which is showing the HD card enabled, is this correct ?


thanks in advance


EDIT - just ignore my question , I managed to find an answer via google (did look before, honest!)

 

[billhinge]

I tried a couple of the XMBC plugins, I can see the attraction as to why people like this sort of thing and I may even set up a second dedicated linux ATV.

On the downside, it does seem to suffer more from broken links (e.g. BBC iPlayer - I hate iPlayer, I don't understand why people like it) fiddly config, but overall it doesn't bother me too much ...

If I could get some old 60's and 70's tv I would be happy 🙂

I'm a bit of a newbie to all of this but I'll dig in further ...

 

[Delmar]

The main perks of XMBC for me (I use XBMC on my Mac Mini & ATV1) are:

1. No need to compress files with Handbrake so iTunes will play them.
2. 1080P on the ATV1.
3. DTS pass thru to my 5.1 surround sound system.
4. It's simple enough for my wife to use when I'm not home😀

With all that said I really like iTunes also, it's so simple to use & organizes everything very well. I just recently started messing around with XBMC & so far I really like it. CrystalHD card is my next project for the ATV1 when I get a chance.