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Alternatives to an AppleTV

I

Interzone

pfm Member
I run my main system off a mac mini and have a second system using a gen 1 aTV. All is good and well but the atv has its limits and I'm considering adding a third systen and the atv gen 2 isn't really doing for me. What are the alternatives?

Seen some good looking boxee and WD units but wondered who has experience using them (cos for all that they are over-priced, under-specced and over-marketed, apple stuff is good to use) and what feedback they have. It wouldn't matter if they had their own internal storage or had to run from the mini. If they could run headless from an iphone that would be a bonus too.
 
Hmm, well I've used both (I kept the WD and sent the Boxee box back), but I can't recommend either for a music-centric system I'm afraid. I'm hanging on for a more flexible Naim (sorry) alternative, or may well grab an ATVg2 and run XBMC (which is Linux to Boxee's Windows).

How about an SB Touch & some cheap Class D?

Steve
 
LostAtSea said:
Hmm, well I've used both (I kept the WD and sent the Boxee box back), but I can't recommend either for a music-centric system I'm afraid. I'm hanging on for a more flexible Naim (sorry) alternative, or may well grab an ATVg2 and run XBMC (which is Linux to Boxee's Windows).

How about an SB Touch & some cheap Class D?

Steve
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. Been the SB route (had a touch and duetx2) and went from there to apple (was running SBS on a NAS and it was a pain in the ass using plugins to install latest versions, plus the lack of N wireless didn't help). Though to be fair may have jumped the gun in getting rid and could have run the touch from the mini (which I didn't have at the time)

What was wrong with the WD for a music system? The quality doesn't have to be awesome for me (3rd system, classD already coming, just for a bit of background jazz when I read a book in the spare room). Can it be run headless (iphone etc)?

Oh and have hey racked the new atv already????
 
All the devices you mention including the appletv are aimed squarly at video with music kind of hung on.

If you want a video solution then apparently boxeebox is just not prime time yet and is getting a bit of a slamming.

I run a gen one ATV with crystal chip (for HD) and XBMC for video. Its all running from linux off a memory stick as its really fast
 
Agree re. Squeeze - have duet but AppleTV 2 is easier for all to use and does not fall over so often. Looks like will go the headless MacMin route and use ipad/iphone to run the lost. BTW BBC iPlayer - great on iPad
 
Quiet Intel desktop and XBMC on Windows will be my next media solution, but it is mostly used for video.

Richard
 
I run my iMac straight into my TV(OK projector) over HDMI and into the DAC via optical. If you have a Plasma or LCD TV you could do the same and perhaps use a small Wireless Keyboard and/or Magic Trackpad to control it. You can then do whatever you want media wise and not restricted to what is available/plays on a AppleTV.
 
Thanks all. I don't think I was clear enough with my explanation of my set-up.

Main system in dining room mini>benchmark HDR>ATC scm50a and a second system in living room ATV gen1>caiman>ATC scm10.2a synching from the mini. This second system has my LCD tv connected though really the only video currently watched on it is a few episodes of bagpuss for my daughter!

Once I have refurbed one of the spare rooms I want to have a compact audio system in there, have amp/speakers sorted just need a source. This system may or may not have a TV connected, unsure at present (would be useful for ps3 etc but have always considered it slightly vulgar to have a tv in a bedroom).

Was considering just using an ipod dock but figured an audio/video streaming device would be good. The obvious choice was a gen2 atv but wanted to look at alternatives. I figure that if I can get a more powerful alternative then I could move the gen1 atv upstairs and use the new toy in the living room and actually get back into watching some movies.......

Edit: mini is headless and conrolled via screen share when required
 
OK I would be thinking along the same lines then. People think the gen2 atv could be a trojan horse and perhaps have its own apps/app store before long. This I think would make it the most powerful alternative.
 
re OP, WD can't be run headless. Re usability, the menu's are sorely lacking, navigating through 4 levels of Folders to reach an album raises eyebrows. There may be playlist support with custom firmware, I need to investigate this. Media-wise, it doesn't sound too bad either, certainly the equal of my Oppo 980h using .WAV (not saying much).

How about an ASRock Ion small form factor PC running Win7 + Media Centre? IR remote support and half-decent metadata capabilities too.

What I really want is a cheap(er) Sooloos :)

Steve
 
Peter Stockwell said:
I hven't tried usingthe non apple features with the touch as a remote
Click to expand...

It's a more general problem than that; nothing will work from the touch until I have selected a sub menu from the home screen using the apple remote. It doesn't matter which one I select as from there the touch will control and allow navigation to anywhere as per normal. If I don't use the apple remote to do this trying to access the itunes library with the touch caused the machine to reset. Weird eh?
 
No problems, but it probably explains why you have to get the remote up to speed each time, I'm looking for a way to turn the Aplle TV off betrween sessions, without pulling the plug everytime.
 
Peter Stockwell said:
No problems, but it probably explains why you have to get the remote up to speed each time, I'm looking for a way to turn the Aplle TV off betrween sessions, without pulling the plug everytime.
Click to expand...
You can't. It's meant to be either running or in standby. I think it's designed to minimise power usage anyway, by spinning down the drive whenever possible, etc., so I don't know how much difference standby actually makes. I wonder if anyone's used a plug-in power monitor to get accurate figures?
 
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