Apple TV

setanta5

Has anyone taken the plunge yet and got an apple TV? I've been toying with the idea for some time but was put off by the lack of video formats.

I read on a website that if you can get a movie to play in iTunes it should work. There is a workaround for getting Divx and AVI to play on iTunes so in theory they should work on the apple tv. I guess i'm trying to see if anyone has first hand experience of using it?

Cabaal

No HDTV for me so won't be getting one, so I'm sticking with my Modded X-Box and XBMC
plays everything including iso's of dvd's

triple h

I have been wondering about apple tv too. But i can't see the logic in getting one just yet. I can see myself getting one some day in the future. I just don't know yet. I am going to see what people say about it first.

uncle_sam_ie

I took the plunge last week and don't regret it one bit. All the stuff that I download off certain sites gets converted using iSquint. It's a really easy way to get content from my Mac to my 42" plasma. H.264 video podcasts are becoming more common and there is a lot to choose from. Not quite HD but close. If you find yourself watching a lot of stuff on your Mac and want it on a big screen without the inconvenience of getting it to work properly, then go for the Apple TV you won't regret it.

Also, Apple can (add HD content) and are (youtube access) going to be releasing software updates that will make it even better.

setanta5

uncle sam,

can you try something for me. If you open a .avi movie in quicktime pro (if you have it) and save the movie as a reference, then drag that reference into itunes, you should be able to play/sync the movie to apple tv. Can you try this? It might save all the converting of previously downloaded/ripped stuff.

uncle_sam_ie

setanta5 wrote:

uncle sam,

can you try something for me. If you open a .avi movie in quicktime pro (if you have it) and save the movie as a reference, then drag that reference into itunes, you should be able to play/sync the movie to apple tv. Can you try this? It might save all the converting of previously downloaded/ripped stuff.

Ok, I got it into itunes, and it played alright in itunes, but it won't sync to the Apple TV( I have the file stored on an external hard-drive). There has to be a hack. If I could get that to work it would be awesome.

setanta5

Yea that was thing some guy of the net had on his blog. He contacted Apple and they said that once it plays in iTunes it should work but obviously that's not the case. To be honest i keep my movies on external HD also and use this as a trick to get them onto frontrow.

triple h

don't know if this will be helpful----it might----

www.roxio.co.uk

this is an essential video converter for apple tv

uncle_sam_ie

triple h wrote:

don't know if this will be helpful----it might----

www.roxio.co.uk

this is an essential video converter for apple tv

Ya, that's what iSquint does for free.

flogen

Has the TV been hacked yet to turn it into a computer too? I heard people were working on getting a full version of OSX on there but don't know if they've managed it yet.

Won't be getting one any time soon - not got a decent TV for it, but if it can be used as a computer it'd make it very appealing over a mac mini!

triple h

uncle_sam_ie wrote:

Ya, that's what iSquint does for free.

ahhh ok, thanks. handy to know.

The thing is when i see stuff like Divx and AVI i get lost, i have not got a fecking clue what these mean and when and if i do have to find out, i will find out in google what they mean and read up about it.

Rollo Tamasi

flogen wrote:

Has the TV been hacked yet to turn it into a computer too? I heard people were working on getting a full version of OSX on there but don't know if they've managed it yet.

Won't be getting one any time soon - not got a decent TV for it, but if it can be used as a computer it'd make it very appealing over a mac mini!

OS X has been hacked onto Apple TV. There is a video on Google Video (can't check from work) which demonstrates it. The hack basically involved the user changing the TV H/D for a standard Apple H/D. Job done. Looked simple.

The only problem is that the spec of the Apple TV is way too low to operate OS X efficiently. The other problem is the rumour that Apple can reset the settings on your Apple TV to prevent you from altering it's hardware/software. Not sure if this is true. I have read blogs were users reported that their Apple TV went back to its factory settings after they hacked it.

If you want a solution to watch TV from an Apple product then I would go with the Mac Mini. It's not that much more expensive and you get a lot more out of it. Including a VGA connector which as far as I know does not come with Apple TV.

Fanboy

setanta5 wrote:

Yea that was thing some guy of the net had on his blog. He contacted Apple and they said that once it plays in iTunes it should work but obviously that's not the case. To be honest i keep my movies on external HD also and use this as a trick to get them onto frontrow.

You need to take out apple tv hard drive, plug it in to your laptop/pc (using external enclosure), put the DivX / Xvid codecs on (perian), then pop it back in and it will play all your movie/tv content.

Search for 'Apple TV DivX' in google. Good thread on 'Something Awful' website.

uncle_sam_ie

Rollo Tamasi wrote:

If you want a solution to watch TV from an Apple product then I would go with the Mac Mini. It's not that much more expensive and you get a lot more out of it. Including a VGA connector which as far as I know does not come with Apple TV.

True you could do a lot more with a Mac mini, but a new one is twice the price(€629)of the Apple TV and second hand mini's are holding there value. I just wanted a simple easy way to get my downloads onto my TV and so far I'm very pleased with the Apple TV.