Norcy91
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Registered: 15th Sep 08
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I'm looking at getting an Apple TV 2 and jail breaking it. I've seen one in use and it seems to work well for new films etc. But how does if work for normal channels? Can you get a list of channels like you do on Virgin Media or Sky? I'm wanting to replace my Virgin Media + box with one!
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ed
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Registered: 10th Sep 03
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An Apple TV isn't what you think it is, it just plays media from the internet, iTunes or if you Jailbreak it, your home network. It doesn't do normal TV channels.
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eckers90
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Registered: 22nd Apr 12
Location: birmingham
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I have a atv2 and jailbreak within 5 minutes iof it arriving, its so easy, and adding repositories is so easy, but yeah you dont get tv channels, theres some out there, you can get likee sky sports, and you can get eveyr football match that is aired, well every sports match that is aired. But not tv channels as such, you have to look at it like netflix but free, you can literally get any movie and any tv series going. but make sure you have unlimited internet cause it streams.
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ash_corsa
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Registered: 15th Apr 04
Location: Shrewsbury
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It's an absolute pain in the ass to watch, set up, navigate etc.. The quality of films and sport is shite. Even hd films looked like the dodgy copied DVDs you used to get.
As with most things like that, you pay for quality, tight arses who want it all for fuck all get a sub standard quality which some will be happy, not for me.
Complete waste of time and money IMO. Sold mine on and luckily made a few quid!
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Balling
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Registered: 7th Apr 04
Location: Denmark
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What exactly are you talking about?
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Gary
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Registered: 22nd Nov 06
Location: West Yorkshire
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Kinda agree with ash tbh, sold mine as all I ended up using it for was for iTunes films which I can use the ps3 for so sold it for what I paid for it.
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A2H GO
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Registered: 14th Sep 04
Location: Stoke
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quote:
Originally posted by Gary
Kinda agree with ash tbh, sold mine as all I ended up using it for was for iTunes films which I can use the ps3 for so sold it for what I paid for it.
This, turned mine on about twice in 12 months, once to test airplay and once to find out all the content was ridiculously priced.
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ed
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Registered: 10th Sep 03
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Why do you lot but things you don't need? I use mine every day
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Dom
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Registered: 13th Sep 03
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Tbh there are better media streamers/players out there than the TV2 but a TV2 + XBMC is pretty decent although a £25 Raspberry Pi will do 1080p whereas the Apple TV2 won't (hardware limitation).
As for replacing your virgin media box, not going to happen in the UK unfortunately (cable tuners on the VM network aren't allowed). Although it's doable with Sky and Freesat/Freeview, you'll want to look into tuners cards and HTPC's (Home Theatre PC)/PVR PC.
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Whittie
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Registered: 11th Aug 06
Location: North Wales Drives: BMW, Corsa & Fiat
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quote:
Originally posted by ed
An Apple TV isn't what you think it is, it just plays media from the internet, iTunes or if you Jailbreak it, your home network. It doesn't do normal TV channels.
A friend has got one streaming full sky with espn, as if it was from the TV with his.
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Dom
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Registered: 13th Sep 03
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quote:
Originally posted by Whittie
quote:
Originally posted by ed
An Apple TV isn't what you think it is, it just plays media from the internet, iTunes or if you Jailbreak it, your home network. It doesn't do normal TV channels.
A friend has got one streaming full sky with espn, as if it was from the TV with his.
Navi-X plugin or launch Sky Go app from within XBMC is the usual, although now that XBMC supports TV/PVR you could possibly use a USB DVB-S2 CAM tuner like a QBox (although your Sky card's are usually locked to your Sky box so no idea how'd you get around that).
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James
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Registered: 1st Jun 02
Location: Surrey
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I use my Apple TV all the time. I disagree that content is overpriced. £3.49 for a new release film. You would have paid £5 from Blockbuster when it was still around.
I also use Netflix on it and stream stuff via Airplay.
Mine isn't jailbroken but I still use it 2 or 3 times a week. For £100 I don't see how you can complain.
[Edited on 05-03-2013 by James]
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Dom
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Registered: 13th Sep 03
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quote:
Originally posted by James
For £100 I don't see how you can complain.
For a quarter of the price you can have something that handles 1080p (if we're talking TV2) and has access to free HD movies.
Unless you have an Apple eco-system and need to stream from iTunes then there are better devices than Apple TV's.
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James
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Registered: 1st Jun 02
Location: Surrey
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I never said it was the best at what it does, I was responding to people that bought one and never used it.
Which device are you referring to for a quarter of the price, out of interest?
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Dom
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Registered: 13th Sep 03
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quote:
Originally posted by James
I never said it was the best at what it does, I was responding to people that bought one and never used it.
Which device are you referring to for a quarter of the price, out of interest?
Raspberry Pi and yes it doesn't come in a 'shiny shiny' box (mines mounted behind the TV anyway) and yes it'll take you 15mins to setup but it's a £20/25 device.
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Norcy91
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Registered: 15th Sep 08
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I really don't have a clue when it comes to setting this sort of stuff up  Didn't realise it was so complicated!
Whats the deal with the Raspberry Pi then?
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Dom
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Registered: 13th Sep 03
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quote:
Originally posted by Norcy91
I really don't have a clue when it comes to setting this sort of stuff up
The Raspberry Pi is probably not for you then, i'd stick to off-the-shelf.
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ash_corsa
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Registered: 15th Apr 04
Location: Shrewsbury
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Norcy91
I really don't have a clue when it comes to setting this sort of stuff up Didn't realise it was so complicated!
You have to be a nerd to use a a jail broken atv.
For movies you buy through iTunes and paid services like Netflix it's brilliant, but when you use ice films etc.. The quality goes down the pan as does the pleasure of using it.
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Rob_Quads
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Registered: 29th Mar 01
Location: southampton
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quote:
Originally posted by Dom
Raspberry Pi and yes it doesn't come in a 'shiny shiny' box (mines mounted behind the TV anyway) and yes it'll take you 15mins to setup but it's a £20/25 device.
I'm not sure you can compare the Pi to the Apple TV - the processor in the Apple TV is far far superior to the Pi. The Pi will play media if the codecs are right but if they aren't you have no chance. Also it really struggles with any sort of really nice GUI. Its a great little device but its just that bit lacking to be a slick media centre
Also the Pi is always quoted as £25 but its not really as its another £5 for a reliable PSU, another £5 for the smallest decent SD card, now your at £35, Another £5 on a case, £40, another £3/£4 if you want it to use Wifi, £x for IR pickup. it quickly adds up not to be a £25 device
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Dom
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Registered: 13th Sep 03
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Rob_Quads
quote:
Originally posted by Dom
Raspberry Pi and yes it doesn't come in a 'shiny shiny' box (mines mounted behind the TV anyway) and yes it'll take you 15mins to setup but it's a £20/25 device.
I'm not sure you can compare the Pi to the Apple TV - the processor in the Apple TV is far far superior to the Pi. The Pi will play media if the codecs are right but if they aren't you have no chance. Also it really struggles with any sort of really nice GUI. Its a great little device but its just that bit lacking to be a slick media centre
Also the Pi is always quoted as £25 but its not really as its another £5 for a reliable PSU, another £5 for the smallest decent SD card, now your at £35, Another £5 on a case, £40, another £3/£4 if you want it to use Wifi, £x for IR pickup. it quickly adds up not to be a £25 device
My Pi (slightly overclocked to 800MHz) is as smooth as XBMC on a TV2 and as for codecs, a MPEG 2 license (which is all of £2.40) is the only one you need if you plan on playing DVD rips otherwise it handles majority of codecs without issue.
As for the apparent hidden costs, majority of the parts you've listed people will already have. If not then they can had pretty cheaply (you've exaggerated a fair amount) eg: genuine Samsung 1A USB charger can be had for £2, 4GB SD card is around £2/3, RPi case (if you want one) is £2.70. Putting it simply, by the time you've rented 10 iTunes films, you've purchased a RPi.
Horses for courses i guess. Only major downside to RPi is the lack of Netflix or Sky Go.
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ed
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Registered: 10th Sep 03
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My RasPi stutters all over the shop when playing 1080p MP4's over DLNA. Can't for the life of me figure out what's going on because I've resorted to playing films over airplay streaming via my phone which must be double the network traffic.
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Dom
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Registered: 13th Sep 03
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by ed
My RasPi stutters all over the shop when playing 1080p MP4's over DLNA. Can't for the life of me figure out what's going on because I've resorted to playing films over airplay streaming via my phone which must be double the network traffic.
I've got a few 1080p 8-12GB x264's and they stream fine, although i'm just using simple samba shares. Similarly i tried a 30GB H264 BDRip and apart from taking a while to get going, it played fine.
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MarkM
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Registered: 11th Apr 01
Location: Liverpool
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How do you get Sky Go on the ATV2??
Install the repository as normal?
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eckers90
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Registered: 22nd Apr 12
Location: birmingham
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you need a sky subscription
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MarkM
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Registered: 11th Apr 01
Location: Liverpool
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I have one. I asked how do you install it?
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