Do I need an Apple TV?
Discussion
Primarily Apple TV gives you access to your iTunes library (if you have one) and the iTunes store for music, TV and movies (purchases and rentals). Apps for Netflix (already on Chromecast) and various other streaming services. If you have an iTunes library and want access to the iTunes Store then it's worth having. If not then...
Amazon Fire TV is almost identical but instread of the iTunes Store you have love film, you need an Amazon Prime account to access this. Significantly for UK users Fire TV has BBC iPlayer and 5OD. It also has Plex which you can only get on a hacked Apple TV.
Bottom line, at £79 each I have both. Means I have access to the broadest quantity of media as and when needed.
Amazon Fire TV is almost identical but instread of the iTunes Store you have love film, you need an Amazon Prime account to access this. Significantly for UK users Fire TV has BBC iPlayer and 5OD. It also has Plex which you can only get on a hacked Apple TV.
Bottom line, at £79 each I have both. Means I have access to the broadest quantity of media as and when needed.
PLEX - thats not totally correct.
If you have Plex App on your iphone, then airplay it over to apple TV.
Works perfect for us.
We have also split out the HDMI and TOSLiNk Audio so we can airplay Spotify and alike through to our Amp and NAIM floorstanders. Its great and very easy and saves having the TV on.
If you have Plex App on your iphone, then airplay it over to apple TV.
Works perfect for us.
We have also split out the HDMI and TOSLiNk Audio so we can airplay Spotify and alike through to our Amp and NAIM floorstanders. Its great and very easy and saves having the TV on.
kriss said:
We have also split out the HDMI and TOSLiNk Audio so we can airplay Spotify and alike through to our Amp and NAIM floorstanders. Its great and very easy and saves having the TV on.
I've also done this although I just use it to stream ituens from my phone, not a spotify user.My ATV probably gets used for 4-8 hours a day every day someone is home.
No what you need is amazon fire tv running xbmc (kido) sideloaded. No rooting required , you need a decent repisortory for the add ons .I use genesis and navi-x which cover movies and tv
Now hardware is great , xbmc itself runs like silk but the issue i have is the streaming. "Deliver us from evil" the new film did my head in with constant buffering with genesis .You can select a different source ,but i switched it to auto as it "should" pick the best one.
Tv shows "jane the virgin" + "supernatural" havent had any issues so far , maybe because they aint 1080p i dunno. I also still have my external HDDs and wdtv live as a back up , although i dont want to get back to downloading and sending across wifi to the hdd.
Now hardware is great , xbmc itself runs like silk but the issue i have is the streaming. "Deliver us from evil" the new film did my head in with constant buffering with genesis .You can select a different source ,but i switched it to auto as it "should" pick the best one.
Tv shows "jane the virgin" + "supernatural" havent had any issues so far , maybe because they aint 1080p i dunno. I also still have my external HDDs and wdtv live as a back up , although i dont want to get back to downloading and sending across wifi to the hdd.
pimpchez said:
Now hardware is great , xbmc itself runs like silk but the issue i have is the streaming. "Deliver us from evil" the new film did my head in with constant buffering with genesis .You can select a different source ,but i switched it to auto as it "should" pick the best one.
Tv shows "jane the virgin" + "supernatural" havent had any issues so far , maybe because they aint 1080p i dunno. I also still have my external HDDs and wdtv live as a back up , although i dont want to get back to downloading and sending across wifi to the hdd.
When the jittering and buffering occurs on a Jailbroken ATV2 with XBMC installed, it is usually because the (limited) amount of memory is running out. This often happens over time if the cache is not cleared out and/or lots of different repositories have been installed. Installing the 'maintenance tool' to clear out the cache and unnecessary package installs helps a great deal. I can't comment on the Amazon Fire - never used it.Tv shows "jane the virgin" + "supernatural" havent had any issues so far , maybe because they aint 1080p i dunno. I also still have my external HDDs and wdtv live as a back up , although i dont want to get back to downloading and sending across wifi to the hdd.
FuzzyLogic said:
pimpchez said:
Now hardware is great , xbmc itself runs like silk but the issue i have is the streaming. "Deliver us from evil" the new film did my head in with constant buffering with genesis .You can select a different source ,but i switched it to auto as it "should" pick the best one.
Tv shows "jane the virgin" + "supernatural" havent had any issues so far , maybe because they aint 1080p i dunno. I also still have my external HDDs and wdtv live as a back up , although i dont want to get back to downloading and sending across wifi to the hdd.
When the jittering and buffering occurs on a Jailbroken ATV2 with XBMC installed, it is usually because the (limited) amount of memory is running out. This often happens over time if the cache is not cleared out and/or lots of different repositories have been installed. Installing the 'maintenance tool' to clear out the cache and unnecessary package installs helps a great deal. I can't comment on the Amazon Fire - never used it.Tv shows "jane the virgin" + "supernatural" havent had any issues so far , maybe because they aint 1080p i dunno. I also still have my external HDDs and wdtv live as a back up , although i dont want to get back to downloading and sending across wifi to the hdd.
te sources/hosts. I have had it a week and it comes with 2gb ram and 8gb internal memory which will never be. filled. icefilms doesn't work at all , i think the biggest issue you may find is the development of the "add ons" , the UI logic isn't always what you'd get expect of software in 2015. Some work most don't but the two i have cover all my needs anyway.
The question you should ask yourself is what extras are you looking for that you can't get with your current setup?
If you want to start hacking software just upgrade the firmware on your Now TV box to standard Roku. I have a Roku Streaming Stick which gets all the major catchup channels (BBC iPlayer. ITV Player, 4OD and Demand 5). There is a Plex app, Netflix, YouTube, I waste a lot of time watching TED presentations and there are hundreds of other channels and games to choose from. At the moment I am trying to decide whether to take out a Now TV or Netflix subscription.
If you want to start hacking software just upgrade the firmware on your Now TV box to standard Roku. I have a Roku Streaming Stick which gets all the major catchup channels (BBC iPlayer. ITV Player, 4OD and Demand 5). There is a Plex app, Netflix, YouTube, I waste a lot of time watching TED presentations and there are hundreds of other channels and games to choose from. At the moment I am trying to decide whether to take out a Now TV or Netflix subscription.
We have Apple TV and it works well, especially if you already have iTunes accounts etc. The UI is intuitive and typical of Apple products...ie. pretty much as good as it gets. AirPlay is great too. Bottom line, it "just works" which is ultimately the key.
In my experience, Chromecast is very limited, has patchy functionality, as well as reliability.
In my experience, Chromecast is very limited, has patchy functionality, as well as reliability.
ATV is a nice piece of kit but I'd say only any use if you are heavily into the Apple world and have content on itunes. I don't so mine is sitting idle 99% of the time.
I do have Prime though so the Fire TV works well for me as it also runs Netflix, iplayer and you can install xbmc and/or Plex to stream local content. It's supposed to support airplay but I've never got it to work right. There is also a squeezebox client if you have that and a Spotify client. The interface is very simple as well. The audio/voice search is pretty cool but only works with prime at the moment.
It's really about where you get your content from.
P.S. Icefilms has been blocked by the copyright police.
I do have Prime though so the Fire TV works well for me as it also runs Netflix, iplayer and you can install xbmc and/or Plex to stream local content. It's supposed to support airplay but I've never got it to work right. There is also a squeezebox client if you have that and a Spotify client. The interface is very simple as well. The audio/voice search is pretty cool but only works with prime at the moment.
It's really about where you get your content from.
P.S. Icefilms has been blocked by the copyright police.
The Apple TV is great, we don't bother with traditional TV because most of it is utter crap. We use it for streaming stuff to the TV from iPhone or iPad. I also like watching youtube and vimeo on it. We paid about £60 or something for it, which I think is a fair price for the extra usability that it gives you on the TV.
It does get upset sometimes if you forget to turn it off and then come back to it later on, it crashes and hangs.
It does get upset sometimes if you forget to turn it off and then come back to it later on, it crashes and hangs.
95% of the features on Apple TV are all for just the USA anyway. (I'm never going to subscribe to watch NFL or basketball).
However for the use of Airplay and Netflix though it is worth it's weight in gold (an Apple TV box is about the price of a top end HDMI lead) and because it is so easy to use I've been able to show my technophobic family how to use it without issue easily. So much so that we've bought a couple of them for different rooms and family members.
tl;dr - Buy it to stream stuff you already have. Ignore the other features, they're just there to make you spend money.
However for the use of Airplay and Netflix though it is worth it's weight in gold (an Apple TV box is about the price of a top end HDMI lead) and because it is so easy to use I've been able to show my technophobic family how to use it without issue easily. So much so that we've bought a couple of them for different rooms and family members.
tl;dr - Buy it to stream stuff you already have. Ignore the other features, they're just there to make you spend money.
remkingston said:
Ignore the other features, they're just there to make you spend money.
Hmmm....until I upgraded the firmware in my Yamaha AV amp to enable Airplay and Internet Radio, I used my Apple TV to stream that, especially the wonderful Radio Paradise - www.radioparadise.comI also find Red Bull TV can be worth more than a cursory look.
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