LoveTheBobby 1 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Been reading up on the uses and wherewithall of a hacked Apple TV box . The process can get involved and all the forums on the topic tend to use hardcore nerd speak which gets a bit heaby but a 'readymade' can be had off ebay for c.100. Anyway - anyone using one ? Thinking of using it as opposrd to firing up computer for streams (as can watch LiveOnlineFooty subs on it) , and also the Catchup stuff and maybe to set some kind of wireless caper up if I can be atsed to get thst far. Also with Megaupload going west the film side of these Apple Tv's has taken a knock I believe . So are they any good or what ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trophyshy 6434 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Welcome back mate. I've nowt helpful to say like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveTheBobby 1 Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 Ha cheers anyway TS . Also interested how the Youtube function with these is ? Outside of a pc platform its generally limited in my limited experience . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 34558 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 What exactly does hacking allow you to do that you werent previously able to do? Presumably stream non Appke standard files? Cos if you're restricted to Apple standard video files, it's gonna be a ball ache doing conversions. Also, couple of questions - when you say using it for catchup, do you mean like BBC and ITV player type stuff? Also, what do you mean about getting some kind of wireless caper up? There's plenty alternatives to Megaupload btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil 6 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 I've got an apple tv 2 with XBMC installed. I've never used the Apple side, just go straight into XBMC. It does everything you'd expect. Stream footy (there are much better sites than LOF), 720p, Icefilms etc... Anything in particular you wanted to know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 34558 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Phil, if you have a PS3, is there any advantage to having Apple TV as well? Does it do additional stuff if you can already stream through the PS3? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil 6 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 (edited) I dont have a PS3, so not sure what it can do. Is there anything in particular you hand in mind? The Apple TV 2 is really just used for streaming content. tbh, I really dont use the Apple software it comes with, so have no idea if its good or bad. I'm pretty sure most of the Apple TV's have been bought to run the lightweight version of XBMC (which a top end media player). Once this is installed you can do pretty much everything the XBMC can do. Again it's main use is to stream content from other PC's or via the internet. I'd only suggest getting one if you knew about XBMC or downloaded a lot of TV/Movies to a file share. Edited February 6, 2012 by Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveTheBobby 1 Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 Far from expert and like I say some of the techspeak Ive encountered twists the melons. Hacked allows you to put "apps" (cant recall what refered to) on like Icefilms which when previously in cahoots with Megaupload - could stream uploaded movies/tv directly i.e. saves the whole torrent/dload carry on. I know there's loads of these hosting providers and now Rapidshare content now replacing the removed Megaupload stuff on Icefilms but is now very limited content. Regarding wireless setup, yeah looking to stream from nas/router to inherently wifi enabled little AppleTv box. The format thing can kinda be overvome (i believe) by the XBMC interface as Phil referred to (i think its XBMC anyway - if not there's an alternate "app" to play more formats I'm sure) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjHE65r2D1I Phil - a few q's if you'd be so kind . How easy is it to self-hack these ? Can be bought for £85 'clean' and c.£100-£130 pre-hacked (loads tutorials on youtube and loads of versions of these hacks and potentially a frustrating process ?) The ready-hacked ones I've seen available vary in what's installed - and prices reflects this - how easy is it to add "apps" (using pc not Mac-dont know if this comes into it as I THINK they're downloaded direct from the Wiki list)? Picture quality - how is it generally, HD content-wise ? Reading of folk having streaming issues but not sure if down to internet connection speeds ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 34558 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 I dont have a PS3, so not sure what it can do. Is there anything in particular you hand in mind? The Apple TV 2 is really just used for streaming content. tbh, I really dont use the Apple software it comes with, so have no idea if its good or bad. I'm pretty sure most of the Apple TV's have been bought to run the lightweight version of XBMC (which a top end media player). Once this is installed you can do pretty much everything the XBMC can do. Again it's main use is to stream content from other PC's or via the internet. I'd only suggest getting one if you knew about XBMC or downloaded a lot of TV/Movies to a file share. Cheers. I've got a NAS wireless thingy which I stream onto the PS3, so I don't think I'd get much more out of the Apple TV. Just checking in case I was missing a trick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dynamite 5935 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 It's a good job that bloke in the video has a decent set up cos he aint having sex anytime soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 34558 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 gotta be hard doing a video like that without looking a twat though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 34558 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Looks canny good that LTB, having watched the video. You'll want it plugged in to your router rather than going through the wireless though. My PS3 is plugged in to my router, as is my NAS box thing and I have no bother streaming - it never buffers cos it's all wired in. I can stream from the NAS to a laptop or iPad (which are on wireless) and get no buffering either. But if I try to stream direct from my PC (on wireless) to the PS3 (on wireless), there's invariably some buffering goes on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveTheBobby 1 Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 Aye G i'll probs go down the wired route actually as I currently dwell in an older house and the thick walls weaken the signal . Wireless also gives you cancers n shit . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 34558 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 My mam will not have wireless in the house cos she's convinced it'll kill her. I pull up all the wireless signals from her neighbours and show her that about 6 are available in her house anyway, but she thinks she's immune as long as she's not paying for it or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil 6 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 How easy is it to self-hack these ? Can be bought for £85 'clean' and c.£100-£130 pre-hacked (loads tutorials on youtube and loads of versions of these hacks and potentially a frustrating process ?) The ready-hacked ones I've seen available vary in what's installed - and prices reflects this - how easy is it to add "apps" (using pc not Mac-dont know if this comes into it as I THINK they're downloaded direct from the Wiki list)? Picture quality - how is it generally, HD content-wise ? Reading of folk having streaming issues but not sure if down to internet connection speeds ? They are pretty easy to hack and there's lots of guides online. You basically plug it into a PC and it shows up as hard drive. Then within iTunes you run a restore of a hacked OS. The guide i used also included running a few extra lines of code to install nitroTV, which enabled everything else to be done via the TV/remote. I vaguely remember having issue getting Windows to detect it and had to plug the power cable in until the lights flashed (they do that during a reboot). £15 isnt much extra to have the hacked os installed. Windows 7 is SMB compliant, which means you just need to share out a folder and add the details to XBMC. You use network shares to stream content, so its really easy to do and you'll probably setup several to use in rule filters (movies, tv, music etc..). Apps' (or addons as they are called in XBMC) can be installed via a network share. just double click on the zip file and it installs it for you. Although XBMC comes with a large list of approved addon, which can be added via the remote. Picture quality is 720p and below. I have no issue stream this via the web or locally. Apple TV 2 doesnt support 1080p. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveTheBobby 1 Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 My mam will not have wireless in the house cos she's convinced it'll kill her. I pull up all the wireless signals from her neighbours and show her that about 6 are available in her house anyway, but she thinks she's immune as long as she's not paying for it or something. haha - Mam's are great . Mine's only just got to grips with making calls on a mobile . She bought a dvd player with a new flatscreen tv a few years ago . Never used it once . Never eaten curry either . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveTheBobby 1 Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 Thanks Phil - sounds pretty good and while I quite like a challenge I also hate the frustration computers can offer up (and just on Vista not Win7) so as long as I get hold of one with Nitro and BMX on it I should be sorted . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil 6 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Yeah, NitroTV will let up install and update XBMC on the fly. Vista also supports SMB, so the rest is easy and can be done via the remote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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