Contemplating ATV2 purchase
#1
...but now I am reading the ATV2 is being pulled everywhere except through the Apple store.

supposedly it is in anticipation of a new ATV product launch in early March, but there are conflicting rumors, some say it will be an A5 dual core cpu based set top box with 1080p capability, a refresh of the ATV2.

Some are saying that it will be an entirely new item, a television branded by Apple....

I don't want to buy an ATV2 if a 1080p capable ATV3 unit is two weeks out, but if it turns out to be a HDTV product, might it get difficult to find a ATV2, leaving me to choose between an ebay ATV2 at inflated prices or just buying a small mini pc because at nearly $200 I can build a small pc.

Anyone else following the ATV news?
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#2
I'm not sure but Amazon use to have them for around $90 and now it looks like they are $180. I ended up buying a used one on ebay for 95.

So what you kinda makes sense.
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#3
It depends what you believe as it's all rumours at the moment. I've been following it for a while but they might release an actual HDTV then you might wait a few months for a Jailbreak and another few for an XBMC port. Where as if you pick up an ATV2 now you know it can run everything off the bat. The current ATV2 does a fine job handling pretty much all content (check the FAQ for what) and 720P content still looks great on it so i'm not too fused about the 1080P but that is a personal preference obviously.

My guess would be an upgraded ATV3 soon and then maybe an HDTV end of this year early next?
Set Up
Raspberry Pi running Raspbmc - XBMC 12.2
40" Samsung ES6800 LED Smart 3D 1080P TV
Onkyo HTS3405 5.1 DD True HD and DTS-HD Surround Sound
ReadyNAS Duo with 4TB (2 x 2TB X-RAID) Western Digital Caviar Green using NFS
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#4
i think you are right, that's my assessment, i feel it's a bit much to think they will launch the iPad3 and other devices along side a full fledged HDTV product. They would probably have some marketing teasers leading up to that launch and a major media event for an overpriced HDTV.

wondering why people are buying them second hand and paying $160+ on ebay when you can buy one brand new direct from the Apple website for $99 and install XMBC yourself?
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#5
nobody_here Wrote:wondering why people are buying them second hand and paying $160+ on ebay when you can buy one brand new direct from the Apple website for $99 and install XBMC yourself?

Because people are stupid and do stupid things when it comes to bidding!
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#6
nobody_here Wrote:i think you are right, that's my assessment, i feel it's a bit much to think they will launch the iPad3 and other devices along side a full fledged HDTV product. They would probably have some marketing teasers leading up to that launch and a major media event for an overpriced HDTV.

wondering why people are buying them second hand and paying $160+ on ebay when you can buy one brand new direct from the Apple website for $99 and install XBMC yourself?

I've seen loads of people buying them for the £99 from Apple that they are here (don't see how you get it for $99 and we have to pay the same in £ but thats another story haha) and then jailbreaking it and putting XBMC/IceFilms/SportsDevil/TVCatchup and then selling them as like "ultimate media boxes" for up to £190. Also I think you're right about that. A HDTV from Apple would be a completely new product so they would probably have some huge even where they would just show that off. Then again it could be the infamous "One More Thing..."
Set Up
Raspberry Pi running Raspbmc - XBMC 12.2
40" Samsung ES6800 LED Smart 3D 1080P TV
Onkyo HTS3405 5.1 DD True HD and DTS-HD Surround Sound
ReadyNAS Duo with 4TB (2 x 2TB X-RAID) Western Digital Caviar Green using NFS
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#7
deanmv Wrote:I've seen loads of people buying them for the £99 from Apple that they are here (don't see how you get it for $99 and we have to pay the same in £ but thats another story haha) and then jailbreaking it and putting XBMC/IceFilms/SportsDevil/TVCatchup and then selling them as like "ultimate media boxes" for up to £190. Also I think you're right about that. A HDTV from Apple would be a completely new product so they would probably have some huge even where they would just show that off. Then again it could be the infamous "One More Thing..."

Yesterday I walk right into the Apple Store in the Mall and pay $99 USD for a brand new Apple TV2

brought it home, jailbroke and loaded XBMC on it in under 20 minutes

unfortunately it looks like my library consists primarily of high bitrate content of which almost none of them are compatible with the ATV2 hardware. I confirmed this by taking a video that would stutter and skip as a 16Gb 1080p mkv and reencoded using Handbrake using the ATV2 preset as a 720p mkv which ended up around 4.5Gb and it playes flawlessly. Network is wired so it wasn't a wireless limitation. Also, of the movies that will play, a couple times during the movie it would crash to the home screen.....unacceptable.

Unfortunately I am not going to spend months re-encoding my entire library just to dumb it down for the ATV2 when I can sell this thing for $130 and turn around and buy a small Foxconn AMD Hudson E-350/AMD HD6310 based PC for that much, toss in 4Gb of DDR3 memory for $20 and use an old 250Gb SATA hard drive I have laying around and make a fully functional XBMC unit that should play anything.
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