Do I buy atv2
#1
Hi guys

I have xbmc on atv1 and my mac mini, I would like to buy atv2 for the bedroom, would you buy it now or would you wait for a while reading the posts, it seems there are a few bugs,

Paul
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#2
I've literally had mine 2 days and bought it specifically for XBMC.

I'm am extremely impressed.

Streaming 720p MKV's perfectly
have the iPlayer plugin working

My only issue is the tethered boot, however that has nothing to do with XBMC or the team..

I would highly recommend this as a cheap media player.
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#3
Have you tried atv2 with 1080p mkv's?
If you could test a few mkv's to see how higher the bitrate it could handle, it would be very appreciated since 'im interested in getting one...
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#4
I use PLEX to play all of my 1080p files, it works great most of the time. Currently PLEX is for Mac's only.
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#5
I would say yes, I've been using the unofficial builds and the work being done on this is nothing short of amazing, I've tried 1080p MKVs and they played flawlessly. Once they sort out some audio downsampling issues the ATV2 will be the perfect little machine.

Also as of today, a non tethered jailbreak is available making it even better!
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#6
Paulkai Wrote:I have xbmc on atv1 and my mac mini, I would like to buy atv2 for the bedroom, would you buy it now or would you wait for a while reading the posts, it seems there are a few bugs,

Like the other guys said, the only gotcha is the tethered boot. So if you have a computer you can connect to the aTV2 in it's final resting place to boot it you'll be fine. That being said, the untethered jb was just released so the gotcha is probably fixed already... http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=93104

As for the aTV2 itself, it's cheap/quiet/small/nice looking/efficient and with the jb+XBMC there isn't much it can't do... as long as your content is standard def xvid/divx or high def x264/h264.

I'd stick to the unofficial builds for now... they're stable and have the latest bug fixes. http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=92261
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#7
what's the different between a tethered boot and an untethered boot? I plan on getting an ATV2 for my game room. Using ATV1 for awhile now and i will need something that can play my 720p HD mkv movies.
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#8
turbinez Wrote:what's the different between a tethered boot and an untethered boot? I plan on getting an ATV2 for my game room. Using ATV1 for awhile now and i will need something that can play my 720p HD mkv movies.

In the event of a power failure or somehow the Apple TV losing power, the system will need to boot up again. A tethered boot means you need to plug a USB cable from the PC to the Apple TV to run a command so that it can boot back up. A non tethered boot means it will just power up automatically without having to do anything.

If you have a laptop, you can just hook it up and launch it and in theory not have to worry about it since you'll never power it down. You can still put the device to sleep and not worry about having to boot it too.
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#9
Thanks for the repiles, I have looked at the various links, I will buy one but think I will wait for a month or two
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#10
Well, the tethered boot is not that of a problem.. (how often do you guys in America lose powerHuhHuh)

I had not been forced to tether boot once since the thing is up and running.
Sleep is OK, it is just when you unplug the cord (which is useless - that thing does not use any power...)

I would not wait one month or two...
If you buy then, there is a big chance you will have the next iOS release on it and - as always - there might be a time in which nothing can jailbreak this thing.... (look how long it took to untether the 4.2.1)

The thing runs smooth and is really easy to install. (If you're not into command line you might get atvflash (black) and then installation is just starting a programm).

Devs getting out updates every two to three days in general - but even now it is really usable.
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#11
Kaiserlein Wrote:there might be a time in which nothing can jailbreak this thing.... (look how long it took to untether the 4.2.1)

Are you suggesting there is a non tether solution already?? or are you jsut refering to the rumours that greenpoison have one in the works?

if you know of one, share please Big Grin!!
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#12
One is in the works, give it a few days.
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#13
My advice is if you can wait, wait atleast 2-3 months if you are a Windows User. If you are a Mac user then wait one more month. But don't expect the ATV2 to replace a full fledged XBMC install on a HTPC. It's good, but not that good.
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#14
Go for it.

Prices are great for the units on ebay or even in BM stores.

I did the tethered process in an OSX vm, yet got by the whole set it up by your computer business by powering the device through the small battery backup unit I use for my TV setup anyway. No need to power down and it worked great, just plug in the one end of the hdmi cable prior.

I'm running the nightly from feb. 1, and 720p, 1080p, browsing, etc is all working great, much smoother and just plain better than the atv1.

Another hats off to the team that makes this possible.
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#15
I think this is the teather free jailbreak. http://veryrite.com/2011/02/04/how-to-ja...ois0n-rc5/ the instructions are for the iPad but it patches the atv2 as well.
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