Apple TV

[Dolby]

I think that program is Apple only?

Doesn't help the majority of us :/ My friends made peace with the fact he'll only start watching his media in a few months.

So glad I wasn't caught

 

[AntiThesis]

To be fair, you can't really discount Plex for not having airplay since it does do proper streaming and transcoding on the fly natively.

I also set up with plex - I was considering AppleTV but I tested out Netflix and Hulu first. Although they worked perfectly well (4Mb, uncapped), adverts made me a sad, sad monkey. It's still something I'd like to play with - what's a good retail price to pay for one in SA?

 

[undesign]

My friends made peace with the fact he'll only start watching his media in a few months.

Can't help it if your friend is intellectually challenged.

Say Dolby, how much of your media library does your Bluray player play without Plex installed?

 

[Dolby]

Say Dolby, how much of your media library does your Bluray player play without Plex installed?

I've never tried - but I'd assume everything?

My B650 LCD plays pretty much everything on it ... MKV, M2TS and pretty much anything I threw at it

 

[koffiejunkie]

My friends made peace with the fact he'll only start watching his media in a few months.

Your friend is an idiot if he thinks he can't watch anything because it's not tagged yet. And you're perpetuating that idiocy...

My B650 LCD plays pretty much everything on it ...

You haven't tried everything yet then. There's quite a few codecs that the Samsungs miss (I have one too).

 

[Dolby]

He'll be ready to start using his ATV in about June/July

Your friend is an idiot if he thinks he can't watch anything because it's not tagged yet. And you're perpetuating that idiocy...

That's a little harsh, koffie - bad day?

His 1,000 movies are mostly MKV/AVI and we assumed they couldn't be played on the ATV. However, I'll let him know he's an idiot and can play anything straight away.

PS With a combined combination of 20+ codecs/containers, it's not easy to test every single combination. However in my experience of 1,500 videos of most of the common - it works without a hitch.

Do you have a few that won't work?

EDIT : Seems MKV won't work ... so he needs to convert at a minimum. He then scrolls via a list (as it's untagged) of files and cannot search? So you're saying after the almost 2 hour conversion per movie he should be happy with the reduced features and bland list?

In all honesty, I'd also be slightly upset on learning that if I got an ATV. To each his own I guess - but some people want a real media solution

 

[koffiejunkie]

That's a little harsh, koffie - bad day?

His 1,000 movies are mostly MKV/AVI and we assumed they couldn't be played on the ATV.

Maybe, I didn't have my morning koffie... But you didn't mention the formats before. You made it sound like he can't use it until he's tagged it all, which isn't true.

PS With a combined combination of 20+ codecs/containers, it's not easy to test every single combination. However in my experience of 1,500 videos of most of the common - it works without a hitch.

You don't need to test all combinations. The DLNA player in the TV doesn't pick up some file containers, regardless of what codec they use (mine doesn't play mp4 files). The containers that it does see (mkv for example) can contain codecs that the TV doesn't support - and I have come across quite a few of those. One in particular was the timescapes.com videos that they used to make available for download. They're x264 in an mkv format, but I guess a profile that the TV doesn't support. I've come across other mkv files where the video works but sound not.

EDIT : Seems MKV won't work ... so he needs to convert at a minimum. He then scrolls via a list (as it's untagged) of files and cannot search? So you're saying after the almost 2 hour conversion per movie he should be happy with the reduced features and bland list?

http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=HOW-TO:Install_XBMC_on_Apple_TV_2

In all honesty, I'd also be slightly upset on learning that if I got an ATV. To each his own I guess - but some people want a real media solution

Should have read up a bit before buying. None of the literature on Apple's site make any claim that it will play any kind of file other than what is in iTunes.

 

[undesign]

As Dolby was perfectly aware of. And if not, then 10 minutes on Google would've sufficed. Installing XBMC to make the ATV a true media player solution has been discussed ad nauseam. So has comparing apples with pears. As usual, when it comes to Apple at least, Dolby prefers spreading FUD.

 

[Dolby]

Not fair, SiriS :/

The OP asked about the ATV as he knows very little. Is it wrong for me to point out the issues?
Or should we sugarcoat everything when it comes to Apple and tell him how wonderful it is?
Is it FUD if it's true?

I'm pretty sure the ATV I was looking couldn't be JB back then (or now?)