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peterc2609 · 2013-12-05, 11:46

I've had a few Apple TV2's in the house for a year or two now... jailbroken and running XBMC with Live TV etc - they've been fine.

However I've just bought a Pi and put OpeneElec on it, overclocked it and it also seems fine!

I'm not a pixel snob, so not too worried about performance or how good the picture is etc...

ATV2s are selling on ebay for £250+... I have 4. So I could sell all on ebay for £1000 and spend less than £200 on buying 4 x RPi with accessories.

Are there any features within XBMC that I cant do on the RPi but can on the ATV?

I don't use Netflix so no worries there, and I don't really use any of the Apple features on the ATV - simply boot up and select XBMC!

Peter

awp0 · (This post was last modified: 2013-12-05, 14:58 by awp0.)

If you don't need any of the stock ATV apps (Netflix, etc) and you're comfortable with the performance that you see in your RPi then it's hard to think of anything that the ATV does which can't be done with the RPi. 1080p output is a rather important thing the RPi does which the ATV2 cannot do. The RPi is also infinitely more flexible when it comes to different Linux distros, interfacing with hardware, etc.

Edit: One more thing worth considering is Airplay. XBMC supports Airplay, but I'm not sure how robust that support is. For example, I remember that mirroring wasn't working, and I'm not sure if the video game support works either. It's been a while since I've tried, so maybe it has improved by now.

00b5 · (This post was last modified: 2013-12-05, 17:17 by 00b5.)

(2013-12-05, 14:29)awp0 Wrote: If you don't need any of the stock ATV apps (Netflix, etc) and you're comfortable with the performance that you see in your RPi then it's hard to think of anything that the ATV does which can't be done with the RPi. 1080p output is a rather important thing the RPi does which the ATV2 cannot do. The RPi is also infinitely more flexible when it comes to different Linux distros, interfacing with hardware, etc.

Edit: One more thing worth considering is Airplay. XBMC supports Airplay, but I'm not sure how robust that support is. For example, I remember that mirroring wasn't working, and I'm not sure if the video game support works either. It's been a while since I've tried, so maybe it has improved by now.

It is much worse now with IOS7 devices, since the implementation that XBMC (FRODO) uses is very old.
It often doesn't work inside XBMC (FRODO), but works great with the native ATV2 interface.

It will be hard for XBMC to maintain airplay support unless they decide to licsence it, which i'm pretty sure is pricey and not likely to happen. Someone will need to reverse engineer a newer version somewhere.

I'm in almost the exact same situation as the OP, and i'm strongly thinking about selling off my ATV2s as well. I REALLY want to get intel NUCs to replace them, but I might try a pi as well as a test to see what its like.

nickr · 2013-12-08, 05:29

Every hacker/fiddler/geek should have a RPi in the home anyway, just cos they are so cool. So get one, and if you don't like it with XBMC use it for something else.

macsat · 2013-12-09, 20:11

While RPi does support 1080p - it cannot handle 1080p in combination with DTS sound tracks.

**popcornmix** · 2013-12-09, 20:12

(2013-12-09, 20:11)macsat Wrote: While RPi does support 1080p - it cannot handle 1080p in combination with DTS sound tracks.

Yes it can. Have you tried this lately?

calev · 2013-12-09, 20:17

(2013-12-09, 20:12)popcornmix Wrote:
(2013-12-09, 20:11)macsat Wrote: While RPi does support 1080p - it cannot handle 1080p in combination with DTS sound tracks.
Yes it can. Have you tried this lately?

I still have problems doing this over samba shares. Pass through isn't an option for me, and neither is nfs shares since im on a public network. Works fine on usb though.

**popcornmix** · 2013-12-09, 20:24

(2013-12-09, 20:17)calev Wrote: I still have problems doing this over samba shares. Pass through isn't an option for me, and neither is nfs shares since im on a public network. Works fine on usb though.

Samba is a much less efficient protocol than nfs. Not quite sure why samba is possible on a public network and nfs isn't?
Or do you mean you don't have admin rights so can't change things?

The other option is overclocking - what are you running at now?
What is format and bitrate of the movie?

calev · (This post was last modified: 2013-12-09, 21:30 by calev.)

nfs isn't password protected, thats why I use samba. Its a university network where I live. About 75 people are connected to the same local network. I'm running it at 800, and im sure over clocking it higher might fix it, I just haven't had a couple days to figure out what all goes into to doing that. Pretty much all dts movies stutter over my network, I mean usually 1080p h.265 files around 10 gigs with a dts track.

Hip-Gnosis · (This post was last modified: 2013-12-10, 06:54 by Hip-Gnosis.)

- ATV2 also has the ability (out of the box) to learn any tv remote you have. I use mine with 4 different remotes (Tv, Amp, DVD, plus the incuded ATV remote) so I never spend much time looking for the remote. You can buy an IR receiver for the Pi but that's an extra cost and requires extra setup. If your TV/Remote has CEC support you can use that remote with the Pi but, from my experience, the time required for the TV to pass the commands to the Pi is very noticeable, and rather annoying. I mostly use Yatse (android app) to control XBMC on the Pi.
- Also, ATV2 optical audio out Vs. RPi 1/8" jack.
- I found the ATV2 with XBMC to be far more stable than the RPi... but the RPi is getting better. I'd say with the release of Gotham (or soon after) the RPi will be rock solid.
- From my experience, the ATV2 is not powerful enough to handle Live TV. RPi seems to have just enough power... but could probably do with a bit more (RPi RevB overclocked and using external usb3 storage)
- ATV2 has built-in Wi-Fi
- ATV2 has built-in power supply