[clambert]

I've got XBMC running on several different devices but must admit this one (ATV2) has me really intrigued. But is it ready for primetime yet?

For those that have done it, does it seem quite stable? Can you install skins and plugins on the device? Is HD streaming via ethernet smooth? I realize it only outputs at 720p. That's not a problem for me.

I'm ready for something else to get into now that my Shuttle unit is running good.

Thanks in advance for any insight.

[kevron]

Is it Stable?
Yes, for me it is. I haven't really had to do much to it at all. Only "fix" I've had to do it the TimeZone fix. And that is simple to do. (See FAQ for Link)

Can you Install Skins and Plugins
Yes, you have to manually put the folders into the ATV2.
Some of the skins are slow. All the plugins I use work.

Is the HD streaming smooth Via Ethernet?
Yes, I am plugged Directly into my Wireless Modem/Gateway. All my Content is on an External HD connected to a PC with a wireless connection. The PC is in another part of the house. I have very a very small frame drop rate playing 1080p MKV. Vids off of Hulu play perfect. (yes I know output is only 720)

There are still a few things here and there that need some tweaking, but
the Devs are busy. They have done an amazing job.

[joshua.lyon]

I found it to be intriguing as well -- and I'm also coming from using dedicated "HTPC's" like the Revo...

I've been pretty impressed with the Apple TV's ability to run XBMC and play the HD content I've thrown at it. Even more impressive to me was the fact that I could play all my 720p Movies and TV shows over 802.11g Wifi. The AppleTV does have Wireless N (dual band) so I'm going to pick up a Wireless N access point to try out 1080p content. In the mean time, I tested out some 1080p content over my gigabit network and it streamed just fine. When the 1080p stuff first starts up it has a bit of jitter but it self corrects and streams pretty smooth from there on out. As you already hinted at, the Apple TV can decode 1080p content but it only outputs at 720p.

Regarding the aTV2 + XBMC setup being "ready for primetime", it really depends on what you are looking for. The ATV2 doesn't have a hard drive (just 8GB internal memory) and doesn't have a USB port, so you'll need content accessible on your network. That being said, I've found that the Apple TV works as a great XBMC "client" in my bedroom. As long as your media is accessible over a good local network and is mostly h.264 encoded, it works as a great device to consume network available content.

I have XBMC setup in my living room running as my central server with all my media served up via a Samba share and the XBMC database hosted (via MySQL) for all my clients to access. One of my favorite parts about it is I can start watching a movie or TV show in the living room, then pause the show and head into the bedroom where I can pick back exactly where I left off.


Yes, you can install plugins and skins. To clarify what kevron was saying, you can install plugins the manual way by copying them into folders like he said. Additionally, since the release of Dharma, many plugins have been moved to the official Dharma Add-On repository. The add-on repository can be accessed directly from within XBMC and makes it really easy to install plugins and skins.

That being said, I use the out-of-the-box skin. It's very responsive -- you can jump from menu item to menu item very quickly, but the animations almost seem as if they are running at a lower framerate or something. On the other hand, I use a number of the video plugins and I've been very impressed at how easy they are to install and how well they work on the ATV2.

[Kudd]

I was so impressed with the first AppleTV I had running XBMC I went out and grabbed another to replace an old computer I had setup on a spare TV. The performance (esp. using the most recent builds) is very acceptable. SD Xvids and HD H.264 content plays without issue and I get 5.1 surround sound in my living room. Hook up MySQL as the library provider and you get all the content nicely linked between all the XBMC instances in your household. All from a nice little box that takes up to no room at all.

With the release of greenp0ison for AppleTV 2g the one minor annoyance I had with my setup is now removed (tethered to untethered jailbreak). Jailbreaking is nice and simple, just make sure you get a micro-USB cable as it is needed for the jailbreaking process.

The user interface feels a little sluggish (it isn't a major issue tbh), but the fact that this is an initial release for ARM and the OpenGL ES code is relatively new this is to be expected. That being said I feel it is ready for the primetime. My thanks to the XBMC developers involved in the iOS port - a fantastic job.

Another thing to keep in mind, it may pay to get an AppleTV sooner rather than later while Apple is still signing 4.2.1 SHSH blobs which allow for jailbreaking. From memory the next iOS update breaks the jailbreaking method used in greenp0ison (not 100% sure on this, but did read something in that vein).

[clambert]

Thanks for the info guys. I think I'll grab one to play with. I'm slightly worried about using a different skin, as I like Transparency. The other issue I have is that some of my media is mp4.

For $100 though I guess it's hard to go wrong. Thanks again.

[coastal]

I'm pretty excited about this too. Hopefully I should have a ATV2 next week to play with and if that manages to talk to my new Pogoplug I'll be very green and very happy. Anyone know if the iplayer plugin works - i've only managed to get it to work through manually unpacking the zip file and not through the auto installer.

[Maetrik]

i were using an old xbox with xbmc over serveral years and got an atv1 for my living room a few month ago. the xbox in my sleeping rooms was replaced with an atv2 right after the release of xbmc for ios. i did not regret it yet, the atv2 plays all my media (xvid and mkv) very smooth over wifi (network share is a synolgy ds209j via smb). i'll watch how things are going on in development, perhaps i will exchange my atv1 with an atv2 aswell.

[Numus]

Only thing that is really lacking right now is remote functionality for 3rd party remotes.. But it is being worked on

[Thewolf]

If you watch lots of anime SSA subtitles don't work.

[douggoodwin]

My library has about 200 movies. Most of which are TS files which XBMC ATV2 doesn't play yet. I converted about half of them to ISO in hopes it would help but files play for only a few seconds, pause, then fail. Some large mkv 1080 files crash XBMC.

Other than that, it's a great little device.
Really looking forward to future updates. I only wish I was knowledgable enough to contribute to development.

My favorite attribute is that it is wife proof. 3 buttons and a 4 way isn't too much to explain.

[melagodo]

My favorite attribute is that it is wife proof. 3 buttons and a 4 way isn't too much to explain.

Could not avoid to quote this!!!

melagodo