Leonarts Wrote:That seems to be a better deal, correct me if I'm wrong but AppleTV's don't have HDD's, so what should I do about storage?
On the other hand I prefer the flexibility of linux over mac so I will go with mini pc's.
The ATV2 only has 8GB of internal flash, so most people would get a centralized NAS device, or one more powerful HTPC that acts as a NAS/file server. I would assume you would be doing this anyways instead of duplicating the files 8 times over and losing money on excessive HDD space.
As far as flexibility goes, as someone else already mentioned, ATV2 runs iOS, not Mac OS X. Even if it did run Mac OS X, that's just as flexible as linux. People seem to forget the command line and unix base of the Mac OS is still there under the GUI. iOS contains much of this as well, but it's the different CPU (ARM-based) that makes a greater difference here.
On a small device like the one you originally posted I would assume it would also be running something ARM-based (or some embedded system), so you would be no better off. You'd probably be worse off, actually, considering the iOS (both official and jailbreak) development community is huge for an ARM product. And again, if you are at home with the command line then you will feel at home with the ATV2's iOS.
Let me be clear about something too, this is a FULL INSTALL of XBMC on the Apple TV 2. This is NOT an "App Store" lite version. This isn't a thin client. You never have to touch iTunes to manage your media.
The major drawbacks to the ATV2 is that it only outputs 720 (it will decode 1080, but it will be downscaled) and the only HD codecs it can handle are h.264. If those limitations are too much then I'm going to make your head spin with my next suggestion:
Apple TV 1
It's actually a slightly more powerful unit, and it's based on an Intel processor. The main problem is that they're not made anymore so you have to find them second hand. Then you install a Broadcom Crystal HD chip (replaces the internal wifi chip. USB wifi is an option later on), install linux (check out
http://www.stmlabs.com/projects/crystalhd-for-appletv/ ) on it, and it will handle everything you can throw at it. 1080 everything, outputs 1080, has an internal HDD, has a USB port that can take more HDDs/hubs/remote RF units, optical/digital/analog ports galore, and more
Downsides to ATV1 are: requires hardware modification (if you can install RAM then you can mod an ATV1), no native Netflix client (does have flash/hulu support, though), slightly larger and much hotter than the ATV2, and getting a USB wifi adapter to work with it is a pain in the ass.
I recently bought two used ATV1s for $50 and $60. The Broadcom Crystal HD chip costs $45.