So I'm contemplating purchasing something to act as a media center. What are my options (obviously ATV is one of them) and what are the pros and cons of those options.
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AppleTV vs Others
- Thread starter gvegastiger
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There are all kinds of media center solutions out there... and it would take too long to go through every feature and benefit of every one.
The question really is... what do you want a media center to do, exactly? Then people can make suggestions based on your criteria.
For example...
Do you want it to also play games?
Will you be connecting it to a surround sound system?
Do you want to stream content wirelessly over your network?
Do you want on-screen access to internet content? What kinds of internet content?
Do you want to rent or purchase movies, music, etc?
Think about these and other types of questions to narrow down what your criteria are and then provide a list so we can help you figure out the right media center.
The question really is... what do you want a media center to do, exactly? Then people can make suggestions based on your criteria.
For example...
Do you want it to also play games?
Will you be connecting it to a surround sound system?
Do you want to stream content wirelessly over your network?
Do you want on-screen access to internet content? What kinds of internet content?
Do you want to rent or purchase movies, music, etc?
Think about these and other types of questions to narrow down what your criteria are and then provide a list so we can help you figure out the right media center.
In addition, I would ask:
Is your media centrally located?
Do you currently use iTunes as a distribution server?
Do you own a lot of physical media and want to serve it up, a DVD/CD at a time?
What kind of space do you have, and are willing to devote to a solution?
Is your media centrally located?
Do you currently use iTunes as a distribution server?
Do you own a lot of physical media and want to serve it up, a DVD/CD at a time?
What kind of space do you have, and are willing to devote to a solution?
The best thing out there is free. well at least the software is, disk drives and so on still cost money. Take a look at Myth TV.
http://mythtv.org/modules.php?name=MythFeatures
Chris,
Where's the "play music" option?
Where's the "view iPhoto images" option?
I looked, but this seems to be little more than an interface to using your computer as a DVR. Aren't you then limited as to the output quality, too?
Where's the "play music" option?
Where's the "view iPhoto images" option?
I looked, but this seems to be little more than an interface to using your computer as a DVR. Aren't you then limited as to the output quality, too?
Ok, this is what I'm looking for.
I would like to primarily use it for serving up my movies. I want to convert my DVDs to digital content and play directly from a "box" whatever that might look like. I also would like to stream music to it, or store music on it and play from there. It doesn't matter that much to me however I do have a lot of iTunes music that of course only plays through iTunes so it'd have to either be capable of running iTunes or be able to have iTunes stream music to it.
I don't have a server, just an old Powerbook but I don't think I want a media PC bc of all the upkeep, components, size, and expense. Something in the $200 - $300 range would be good. I don't need it to be a DVR bc I already have TiVo for that. It'd be nice if it could also display photos.
I care very much about image quality and format so I don't want it to be too restrictive there. I dont really care about renting movies through it.
I think that about covers it.
I would like to primarily use it for serving up my movies. I want to convert my DVDs to digital content and play directly from a "box" whatever that might look like. I also would like to stream music to it, or store music on it and play from there. It doesn't matter that much to me however I do have a lot of iTunes music that of course only plays through iTunes so it'd have to either be capable of running iTunes or be able to have iTunes stream music to it.
I don't have a server, just an old Powerbook but I don't think I want a media PC bc of all the upkeep, components, size, and expense. Something in the $200 - $300 range would be good. I don't need it to be a DVR bc I already have TiVo for that. It'd be nice if it could also display photos.
I care very much about image quality and format so I don't want it to be too restrictive there. I dont really care about renting movies through it.
I think that about covers it.
The device you're describing is an Apple TV. It's even in the price range.
I bought mine for the purposes of:
Listening to all of my music without having to swap CDs
Watching my DVDs without having all of the media in my living room.
Having the photos from iPhoto available turned out to be a nice bonus that I have used more than expected. In addition, I am also surprised at the amount I've been using the Apple TV to access podcast content directly.
Since you have an old Powermac, you will need a lot of time to convert a DVD to an iTunes/Apple TV friendly format. You should look through a few relatively recent threads about encoding/conversion times to get an idea as to what you're looking at.
I ultimately upgraded my Mac to an iMac 2.8 Ghz Core 2 Duo just to escape the pain of > 12 hour long encodes. You won't stress your CPU much more than setting it to encode videos.
I bought mine for the purposes of:
Listening to all of my music without having to swap CDs
Watching my DVDs without having all of the media in my living room.
Having the photos from iPhoto available turned out to be a nice bonus that I have used more than expected. In addition, I am also surprised at the amount I've been using the Apple TV to access podcast content directly.
Since you have an old Powermac, you will need a lot of time to convert a DVD to an iTunes/Apple TV friendly format. You should look through a few relatively recent threads about encoding/conversion times to get an idea as to what you're looking at.
I ultimately upgraded my Mac to an iMac 2.8 Ghz Core 2 Duo just to escape the pain of > 12 hour long encodes. You won't stress your CPU much more than setting it to encode videos.
So I assume you're interested in using some sort of conversion program to go from DVD to Apple TV?
For film/videos/TV Shows, Apple TV plays H.264 streaming format (MP4, M4V) files.
See the many "Handbrake" and "MacTheRipper" references in a multitude of threads. Handbrake now provides Dolby Digital soundtracks if your equipment can handle it.
As far as audio goes, basically, if you can hear the content in iTunes, you can hear it on Apple TV. Photos are ok as long as the format is jpg, etc.