Might be time to ditch the ATV for a PS3

[dickovski]

I have an ATV which I bought to replace my original Xbox running XBMC. Trouble is I still use the Xbox more than the ATV. I also have a Wii for playing games and while it was great to begin with, I hardly use it anymore.

Question is with the price reduction on the PS3 to £249 it seems to me I could replace all 3 devices with a PS3 and still have plenty of change leftover for new games.

Is this a no-brainer or am I missing something.

Also a few questions

How much are movie downloads on the PS3 in the UK and is it as good as the iTunes store for availabilty (not that I think the iTunes store is great)?

Can you copy files onto the PS3 (this is key for me and why I still use the xbox more than the ATV)?

I know the medialink software for the PS3 ain't as nice to look at as the ATV interface but does it work quickly and robustly?

Cheers
Dickovski

 

[MikeDTyke]

I have an ATV which I bought to replace my original Xbox running XBMC. Trouble is I still use the Xbox more than the ATV. I also have a Wii for playing games and while it was great to begin with, I hardly use it anymore.

Question is with the price reduction on the PS3 to £249 it seems to me I could replace all 3 devices with a PS3 and still have plenty of change leftover for new games.

Is this a no-brainer or am I missing something.

Also a few questions

How much are movie downloads on the PS3 in the UK and is it as good as the iTunes store for availabilty (not that I think the iTunes store is great)?

Can you copy files onto the PS3 (this is key for me and why I still use the xbox more than the ATV)?

I know the medialink software for the PS3 ain't as nice to look at as the ATV interface but does it work quickly and robustly?

Cheers
Dickovski

Could be wrong as i haven't logged onto my PS3 for the last couple of weeks, but the movie service hasn't launched yet, we don't have pricing.

I do however have medialink and it's the biggest waste of $20 i've spent on software, servers in the PS3 crossbar keep disappearing and videos will randomly not play claiming the format is unsupported.

Stick with you ATV for now until people have a chance to evaluate the movie service on ps3. As for using your PS3 as a media extender, forget it. I've tried medialink, WMP 11 and various open source options, none are as reliable as the ATV.

M.

 

[dickovski]

Cheers Mike, that sounds disappointing though.

I'm gonna wait till September to see if Apple update the ATV (I think it's a great device with loads of potential but just seems neglected by Apple really).

Looks like my original Xbox has more life in it yet then!!! The only downside of it for me is the noise it makes.

Will also wait to see what the UK PS3 movie download service is like as you say.

Maybe I'll just replace the Wii with the PS3 and see how I get on with it.

 

[denm316]

I have an aTV and a 360. I downloaded the Connect360 software which is the XBOX version of MediaLink, both made by the same company.

The Connect360 software works great, it plays almost every codec and streams everything without any issue.

While I used to love aTV, I now see it as the worst Apple product that I own and would never recommend it to anyone.

 

[dickovski]

I think I really need to try out both a 360 and a PS3 and see how I go. Anyone want to lend me theirs

I've heard 360's are quite loud which puts me off a bit, what about movie downloads in the UK?

 

[roidy]

While I used to love aTV, I now see it as the worst Apple product that I own and would never recommend it to anyone.

I`ll give an opposing view here. I've had my appleTV for just over a year and a half and I love it, I use it every single day with out fail and it has never once let me down. I`ve tried various other devices such as the PS3, a couple of NMT's(Popcorn Hour, and iStar mini) and even a full HTPC running XBMC and I always come back to the appleTV. It's just so simple to set up and work perfectly everytime (for me at least).

Could you explain why you think the aTV is apples worst product?

I think I really need to try out both a 360 and a PS3 and see how I go. Anyone want to lend me theirs

Er, No

I've heard 360's are quite loud which puts me off a bit, what about movie downloads in the UK?

Xbox 360 is very loud, plus if you want to rent or buy movies you can't use real money you have to first purchase Microsoft points.
Then use the points to buy what you want.

 

[TheNightPhoenix]

I think I really need to try out both a 360 and a PS3 and see how I go. Anyone want to lend me theirs

I've heard 360's are quite loud which puts me off a bit, what about movie downloads in the UK?

I have both and an ATV.
I use the PS3 the most, it is compatible with far more formats than the ATV, and the XBOX 360 is a noisy bugger. Also the PS3 Slim was just announced alongside a price drop.

I've never had a problem with streaming to it using Medialink, I have also used PS3 Media Server and that can transcode incapable media on the fly, i.e. if your mac can read it so can the PS3.

I've used Connect 360 and also never had an issue, except for the noise, and of course the red ring of death.


Also to answer more of the original post, yes you can copy files to it. I replaced the harddrive with a 500GB drive. (a very easy and supported process). I currently have over 50+ BluRay rips and a bunch of music stored on it. It'll also play off an external USB drive.

We will need to wait for the store to launch to see video quality in the UK.

 

[anim8or]

I currently have a 360, PS3 and ATV....

I use:-

360 for gaming
PS3 for watching downloads, etc in the living room and finally
ATV for watching downloads in the bedroom......

....but the the new PS3 slim would add the ability to play bluray in the bedroom thus saving space when i get rid of my dvd and ATV.....

Its certainly and option to get a PS3 slim instead of an ATV.

I definitely have no problem with any of the interfaces of any of the medialink software that i use..... each has its pro and cons none that completetly outweigh the other.

(PS the ATV that i currently have is my dad's.... he is wating until he moves house to get a new TV and start using his ATV... he cant set it up currently as the media centre and TV is completely plumed into the house he currently lives in!)

 

[Tilpots]

Since you're in the UK, a PS3 could really be the way to go, especially if you get PlayTV. It turns the PS3 into a Tivo. I wish we had it here in the US. I'd get one IMMEDIATELY!

 

[whooleytoo]

I've tried both a 360 and PS3 as media extenders, with mixed results.

The Wifi performance of the 360 is a LOT better. I recently upgraded to an N router, and the difference is now very slight; but with a G router, the 360 would play any movie I tried flawlessly, whereas the PS3 (same server, same network, same movie) would stutter & buffer while playing any movie. Even on an N network, it takes 5-10 seconds to change songs in a PS3.

I haven't tried an ATV, so can't compare.

I've found the lack of supported formats a problem on both, which is why I'll eventually go to a Mac mini instead. The noise of the 360 is the one big drawback that machine has.

 

[Bye Bye Baby]

I would go with both. The apple TV is great for movies and podacsts etc.

the PS3 is a great movie device and gaming machine.

I love them both and they work really well together.

 

[dickovski]

I would go with both. The apple TV is great for movies and podacsts etc.

If money was no object I would keep the lot but I really can't justify it (well I can to myself but the missus would kill me).

I think I will keep the original Xbox cos that plays everything and I wouldn't get much for it anyway and ditch the wii and ATV for a PS3.

However I will probably change my mind any minute.

 

[dmiller]

I have the Apple TV as well as a PS3. I use the Apple TV to watch podcasts and TV shows or movies I download from the iTunes Store. The PS3 gets everything else that I get from other sources. I don't really stream from my computer to the PS3 so I can't say much about the quality of streaming although I have tried a free program called PS3 media server. I normally just throw everything on a flash drive and either play it from that or copy it over. If I had to choose between the devices it would be the PS3 without a doubt.

 

[dickovski]

Another negative for the ATV is the price of downloads, this is why I hardly use it. I have a Lovefilm account which while not as convenient is way cheaper. However one needs a DVD player which the ATV obviously lacks. I play DVD's on my Xbox but it's not ideal or rip them which is time consuming and pointless really as I rarely watch a film twice unless it's really good.

If I had a PS3 I could just get lovefilm to send stuff on blueray at no extra cost.

I wish I hadn't started this thread now, too much to consider