I have a ton of MKV and AVI files so I was considering jailbreaking my ATV2 about two months ago. However, back then, it seemed that both XBMC and Plex were having some issues with playback? Has that been resolved? Also, which is a better solution for playing MKV and AVI files-- Plex or XBMC? Thanks!
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Apple TV Plex or XBMC? How good is jailbreaking now?
- Thread starter jason2811
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don't know the current status, but ...
xbmc plays the files on your apple tv, and the hardware isn't really up to high def movies that aren't in a natively supported format. your computer only acts a file server, you don't need a computer if you have an NAS.
plex converts the files on a computer running their media server to something the appletv can handle, so you'll get smother playback, but the computer running the media server needs to be pretty robust if you're going to stream more than one thing at a time, or if you plan to use it for processor intensive tasks at the same time.
i use plex on my ipad and iphone all the time, works pretty well
xbmc plays the files on your apple tv, and the hardware isn't really up to high def movies that aren't in a natively supported format. your computer only acts a file server, you don't need a computer if you have an NAS.
plex converts the files on a computer running their media server to something the appletv can handle, so you'll get smother playback, but the computer running the media server needs to be pretty robust if you're going to stream more than one thing at a time, or if you plan to use it for processor intensive tasks at the same time.
i use plex on my ipad and iphone all the time, works pretty well
Ive never used XBMC, but I have nothing but great things to say about Plex. Ive been using it for the past 1.5 years on my MacMini/iPhone and it is great! 
I just use iFlicks to convert those files to an ATV 2 compatible format. It's by far the easiest solution.
I use Plex on my jail-broken apple tv 2. It's WAY easy to jailbreak, and Plex is maturing very well. The only problem I have is with subtitles. There's supposed to be better support in the upcoming versions of the Apple TV plugin; i'm looking forward to it. Overall, I'd way recommend it. It's so much easier to use the MKV files than it is to convert them to mp4 and hope that the quality is still good. I don't miss having to convert a file before watching it.
I use both. I have noticed that Plex has disabled me going into the iTunes store though. Not that I use the store, but I have noticed it. If I click on say the iTunes movie listings, for instance, my ATV reboots. I guess I could restore and re-JB, but I can't really be bothered. I'll just wait until it's time to do an update and JB again.
go with Plex
jailbreak and go with plex. I've been using plex for 3+ years now even when it was first in the XBMC code structure. since Elan and his team has separated from XBMC and re-wrote the entire platform from the ground-up its been extremely stable, I'm going on about 8 months now with an ATV2 jailbroken using plex and netflix and such with no issues at all. The only tricky thing is keeping up with the updates to it as you'll have to terminal into the ATV2 to do them. other than that, download your MKV's and avi's to your heart's content and play them, no lag at all and even streams to the plex for iOS and android fine (minus the variable of network connectivity and bandwidth).
jailbreak and go with plex. I've been using plex for 3+ years now even when it was first in the XBMC code structure. since Elan and his team has separated from XBMC and re-wrote the entire platform from the ground-up its been extremely stable, I'm going on about 8 months now with an ATV2 jailbroken using plex and netflix and such with no issues at all. The only tricky thing is keeping up with the updates to it as you'll have to terminal into the ATV2 to do them. other than that, download your MKV's and avi's to your heart's content and play them, no lag at all and even streams to the plex for iOS and android fine (minus the variable of network connectivity and bandwidth).
I have no experience with plex but I have my movies on my NAS (all formats) and it streams to the aptv2 that I've jailbroken with XBMC running on it.
I've not had any issues with XBMC at all, been using it for ages, not even bothered to update it because it just works. highly recommended
I've not had any issues with XBMC at all, been using it for ages, not even bothered to update it because it just works. highly recommended