For XBMC? 2nd gen's are just going for too much. Is it worth getting a first gen? Are they slow or what are the negatives. Much appreciated.
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Worth getting first gen?
- Thread starter superdudeo
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You have to put some work into getting the first gen. to display 720 smoothly. I've got it to work, but couldn't tell you exactly what I did.
For $100 a third gen is a pretty great little media box, especially with ML airplay and/or AirParrot for Mac or Windows.
because he asked for XBMC which you cant put on a 3rd gen due to no jailbreak
to OP:
im in the same boat. i have multiple 1080P tvs and one central media library. i currently run XBMC on 1 atv2 on a 1080p TV. i, like most people, purchased an atv3 in hopes of a jailbreak but it seems like that wont even be happening. What i have been doing is scouring my local CL for people selling first gens...hopefully the 40gb versions then buying the broadcom HD card and for about the same price as the ATV2's are going for you can make a much faster 1080p xmbc HTPC using crystalbuntu. THE ONLY ONLY drawback to this for me is essentially netflix. You tube can be done in XBMC, sharing all music movies and tv shows as well. and as far as sports...well the teams i like are local so im blacked out. but missing netflix on the unit is the only drawback of the ATV1 vs ATV2...and yes the atv1 gets a bit hotter.
In short, it depends. Stock, no (besides internal storage and more output ports). Modified, yes imo. Much more modifiable and documented ... once fully modded (out of pocket about $35 u.s. ) it is faster and better than a jailbroken atv2 and even than a stock atv 3. Depends on what your intended use is.
Isn't it only faster if you add in the mpeg decoder chip? adding another 50 bucks to the price?
OP, if you can find an AppleTV for less than $140, i'd say save yourself the hassle and jump on it. Small price to pay when you consider you no longer have to pay the cable company.
