Got some anti-Apple in you or simply don't think the new Apple TV, no matter how cheap, is worth it in terms of features? Yeah, we feel ya. Let's take a look at what else is out there, shall we?
Above, the newly released Western Digital TV Live Hub ($200) is a 1TB drive paired with media server capabilities. Basically, you load it up with all your multimedia and you'll automatically have the ability to stream to all your set-top boxes, PS3, Xbox 360, and anything else with dLNA support around your house. The fact that the list of formats supported is so broad makes it an even more enticing option:
Video – AVI (Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4), MPG/MPEG, VOB, MKV (h.264, x.264, AVC, MPEG1/2/4, VC-1), TS/TP/M2T (MPEG1/2/4, AVC, VC-1), MP4/MOV (MPEG4, h.264), M2TS, WMV9 Photo – JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, BMP, PNG Audio – MP3, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA, AAC, FLAC, MKA, AIF/AIFF, OGG, Dolby Digital, DTS Playlist – PLS, M3U, WPL Subtitle – SRT, ASS, SSA, SUB, SMI
You can read up on a review over at Anandtech.
However, as far as interfaces go, the XBMC-based Boxee software still manages to capture our hearts time and time again with reliable performance, efficient interface, and value (it's free after all). You can also purchase a dedicated Boxee Box for $200 by D-Link.
The Roku HD ($60) is another option if you're looking more into rentals and apps for a cheap price.
The new Google TV box and keyboard set by Logitech, called the Revue ($300), may have the slickness of Logitech's industrial design team going for them, many have complained about poor software performance with failure to load certain TV shows (as stated earlier today, some have been blocked completely). While it's still nice that you can stream media locally, we think we'll wait for version 2 on this one.
You can read the full review of at the Washington Post.
Finally, if you're just looking for a DIY route, we recommend grabbing a reliable home media network-attached storage solution with a gigabit port and stringing together a few hard drives. Just make sure you check all the file formats supported. We still cringe at companies who still manage to fail at supporting all the modern major video and audio formats today.
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Comments (9)
I'm an admitted Apple fan, but the Apple TV revision 1 and especially the new revision 2 failed to capture me. Boxee definitely wins my heart and I use it on my bedroom media center, but the Roku XD captured my wallet for the living room. I can't say enough good things about it, especially when paired with PlayOn.
With the exception of the Boxee and Roku device the rest of these are garbage.
The Western Digital TV Live Hub assumes you already have a large amount of digital content. How did you get it in the first place?
The Logitech Revue is a nerd fantasy.
I am still waiting for a simple box with a browser that allows me to watch ALL internet video content on my TV, not just the limited apps that are out there now...
I love Apple and I really want to like ATV, but I don't want to be limited to itunes only content. Seagate has an alternative where you can plug in their external hard drives and it reads tons of different formats. Seeing as I have 500gb and 640gb hard drives from them, it's easy to use. Most of my movies/shows are in avi or mkv formats which seagate's player reads.
That being said, I prefer ATV for itunes integration with my music. Since ATV is already jailbroken, here are my three wishes:
1) allow ATV to accept an external hard drive and play .avi files
2) allow ATV to access media on a main computer and stream .avi files
3) port over apps; specifically VLC player app so I can stream .avi files from my iphone/ipad.
I have no desire to convert all my files into an itunes ready format and I don't think the above is asking too much. Once hackers really get their hands dirty I think it'll happen. at that point I'll pick one up.
@Matt M. I'm also supporting the hackers in this one. I find it kind of ridiculous that big companies like Apple still fail to have their multimedia players support every format available out there.
A lot of the companies that are blocking these devices are really getting into some net neutrality gray areas. I won't get into it, but the blocks either won't last, or we'll see a big turn for the worse in net neutrality.
I have a friend with the old Apple TV, the one that people said was a bomb and sucked. The interface is exactly the same in almost every way to the new Apple TV, except that you could buy your TV shows and they would download the the device and you would own them forever. I think the new Apple TV is a big step down from that. I was thinking about buying one but now I definitely won't.
It just goes to show you what a little Kool-Aid will do to people. Before it was viewed as a failed product, but it was the thing we never knew we wanted until a lot of competition came around. Now that there are other devices on the market, Apple makes the product worse than it was before and we all love it. Kool-Aid people, Kool-Aid!
Yeah, I think it is wrong to blame the manufacturers/developers for not being able to stream everything off the internet. In almost all cases, it is the content providers blocking the access.
All this will get worked out eventually, and our grandkids will ask us to tell them again about how antiquated our TVs used to be.
Sadly the best media player I've bought or played with is the 1st Gen AppleTV (with Boxee and XBMC). I'm HOPING Netgear's latest player coming out in Nov. is good. I do like Google's idea of search for the content, but at $300, I don't know. The content providers hopefully will wake up and get a clue soon.
I think the new Apple TV is great, for $99. You can still buy content if you want to, store it on your computer and stream it from there.
Although given the price of rentals, who wants to bother owning content? I gave up on buying DVDs a couple of years ago - how many times am I gonna watch the same thing, anyhow? And why would I want to get stuck with today's "state of the art" format when I know the same content is gonna get re-released in 5-10 years in some new whizz-bang format?
That having been said, I live in a studio, watch what little TV and film I care about on my 25" widescreen monitor and am no longer in the market for one of these media devices.