Raspberry Pi - Apple TV 2

[Jack!]

Has anyone on here spent any time messing about with Apple TV 1/2 alternatives? They're going for around £170+ now on eBay, so trying to get the same sort of functionality on the cheap. Raspberry Pi seems to be the best alternative, but doesn't fully support Airplay; won't work from a Macbook, only an iPad. It will get decent XBMC functionality with Add-ons though.

Anyone tried anything else?

 

[Knuckles]

I read you can get airplay add ons for the raspberry pi?

i was looking into one but then decided on an atv3, but I'm guessing you want a jail broken unit?

Is xbmc the one you can get on the ipad without a jailbreak? If so can you not stream/mirror that to the atv?

 

[The Boosh!]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/android-tv

Get an android tv box. Does the same thing.

 

[Jack!]

I guess it's mainly down to me wanting it 'all'.

Ideally I want a Pi running Raspbmc so I can use XBMC with full add-ons, but I also want to have the rPlay extension to allow Airplay, which currently only supports screen mirroring from an iPad.

 

[Jack!]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/android-tv

Get an android tv box. Does the same thing.

Will it support full AirPlay from a Macbook?

 

[The Boosh!]

Will it support full AirPlay from a Macbook?

Some do yes.

 

[jam.]

I guess it's mainly down to me wanting it 'all'.

Ideally I want a Pi running Raspbmc so I can use XBMC with full add-ons, but I also want to have the rPlay extension to allow Airplay, which currently only supports screen mirroring from an iPad.

Jailbroken Apple TV2 is what you want then (Airplay, XBMC, etc, etc..)

Although they are hard to come by now (or silly money) so this isn't really helpful.

 

[Jack!]

Some do yes.

Know any names or got any links? I can see a few YouTube videos advertising cheap Chinese/Japanese devices claiming to have full functionality, but nothing solid.

 

[CrippsCorner]

What exactly do you want from it? Can't you just use Miracast?

 

[Jack!]

Miracast is not compatible with OS X?

 

[Krispwee]

I have a Raspberry Pi in my bedroom and an ATV2 in the lounge. ATV is certainly a much more polished device (as expected) and runs XBMC faster than the Pi when I use it. The Pi isn't great with AirPlay, sometimes choppy and doesn't do video (as far as I can see, I've not really looked in to it too much) so I rarely use it for that. Everything else though it does pretty well, the only thing is it can sometimes get a little jerky when browsing through menus but thats purely from me using it so effortlessly on an ATV and comparing it.

If I was in the position of needing to buy a new one of either then I'd probably go for an ATV purely for the AirPlay ability (I use it a lot in the lounge) but if it wasn't for that I'd be more than happy with a Pi in each room that has a TV for the same money as a single ATV2.

 

[sbridgey]

Could also use plex on an ATV3, that works really well for me.

 

[TimR26]

Best to look here for advice on what works best http://www.xbmchub.com/forums/forum.php#hardware-forums

 

[Jack!]

Gonna go with the Pi I think, can get all I need for £40, can't justify another three times that again just for mirroring.

 

[STRBramley]

I have a Raspberry Pi in my bedroom and an ATV2 in the lounge. ATV is certainly a much more polished device (as expected) and runs XBMC faster than the Pi when I use it. The Pi isn't great with AirPlay, sometimes choppy and doesn't do video (as far as I can see, I've not really looked in to it too much) so I rarely use it for that. Everything else though it does pretty well, the only thing is it can sometimes get a little jerky when browsing through menus but thats purely from me using it so effortlessly on an ATV and comparing it.

If I was in the position of needing to buy a new one of either then I'd probably go for an ATV purely for the AirPlay ability (I use it a lot in the lounge) but if it wasn't for that I'd be more than happy with a Pi in each room that has a TV for the same money as a single ATV2.

My Pi works fine with Airplay and video.

 

[Jack!]

My Pi works fine with Airplay and video.

Fully functioning Airplay, with screen mirroring?

Also, people running Pi's, what brand, class and size SD Cards are you running with?

 

[STRBramley]

Fully functioning Airplay, with screen mirroring?

Also, people running Pi's, what brand, class and size SD Cards are you running with?

I don't know what mirroring is but I'm able to play YouTube to my Pi from my phone.

 

[Krispwee]

Apologies I should have elaborated some more, I can do YouTube (although a little flakey) but I can't do the airplay mirroring as above. You can mirror your iPhone or iPad display to an ATV or mirror / extend your desktop on a Mac to ATV which I believe you can't do on a Pi. It also struggles with HD videos recorded on my iPhone for some reason.

I use a 16GB Sandisk Extreme class 10, I wouldn't recommend anything less than Class 10. Also running with a WiFi USB adaptor at the moment, Netgear WNA1100.

 

[Jack!]

You can extend your desktop with ATV + Mac? Didn't realise you could do more than mirror, that makes it slightly more worth the money, but I guess you're effectively paying £120+ (ATV 1/2 - cost of Pi setup) for a wireless hdmi cable...

 

[Chrisgti6]

Another vote for Plex & ATV3 here. Does everything I could need. Download TV, Films etc in any format to my PC. Plex converts on the fly and I can watch on ipad, iphone, Apllte TV etc from anywhere in the world (inc over 3g etc). The interface is fantastic, it's fast, excellent quality.

What more could you need?

 

[Jack!]

Another vote for Plex & ATV3 here. Does everything I could need. Download TV, Films etc in any format to my PC. Plex converts on the fly and I can watch on ipad, iphone, Apllte TV etc from anywhere in the world (inc over 3g etc). The interface is fantastic, it's fast, excellent quality.

What more could you need?

All the free s**t on XMBC, lets not beat around the bush.

EDIT: Obviously you could download it all beforehand, but streaming is just less hassle, less need to prepare.

 

[Chrisgti6]

All the free s**t on XMBC, lets not beat around the bush.

EDIT: Obviously you could download it all beforehand, but streaming is just less hassle, less need to prepare.

I suppose yes, but i've never really like XBMC to be honest, and on broadband the speed of mine I can download a 10gb film in a little over 10 minutes so the preparation isn't really an issue to me.

 

[Jack!]

I suppose yes, but i've never really like XBMC to be honest, and on broadband the speed of mine I can download a 10gb film in a little over 10 minutes so the preparation isn't really an issue to me.

I'm still running with max 8gb I think, getting like 4gb, so I won't be streaming in full HD, but it seems to work fine.