Point me to the start please?

[UK_TIVO]

Hi all,
BRAND new member.. and wanting to take on the ATV. I love Apple products but I do believe the ATV is lacking in some departments and this is when I was pointed to Boxee.
I will try to quickly explain what I want to do..
I have imac with itunes / iphoto etc. I would like to stream content from there to the ATV, but I also would like to be able to watch AV movies, etc. effectively free up some of the restraints of the fantastic ATV.
Questions:
1. Is the ATV and Boxee the right way to go?
2. I've not purchased an ATV yet, so should I do this or use a mac mini etc?
3. I need a simple guide on how to set the whole thing up from scratch, including installation of files etc.. is there anywhere I can get this information?

Thanks in advance
UK_TIVO..

[agentlame]

first, welcome to the forums...

i think a mac-mini would be a much better way to go...

simple install
more horse-power
no 'hacking' or 'patching' required.

plus, when apple updates the atv, breakage--temporarily or otherwise--is a real concern.

as for the other questions:
boxee is the only way to go. ;)

if you do go atv, here is a simple set-up guide:
http://forum.boxee.tv/showthread.php?t=593


lastly, if you would like an invite to test boxee on your current mac, you can get one here:
http://forum.boxee.tv/showthread.php?p=6968#post6968

[UK_TIVO]

Neil.
Thanks for the welcome.
OK.. I do honestly prefer the mac mini route as it would give me dvd capability also.
now.. question.. 1.83ghz of 2ghz?
also.. my UK tivo (PVR) is about to expire.. is there any good way to run pvr type applications on teh mac mini? perhaps elgato tv? this may be off thread.. apologies it it is.
Roy

[agentlame]

considering that boxee even runs on the atv's hamster-wheel of a processor, i'm sure you'd be fine with the 1.8... but, i've never run boxee on an atv or mac-mini, so take that with a grain of salt.

also, i know a lot of people use eyetv, 'round here. i'm am personally a mythtv guy, but it's not for the faint-of-heart to setup.

[poprock]

Elgato’s EyeTV is a very good option for PVR on the Mac. That’s what I use. Another, equally good, alternative is Equinux’s TubeStick (http://www.equinux.com/us/products/tubestick/index.html).

[iBog]

I should also remind you that streaming content to Boxee is slightly different from what you may be expecting compared to native Apple TV and iTunes features.

Native Apple TV will allow you to stream audio and video content from iTunes as well as sync iTunes and iPhoto content. Boxee streaming does not us the iTunes streaming protocol. You will actually have to setup a network share (which is easy) and Boxee can browse to it and stream content. The good news is, you can still use native Apple TV functions (albeit, outside of the Boxee interface) if you have Boxee installed.

Personally, I like the Apple TV over the Mac Mini. I like the small form factor and no external power supply. ATV also has HDMI output which I prefer for cable management since it sends audio and video over the single cable. I suspect the ATV may consume less power (despite how hot it gets).

All your ATV installation needs are met with the ATV USB Creator, http://code.google.com/p/atvusb-creator/

FYI, I use the Elgato EyeTV Hybrid tuner on my Macbook.

[UK_TIVO]

what a fantastic site.. thanks everyone for the quick, polite and informative answers....
Roy

[agentlame]

it's not always like this... as a matter of fact: marcel, myself, and ibog are all but tripping over each other, this morning.

it's support-tastic, around here.

[iBog]

agentlame: we all seem to be on guard this morning. The activity in the forums has taken off since the alpha release.