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AppleTV a decent alternative to a MacMINI?
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Western Digital has a $99 device that does much of the same stuff, just without the hard drive. It has 2 USB ports to hook up any USB drive. Out of the box, it plays more types of video than an aTV, but supposedly it's very easy to install Boxee/XBMC on the aTV, which lets it play other formats. The biggest advantage of the WD TV over the aTV is that it plays 1080p, whereas the aTV is limited to 720p.

I've been comparing the three (WDTV, aTV, and popcorn hour) recently and am leaning toward the aTV. If my home theater setup had an HDMI-in, I'd probably opt for the WDTV. The reason is that, other than HDMI-out, the only other audio-out on the WDTV is an RCA jack. So the best I could do for audio is simple stereo. My home theater does have an optical-in, so I should be able to get 5.1 sound from the aTV. Since my TV is 720p, the 1080p output of the WDTV is not a factor for me.

Popcorn hour didn't make the cut for me because of both price, and reviews I've read that say the interface is really bad.
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Re: AppleTV a decent alternative to a MacMINI? - by rz - 10-22-2009, 02:17 PM

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