Apple TV or Xbox 360?

[88MVP]

I've been looking at various alternatives for getting my music and movies from my desktop to a flat screen several rooms away. I've narrowed my choices down to an Apple TV or a 360. The Apple TV seems to be the cheaper and sleeker option (also probably easier for the GF to use), but the 360 brings the added gaming functionality. I'm not a huge gamer though, so the performance as a media center is going to be the deciding factor.

My main area of concern is the performance streaming 720p video content over a wireless-G network. I rent my apartment and there's no real way to run an ethernet cable along the floor/ceiling without failing the G.A.F. Am I going to run into problems doing that with either device?

Cheers

 

[Quasmo]

By far the 360 is going to be a better decision. With its current ability to stream movies and do everything without a computer its a nice machine, but when you add in the functionality that a PC will add to the experience with a Media Center PC the Apple TV is a useless box. The Apple TV is the worst thing to come out of Cupertino in a long time, they wont even post how many they've sold because the numbers are so bad.

 

[Shawn]

xbox360

 

[erwos]

Get a 360 Arcade with a third-party wireless bridge. Problem solved for the cost of an AppleTV.

HD streaming is, um, iffy over WiFi in general.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Quasmo
By far the 360 is going to be a better decision. With its current ability to stream movies and do everything without a computer its a nice machine, but when you add in the functionality that a PC will add to the experience with a Media Center PC the Apple TV is a useless box. The Apple TV is the worst thing to come out of Cupertino in a long time, they wont even post how many they've sold because the numbers are so bad.

As a huge Apple fanboy...buy a 360 The AppleTV is limited in formats (have to do it all through iTunes) and iirc the chip can only handle 720p, not 1080p. If you want to stream HD, you're going to have to go wired. Wireless streaming is VERY spotty in my experience. You may want to check out the Popcorn Hour if you just want a media player:

http://www.popcornhour.com/onlinestore/

 

[Shawn]

Also, with Windows 7 you will be able to stream a ton of different codecs to the xbox360. I am using the Windows 7 Pre-Beta, and even in it's current state I can now stream divx. I believe that it will stream anything as long as there is a codec for it on the host computer. It can transtream on the fly.

 

[erwos]

Originally posted by: Shawn
Also, with Windows 7 you will be able to stream a ton of different codecs to the xbox360. I am using the Windows 7 Pre-Beta, and even in it's current state I can now stream divx. I believe that it will stream anything as long as there is a codec for it on the host computer. It can transtream on the fly.

You can already stream DivX to the 360 using XP or Vista with WMP11. Or are you talking about the Windows Media Center Extender interface? If it worked in that, that would be huge.

 

[Shawn]

Originally posted by: erwos

Originally posted by: Shawn
Also, with Windows 7 you will be able to stream a ton of different codecs to the xbox360. I am using the Windows 7 Pre-Beta, and even in it's current state I can now stream divx. I believe that it will stream anything as long as there is a codec for it on the host computer. It can transtream on the fly.

You can already stream DivX to the 360 using XP or Vista with WMP11. Or are you talking about the Windows Media Center Extender interface? If it worked in that, that would be huge.

Yes, I am talking about as a media center extender. One of the main reasons why I'm probably going to keep using this pre-beta as my primary os.

 

[tw1164]

Originally posted by: Shawn

Originally posted by: erwos

Originally posted by: Shawn
Also, with Windows 7 you will be able to stream a ton of different codecs to the xbox360. I am using the Windows 7 Pre-Beta, and even in it's current state I can now stream divx. I believe that it will stream anything as long as there is a codec for it on the host computer. It can transtream on the fly.

You can already stream DivX to the 360 using XP or Vista with WMP11. Or are you talking about the Windows Media Center Extender interface? If it worked in that, that would be huge.

Yes, I am talking about as a media center extender. One of the main reasons why I'm probably going to keep using this pre-beta as my primary os.

Is there support for 5.1 AAC yet?

 

[Shawn]

I'm not sure, but I do know that Windows 7 and WMP12 will play AAC files without any additional codecs. They still aren't fully supported though because it can't read the tags.

If you send me a 5.1 AAC file I can let you know if it works.

 

[88MVP]

Alright, to clarify: I only need 720p anyways, that's what my set displays. So that's not really a disadvantage. Apple TV is also easily hacked to allow other formats, so no biggie there. My big concern is really the experience streaming 720p content, and whether that's really possible at all over wireless with either device.

Will 720p stream fine? Stutter/hang? Not work at all?

 

[Al Neri]

Originally posted by: Shawn

Originally posted by: erwos

Originally posted by: Shawn
Also, with Windows 7 you will be able to stream a ton of different codecs to the xbox360. I am using the Windows 7 Pre-Beta, and even in it's current state I can now stream divx. I believe that it will stream anything as long as there is a codec for it on the host computer. It can transtream on the fly.

You can already stream DivX to the 360 using XP or Vista with WMP11. Or are you talking about the Windows Media Center Extender interface? If it worked in that, that would be huge.

Yes, I am talking about as a media center extender. One of the main reasons why I'm probably going to keep using this pre-beta as my primary os.

explain further?

 

[nsafreak]

Originally posted by: 88MVP
Alright, to clarify: I only need 720p anyways, that's what my set displays. So that's not really a disadvantage. Apple TV is also easily hacked to allow other formats, so no biggie there. My big concern is really the experience streaming 720p content, and whether that's really possible at all over wireless with either device.

Will 720p stream fine? Stutter/hang? Not work at all?

In all honesty yes 720p will stutter on a wireless network, especially in an apartment enviroment. I'm sure you have neighbors that have wireless routers as well. The more routers there are in the area the more interference that will be present. If you can't do standard wired you may want to look into powerline networking as I've heard of folks getting good results out of the newer adapters.

 

[88MVP]

Thanks, that's exactly what I needed to know. I guess I'll be holding off on either until I figure out how to best route an ethernet cable into the living room.