Cable TV: To Be...or Not?

is vat like d one on elm street? :open_mouth:
rat

I sesnse a great disturbance in the force… as though thousands of English teachers cried out in pain… :unamused:

…and anguish Kev…dont forget the anguish. I have to live with it. Sometimes its pure mental torture. :frowning:
Take care
Fluff

Oh, yes, we have great piles of it 'round the back… :frowning:

<<<<<<<<<<Don’t you mean Engrish?>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Don’t you mean hicklish?

Well the most common phrase in “hicklish” for warnings of an imminent backwater suicide is:

“Hey Beau! Watch This!”

I thought it was: Let me show you how to do that the right way!

That mus’ be some kinda yankee hicklish, ya got thar… :mrgreen:

Deterioration, is invariably exponential.
Best
Prof. Castus.

The Apple TV finally arrived today.
We have house guests at present, but by the weekend will begin to experiment.
Will use Jaysen’s previous instructions, plus Apple’s, and pray.
Initial problem: finding somewhere to PLACE the unit.
Already have a DVR/VCR, topped by Roku and cable boxes.

  1. :laughing: :smiling_imp:

Apple TV Setup: OK, I got through the first steps. ATV power on, connected to TV by HDMI cable, TV found it and my network, and I was able to test the Internet channel, which at the moment lists only YouTube and Radio.

At first I could not link ATV to iTunes; read a troubleshooting guide and it said to turn off any computers presently sharing iTunes. Done.

Now it’s synching everything in my iTunes, which I suppose is OK; it’s nearly all music and little else. Taking its own sweet time to copy over 4,000 tunes.

So, I have the plug-in for dvdpedia, and next will be figuring out how to add boxee, hulu, and whatever to the ATV menus. In the words of Jaysen, my aim is to create a system with

  • DVD ripped to local NAS
  • DVD managed via DVD-pedia and associated plugin
  • HULU/Boxee front end options.

Jaysen: is this the method you’re recommending?
macobserver.com/tmo/article/ … _apple_tv/
boxee.zendesk.com/entries/171765 … stallation

Observations: the Apple Remote is a little funky. With such a limited interface, I still get stuck in menus and have trouble backing out. Screen resolution is great, and I have only 720p. Brett & Vermonter: the ATV connects via a wireless router or Ethernet, and it’s best on a fast Internet connection.

Just after I purchased the ATV, rumors began to swirl that Apple was working on a new version that would be a $99 USB plug-in, allowing wireless interaction between laptop or iPad and TV. Oh well; if that’s true, look for the old ATVs to start dropping in price.

Those are not the exact URLs that I used for install info, but they contain all you need to know.

One rule to remember if you are doing any “one way work” (carpenter, surgeon, ATV hacker): Take the time to make sure you are doing the right thing BEFORE you do it. In carpenter terms this is “measure twice, cut once”. For ATV I would recommend thinking of it as “read 4 times, read it again, then do it”.

That makes this sound a lot more dangerous than it is, but since this your first time, and you are not Ioa, taking your time would be a good idea.

Have fun.

Jaysen,

What do you think of this product?

atvflash.com/product_info.php?products_id=27

I watched the tutorial and read reviews. Looks like a good way to modify ATV without voiding warranty.

Droo

Remember that I am a tech guy. If I was a mechanic I would be covered in grease all the time. Remember this when reading the rest of this post.

This “product” is just a bundling of the free solutions out there already. Yes it eliminates the “how do I do that again?” questions, but the reality is that unless you make more than $300/hr you are probably losing money buying this package. All it does is automate some of the install processes for you. If my mom wanted to hack an ATV I would send her to this product because I don’t do tech support for mom. Then again, if my mom had an ATV I would probably not mind doing tech support for her in the first place.

My advice is save the money and learn how it works.

But you won’t go wrong using this thing either. A couple of nice things:

  1. Really does automate the process
  2. Simplifies “ATV update recovery”
  3. Gets you everything you need in one big install.

Maybe the peace of mind is worth it.

Actually, I changed my mind.

This would be a good idea for everyone who is over 35. Spend your time enjoying life instead of fooling with low level “stuff” (unless that is how you enjoy life). For $50 you get a functional system that you can reliably use to manage your device without needing to think about it. Even if this thing does nothing more than save you the time of looking for your “how to” doc, the stress reduction is worth much more than $50.

When I get my ATV (mid next month) this will be in the budget.

Jaysen, many thanks for the shrewd advice. The truth is, I’m technically challenged in this area and ATV Flash looked like a fairly direct way to expand the ATV beyond its present limits. I found it on a site called AppleTV Hacks, which seems a good source for products and advice. Link here: atvflash.com/ I will let you and the others know how it goes.

Based on your very frank self assessment I would strongly urge you to consider the $50 for this product trivial. It will definitely make the experience more pleasant for you. Let me know if the product lives up to your hopes.

I know this thread is old, but what you guys are using now. I’m confused between Hulu & slingtv as the Hulu channels listed on vodtv.org/ are lucarative. I’ve planned to ditch the cable TV. Even I’m looking for plex with plex premium card.