In my previous post in this series, I laid out my reasons for dropping my monthly cable subscription and my initial choice of the AppleTV as the instrument for maintaining a reasonable method for my viewing entertainment.
One of the main reasons behind the choice of the AppleTV was the fact that it supported 5.1 digital surround sound through the HDMI cable output. This made it a snap to connect the device to my Sony STR-DG820 receiver which was connected to my LCD television and 5.1 speaker setup. Another compelling reason for this choice was the simplicity with which I would be able to connect my iTunes library containing rips of all of my cd and dvd collection to my home entertainment system.
However, from the first I read with great interest the various accounts of successful hacks that had been applied to the AppleTV to expand it use beyond those set forth by Apple. I was most interested in the ability to install a browser (Firefox, Safar, WebKit, etc.) and the chance to use Boxee and/or XBMC.
Initially I was drawn to the opensource atvusb-creator project, if for no other reason than the fact that it was free. Of course, the geeky aspects to such a project were no small source of fun, as well. However, I ended up using the ATVFlash product in the end since it tied all the various pieces and parts so nicely into a polished interface. The ATVFlash project incorporated many of the opensource projects that allow AppleTV users to have access to external harddrives, keyboards, mice, non-Apple content providers, not to mention the ability to run Boxee, XBMC, Firefox and a host of other programs.
Along with other intrepid users I rapidly began finding ways to enhance the software with iPhone based remotes for the non-Apple programs. Using a VNC server I was able to connect my iPhone to the AppleTV to control the mouse and keyboard inputs when browsing. Later, ATVFlash provided the same level of access with the Mobile Air Mouse client/server architecture. I could even install iStatPro on the device to monitor the bandwidth and process usage.
As I delved deeper into the process of using other online providers of content, such as Hulu, I began to realize that the hardware upon which the AppleTV was based limited the amount of usability that one could gain outside of the sandbox that Apple had seen fit to build. The Boxee project was excellent at giving me access to a multitude of content choices, Hulu, TED, CW, Pandora, last.fm, and many others. ATVFlash gave me the ability to play content types that were foreign to the AppleTV, such as avi, wmv, and mkv, not to mention the ease of installing Firefox and Flash so that I could watch NBC, FOX and ESPN360.com.
The one thing that these software projects could not do was to give the AppleTV the power to crisply deliver fullscreen Flash content to my LCD or to allow me to play Netflix movies. There is only just so much that one can accomplish solely through software upgrades, after all.
As I contemplated these shortcomings, I realized that I needed to upgrade my hardware yet again. The choice then became what platform do I use. Did I move back to a Linux platform, move to Windows with MediaCenter edition (or even Windows 7), or stick with my beloved Mac platform?
As I stated in my first entry on this subject, my friend Justin was successfully using a hackintosh with the Plex project as an upgrade to his own AppleTV. After watching the results, I settled on Plex as my software delivery system, yet I could not for various reasons bring myself to go the route of the hackintosh. As I was unlikely to ever go back to being a complete Windows user again, and since all of the games that I wanted to play were either available for the Mac OS or could easily be played in a VMWare container, I saw nothing to compel me towards anything other than genuine Apple hardware, except possibly price.
With this in mind, I purchased a 2009 2.26GHz Mac Mini at the Apple Store at Lenox Square Mall in Atlanta this past December, where not a year past I had picked up my AppleTV.
My next post in this series will detail some of the software setup that I am currently using as well as some tips for getting the most out of your own Mac Mini home theater setup.
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