AppleTV Alternatives
The AppleTV has been out on the market for a couple months now, and the general consensus seems that it is just plainly satisfactory. I admit that the slick looking box, with its beautiful eye-candy interface are by far the most beautiful I have seen, yet I can’t help but desire more. It seems when anyone talks about media hubs or streaming media through a network, there are only two things they mention, AppleTV and the Xbox360. But both are seriously flawed. Although I am both an Apple fan and a proud Xbox360 owner, I would never use either as a media center solution. Well, what’s missing? Well just to mention a few, xvid/divx playback, larger or hassle-free upgradeable hard drives, .mkv support …
Because I have seen little about better alternatives to the Apple TV or Xbox360, I give you now, the Best Alternatives to the AppleTV:
1. DViCO - TViX M-5100SH/M-4100SH
Hands down, this is the best HD multimedia player out on the market. Just released a couple of months ago, this supports all video formats you can think of(even 1080P). No worries about whether you can play that Xvid movie or even those 720p MKV x.264 files, this machine plays them all. These players come with an easy loading hard drive slot, where you can insert any SATA drive. Prefer to have your all your content on your PC? or even on an external hard drive? No prob, this bad boy can stream content through your home network or just plug in any external USB drive. In the back of the player you will find every connector you will ever need (HDMI, component, composite, s-video, optical audio, stereo). And DViCO seems to have thought about everything this time, because you can even upgrade your 4100/5100 with a TV tuner and use it to record TV! (People who aren’t interested in x264 playback, might want to consider looking at the 4000/5000 model, which would save you about 100 bucks)
So what’s the difference between the 4100 and the 5100, its purely aesthetics, and about 50 bucks extra for the 5100.
Final thoughts: Although a bit more expensive than the AppleTV, this player has everything every savvy tech user has ever wanted. Worth every cent. Only downside is that it has no DVD player.
Starting price, 330 euros
Coming in a close 2nd, KiSS is a great networked media center solution for users who don’t playback any x.264 content. If all you want to do is play back some dvix/xvid files (you innocently found on the web) this player is perfect. Unlike the TViX, this player does not have any built in hard drive, and all media is streamed through ethernet or wireless network. Most media will stream fine wirelessly, but ethernet is recommended for HD files.
One great thing about the KiSS is that is comes with a built-in DVD player, which upscales to 1080i. Connectors on the back resemble those of the TViX, everything you need (HDMI, Component, Composite, Optical out, SCART, ethernet, etc)
Final thoughts: Great player for anyone with a home network and no need to play x264 files.
Starting price: around 250 euros
3.Budget PC / Mac Mini
Well everyone knows that there is no media player better than a PC. Although a dedicated media player will save you some money (both on starting cost and electricity bills), they are no match for having a fully functional PC in your living room. Anyone who has a standard def TV, stop reading now. There is nothing worse than reading text on a SDTV hooked up to your PC. Anyone fortunate enough, will know how beautiful it looks to hook up your PC to your glorious HDTV set, and from that point on the possibilities are endless. Add a wireless media center keyboard, lay back on your couch, and your in heaven.
Windows Media Center rocks, yes it does. For TV playback, video playback, just install a couple codecs and your good to go. Want to play those x264 files you downloaded, no prob, just download VLC player and you will be able to play anything you like. Put a PC in the living room and the possibilities are endless, it will be your media hub, it will replace your TIVO, replace your DVD player, and could even be dedicated to downloading torrents or to keep your to-do lists on.
So just how rigged should your system be? Well depends on what you are looking for… want full HD playback? then I would settle for a low Core2Duo processor and a mainstream video card, because you won’t need more than that. But if you want to just play back just some dvix/xvid files and some DVD’s, then you’ll be fine with a Pentium D, or even a budget Athlon X2 system.
Keep in mind that your PC will be consuming more electricity than most multimedia players, and there for it might be wise to buy a pricier small form factor PC (which is based on laptop architecture which will use much less energy). Personally I would go for a Windows PC just because the only budget Mac is the MacMini which struggles playing back some HD files at 1080P because of its integrated video card.
Final thoughts: You want the full experience, get a PC or MAC. Setting it up will take a little bit longer and require some basic computer knowledge to install codecs and such, but the rewards will be endless.
My recommendation: Core2Duo 1.8ghz / 1gb RAm / XP MCE or Vista Premium / nVidia 7300
Starting price: around 430 euros (Mac Mini’s start at 599 euros)
2 Comments, Comment or Ping
Harry Andreou
I would go with the pc solution. I think it depends also on how close the TV is from your main computer. in my case my pc is 5 meters away
Anyway i think the pc is the best because you can always expand it more and more and you can even use it for extra stuff, such as downloading torrents, do some browsing etc.
Good to know though of the replacements
.peace out
Jun 20th, 2007
Joel Laumans
Yeah PC is the best solution for me, basically because I want it to be upgradeable. Using the computer as my media center will also allow me to use my media center to download torrents (legal ones of course)
Jun 20th, 2007
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