AppleTV - worth it? Getting one jailbroken?

JustAnotherSaver

Now that i have finally gotten the living room sorted & bought a TV, we're just waiting on the sofa & job done.

Time to consider this AppleTV thing which i know absolutely zero about really.

I believe if you jailbreak it (don't know how easy that is) you're supposed to get some decent content?

I had a look at jailbroken ones on eBay. £200+ so no thanks.

We currently have SkyTV. Is it like an alternative to Sky / Freeview or is it seen as an addition?

Are they worth it, what can it give me (both unjailbroken & jailbroken)?

prowla

I have one and rarely use it; without the Amazon app it is not something I would recommend.

You can get Sky on it, with the (pay) NowTV app.

Also Netflix.

But no Amazon.

JustAnotherSaver

So is it only once it has been jailbroken then that it becomes something worthwhile, since the value skyrockets once jailbroken?

S0litaire

If you're not locked in to "apple" eco-system, have you taken a look at the cheap "android TV" boxes.

You can pick up one for around £50, and can play Amazon Video / Netflix. as well as the Now TV app.

wba31

I'd only recommend it if you have many apple devices in the house. I have an old one and it's used to stream media from my iMac which is in another room.

As far as I am aware (as others will verify - and S0litaire already has) much cheaper devices like Amazon firestick etc have netflix, nowtv, amazon prime, youtube, iplayer, itv hub etc all part of them. For all those things i use my PS4 over my apple TV, and have looked into whether i could stream my imac media to the PS4 instead...

pmk741

Get an amazon fire tv box and install kodi on it, there are plenty of videos on youtube which show you how to do it. It is just like an apple tv but less locked down, I've had one for a year now and its really reliable not had one issue with it.

There are many apps for TV shows, movies and music which are all free, sometimes you can watch films that have only just arrived in the cinema for FREE! It also all the apps for iplayer 4od spotify etc...

Also sports can be streamed via apps although it isnt very consistent so I use a subscription service which is MILES cheaper than skysports and offers lots more content.

I've gone to freeview since having one these boxes... and now you dont even need that because they have terestial channel streams too!

pappa_golf

Amazon fire , but go for the fire tv box , twice the CPU twice the storage and ability to use sd cards and pendrives they are about £80 as opposed to the £39 for the stick , but worth rvery penny for the performance


people on the likes of ebay charge about £20-30 to program one


one on gumtree up in Lancashire (I think) bargain awaiting someone spotting it


https://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/amazon-fire-box-with-kodi/1187217606

JustAnotherSaver

What is this Kodi?

Looking in to this a bit more today & a lot of the apps that we'd use we already have on our TV.

The one that really would've interested me after talking to people at work is whatever it is that enables you to be able to view fairly new movies, although i don't know what that'd be.

pappa_golf

kodi is like an operating system that runs on the device , clever people can load it onto a fire stick/box and the quality is better than a cheap android box


type kodi on ebay or look at




cheaper fire stick
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AMAZON-FIRE-TV-LATEST-KODI-TV-BOXSETS-1000S-MOVIES-XXX-LIVE-SPORT-KIDS/112135413165?_trksid=p2045573.c100506.m3226&_trkparms=aid%3D555014%26algo%3DPL.DEFAULT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20151005190705%26meid%3Dbcbba5aeb0de47faae002b8f1788498b%26pid%3D100506%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26


and the much powerfulk fire box
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Amazon-Fire-TV-Box-4K-Ultra-HD-with-KODI-16-1-SPORT-MOVIES-ADULT-Premium-/252378437295?hash=item3ac2ed56af:g:Vg4AAOSwn9lXKhuM


so the one on gum tree is half price


until a few yrs ago , kodi was called xbmc , and was first developed for the xbox many yrs ago


The one that really would've interested me after talking to people at work is whatever it is that enables you to be able to view fairly new movies, although i don't know what that'd be




the mods on this forum frown about xbmc/kodi as its not strictly legal to view films/sport that you have not paid for


but to answer the question above = yes

Richard_T_

Personally i would recommend a Roku unit such as the Roku 3

its platform agnostic, which makes it the only ( legit) device with all the major pay/catch up services
Amazon prime
Now TV (Entertainment/Slky sports/Sky movies lkve and on demand)
Netflix
as well as all the usual ones from the BBC, ITV, Chanel4, Chanel 5 and much much more besides ( free content and subscription/pay per view)

And if you want to save money on Now Tv you can sometimes find the now TV boxes for sale at £20 complete with a six month entertainments pass which works out at £3.34 a month vs the standard £6.99 saving £21.94 over 6 months, and if you pick up Two boxes a saving of 43.88 over a year

pmk741

If you google side loading kodi on to amazon fire tv it takes about 5 mins.

Then you just install some apps which there are guides on youtube on how to do and reviews on there capabilities...