Apple TV

["Chris Miles" <chrismiles@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi folks.

I got my Apple TV a few weeks ago. All working a treat now.

As soon as I got it I had it open killing my warranty (only way im
afraid),=
Ripped the 2.5" hard drive out and connected it to my external USB
caddy. =
I then installed the trial copy of MacDrive which allows me to get
read/wri=
te access to Mac partitions on the external drive.

Now it was just a case of dropping the OSX version of SSH into a bin
direct=
ory of choosing, and drop a startup script which will start up the SSH
daem=
on on next boot.

Now I have full SSH access, which means I can SCP file in and out of the
bo=
x as well.

Installed a bunch of plugins and software from www.awkwardtv.org which
allo=
w me to mount my samba network shares from my NAS box, and also to play a
v=
ariety of files such as XVid, DivX, and DVD - streaming MPEG over wireless
=
is horrible though, the built in wifi adapter must only be capable of
802.1=
1g, which just does not cut the mustard - yay for my CAT5 infrastructure
th=
roughout my house though.

I am using the built in 40gb for syncing music from iTunes, and just
runnin=
g everything else straight off NAS, and it is working a treat.

Has HD support, although I only have a max of 576p on my current TV at the
=
moment, and it allows me to select from a variety of output resolutions,
an=
d refresh rates.

One drawback through is that it only has DVI and component outputs, Apple
h=
ave assumed that anyone with a wide screen TV is likely to have a
component=
video input, which is obviously not the case with various CRT wide screens=
, and obviously not much use for us who use composite video distribution
sy=
stems, so at the moment I just have it connected straight to one of my TVs
=
and not distributing it untill I get an appropriate converter.

One such converter is available here - http://www.svideo.com/appletv2tv.htm=
l -- does anyone else know another product which can do similar to this?

Loving it through, and the user interface like other Apple stuff is very
ac=
cessable, and easy to use for all members of the family without much
strugg=
le.

=A3200 for the 40gb model. Couldnt see the point of upgrading to the 160gb.

Chris

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