The ATV2 has a HD, but not large enough to use for media storage by any means. I have several NAS that I use for storage and such. But honestly, these days I stream much more than I download. Everything is available to me for direct streaming anytime. Literally any TV show or movie. So I don't really download much these days other than my absolute favorite stuff.

If you're looking to start out now though, I would really recommend one of the Android boxes as opposed to an AppleTV2. The AppleTV must be jailbroken to run XBMC. The new AppleTV3 can't be jailbroken at this time. So the prices of the older ATV2 have gone through the roof(~$200). And the ATV2 is starting to show it's age, as the XBMC platform continues to grow. Processing power can't handle more than 720p streaming. Android boxes can stream full 1080p as long as you have sufficient bandwidth. Hell, you can get a Raspberry pi for ~$75 that can run everything and stream at 1080p now.

In addition, you can also run XBMC on any Windows/Mac computer. It can run on any platform, Win, Mac, Linux, OpenELEC, etc.

Okay. I cut my dish network, and I have broadband and wireless on the way to the house.

I was about to pull the trigger on an AppleTV (I really liked being able to airplay music and videos from all of our devices as we're pretty heavily invested in the apple ecosystem). That being said, you seem like an expert and you're suggesting to go the XBMC route. Can I just buy an android box that already has XBMC installed on it?

This one appears to: http://www.amazon.com/G-Box-Midnight.../dp/B009BWC3J4

I'm assuming I can get do netflix through XBMC if I decide to keep it mostly legit?

That's the old unit, and for some reason more expensive.

Here's the shiznit: http://www.amazon.com/G-Box-Midnight.../dp/B00CH643A8

Like I said, the ATV2 is pretty aged and limited in hardware. But it is pretty nice for Airplay purposes. But the most recent iOS for ATV2 is what's called a tethered jailbreak. Meaning you need to hook it up to a computer and do a special tether boot in order to run XBMC. If you kill power to the unit, you'll have to do the tethered boot with your computer to get it working again. It's a PIA in most cases. And any ATV2 you find right now will likely have the newest OS on it. If it has an older OS, you can do an untethered jailbreak and use it as normal. But those are hard to find...

The Android boxes are the way to go now, IMO. You can simply download the Netflix Android app and run it directly from there. There's an XBMC netflix solution, but you'll have better performance running it natively through the Android OS.

Keep in mind that XBMC can access media from any protocol that is shared on the network. So you could simply setup an SMB, AFP, or NFS share from any/all computers, and add it as a source in XBMC and play media that way.

There's always a way...

Suggestions on a remote?

I'm pretty sure it comes with one, although that isn't clear from the webpage.

But you can get just about any type of smart remote. There's already existing configurations for almost any programmable remote you can get, so you can make any remote work with it.

You can also download tons of free remote apps for your smartphone.

If you really want a nice one though, look at those small keyboard remotes for these types of devices. Something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wirel...ref=pd_sim_e_3

Those make it a very nice experience. The little touchpad part is perfect for these kinds of HTPC units.

There's also much smaller keypad remotes like that too. Like phone sized.

Edit: With the remotes that have the touchpad, you can play the normal Android games too, like Angry Birds and whatnot.

God Damnit,

Cox raised my 18 mbps to 25 mbps and raised my price from $55 to $62. These mother****ers are crooks! ****in pr_capone.

I wonder if this would work on my older tv

Is offsidestream in 1080p?

Thanks, man. Just pulled the trigger and should get it first part of next week. I wish I would have done it earlier in the week, so I could play with it over the weekend.

http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/6/50...-plus-internet

I know this thread is old, but an interesting story relevant to the original question.

It's HDMI. If the old TV has HDMI, I'd almost guarantee it would work.

I love XBMC. I have had it since I modded my original XBOX. I only left it once for a netgear POS. I went back to it in less than a few months. Easy system for my wife to use as well.

I have two boxes running XBMC; an ATV1 with a crystalHD card in it. Can decode 1080p, but no wifi. (had to take it out for the CHD card) It runs a custom linux XBMC called Crystalbuntu. Ebay is getting crazy with ATV1s to run it. The other is a PC.

One word of caution on those android boxes. They can decode 1080p, but can only display 720p. Much like that G-Box you linked: *1080p decoded videos are scaled to 720p in XBMC.
Ouya can display 1080p if that matters to you.

I am a little different. I watch Blu Ray remuxs with DTS HD Master sound. Quality matters to me. For this I built a computer for $300. I love it. Light gaming. My wife loves it when we start up the Cinema Experience to watch a movie:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=87563

Like Fish said before, depending on your morals, the value of XBMC will vary. I have my utorrent set up to download shows from a private tracker. Then it sends a message to my XBMC's saying "Downloaded: XXXXX" and updates my libraries on both boxes. Why download shows, when I can just watch them on my DirecTV? I can get a network TV show, lets say American Dad, in 720p with commercials already removed, before it even starts on local TV. Its an hour earlier in the summer. East coast rips these shows immediately.
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=120615

I no longer subscribe to netflix because the selections sucks when compared to iceflims or 1channel. I will do a month here or there to support an original series. (Arrested Development or Orange is the new Black) It is nice to randomly watch Daria or Beatlejuice just because I can.

xbmchub is outstanding. I cannot see needing anything else if you use them and the xbmc.org add ons. Pretty much the only thing xbmc wont do is those unique VLC playlists for HD sport streams.

Honestly, I have not watch DirecTV once this week except for an episode of PTI and a basketball game. Weekend sports are the only reason I havnt ditched it.
What a rip. I have cox here and got 50mbps for $62 promo. WIll turn into $69 in a few months. I only have the faster speed because the soft data cap is higher and I get nasty grams from Cox regarding my usage. :(

advice*

And I've already ****ed up my box. I bought the box you suggested Fish. I connected it to the internet per instructions (in the Chrome interface). I then later told it to always boot to the XBMC, bypassing the option to boot to Chrome. Now my internet access has changed, and I can't change it in XBMC, presumably because I originally set it up in the Chrome instance.

So...I need to figure out how to boot the box into the Chrome instance, instead of XBMC.


EDIT:
Found the answer:
In android go to Settings then Apps then xbmc. Click clear defaults. Mods should move this to the FAQ section.

Here is a wealth of knowledge for that box. From what I understand, linux is the way to go, but then no netflix.

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=164977
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=177875
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php...864#pid1421864