I was viewing HD video and photos on a 50 inch Fujitsu Plasma using a Roku HD1000 Photo Bridge. The unit had a clunky interface and was somewhat buggy, but the HD video (taken with a Sony HDR-HC1) looked great and the photos were gorgeous. I had the Roku networked (via Ethernet cable) to a G5 quad Power Mac and could browse any folder to play video or view photos.

The Roku just died, they discontinued making them, and I was going to replace the Roku with an Apple TV. However, from reading the posts here it seems that I may not get the same quality video and photos through the Apple TV that I was getting with the Roku. I believe the Roku was 1080i capable like my TV is.

I’ve read through a number of posts here, however, I’m not that technically adept and could use some advise. Basically I’m looking for the easiest way to network to my Mac and view High Def Videos and Photos on my plasma, and listen to my Itunes music. I’m willing to spend more money if there is a better solution than the Apple TV.

Any and all recommendation on what component to use for this is greatly appreciated.

Ken

I was viewing HD video and photos on a 50 inch Fujitsu Plasma using a Roku HD1000 Photo Bridge. The unit had a clunky interface and was somewhat buggy, but the HD video (taken with a Sony HDR-HC1) looked great and the photos were gorgeous. I had the Roku networked (via Ethernet cable) to a G5 quad Power Mac and could browse any folder to play video or view photos.

The Roku just died, they discontinued making them, and I was going to replace the Roku with an Apple TV. However, from reading the posts here it seems that I may not get the same quality video and photos through the Apple TV that I was getting with the Roku. I believe the Roku was 1080i capable like my TV is.

I’ve read through a number of posts here, however, I’m not that technically adept and could use some advise. Basically I’m looking for the easiest way to network to my Mac and view High Def Videos and Photos on my plasma, and listen to my Itunes music. I’m willing to spend more money if there is a better solution than the Apple TV.

Any and all recommendation on what component to use for this is greatly appreciated.

Ken

Hi Ken,

I'm a Mac guy myself since, oh since I've started using a computer in the mid 80s.
I own a ROKU HD1000 PhotoBridge, which is pratically unused since I have not managed to make it work properly in my setup (I'm not a real geek).
I have ordered an Apple TV and I'm ready to part with my unused Roku HD1000 PhotoBridge. Would you be interested to buy it? I live in Montreal, Canada, but i'm willing to ship it to the States, if you would assume half of the shipping costs, in addition to the price we would agree upon.
Let me know if you're interested.
Ygal

Ygal, when will the apple tv devices begin shipping? I haven't heard of a release date yet.

Your situation is virtually identical to mine about two months ago, when my Roku power supply died for the second time. I'm a Mac user and own a Sony HDR-HC3, which records the same HDV format high-definition video as your camera. I could be wrong, but I don't believe that the Apple TV product is designed to support that format. I had also been using MPlay (third-party software) on the Roku to play back DVD files.

The best Roku replacement solution I could find was the TViX M-4000P, which I purchased with an installed hard drive from Digital Connection. Your Mac can be efficiently networked to it using NFS, and the (somewhat clunky) instructions to do this are available from the company's web site. The TViX plays back HDV video flawlessly and plays DVD files with full menu navigation (something the Roku could not do). It will show my digital photos at the full resolution of my HDTV and will simultaneously play music files that are kept in the same folder. Music playback via iTunes is not possible, but it has (to be kind) a very basic interface for playing music files sequentially or randomly. The firmware gets regular updates and improvements/enhancements, though I miss the nicely crafted third-party software solutions (MPlay, SlimRoku) that exist for the Roku.

-- Bill