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Apple TV without TV

Hi all,

After a long hiatus I am looking to put a computer based system together. I'm not an Apple guy but the Apple TV with hard disc seems to fit the bill: reasonably good analog output and output to a DAC, has a 160GB hard disc built in, plus it's cheap.

Only hangup is that I've read on Positive Feedback that you can't use it without a TV connected. In the parlour, this will not fly. Not even a small one. I do own an Android phone or I could buy a Harmony remote. Can either of these run an ATV without the TV monitor?
wdrazek
kbarkamian
647 posts
 
The internal hard drive is why I chose the ATV too. Computer doesn't need to be running, no wireless issues, etc. If you store everything as Apple Lossless, you should have plenty of room. If you need more room, synch what you listen to most often and stream the rest.

If Android has an ATV 2 app, I don't see why it wouldn't work for the ATV 1.
wdrazek OP
100 posts
 
Exactly my reasons for liking the ATV. The android app for ATV 2 clams it will stream to it. I've posted on their forum to see about whether it will also run ATV. No reply.
tobuns
28 posts
 
I use an AppleTV 160GB for music only in a room without a TV. You need to hook it to a TV for the initial set up, but then you can move the AppleTV to your parlour and it's fine. I don't know about the android, but I control mine with the remote app on my iphone and ipad (ipad has a much better interface with album art and everything) I have plenty of lossless files on my AppleTV and it's my most listened to source. Good Luck.
paulsax
275 posts
 
maybe a dumb question. could poster run a mac mini (use a monitor for setup) and setup android? or ipad remote, remove monitor and go for it. attach monitor as needed for whatever?
silverarrows
25 posts
 
I had an ATV running headless...most of the time. I controlled it with an iPod touch. 160gb HD was too small so I just streamed it from my computer. Mac or PC, just need iTunes running. I found ATV to be frustrating at times and quite buggy. New one has no HD and is designed to stream from a PC. I'd recommend that instead. Another option is to use an Airport Express.
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