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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
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.
wdrazek OP
100 posts
 
Thanks again for the replies. I like that the ATV has a built-in HD, no streaming required. But would like to avoid going further into the Mac ecosystem. Sadly, no Android app I can find will control it.
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