im looking to get one of these streamers soon but saw that the apple tv is one of the best when its jailbroken.

anyone have one? if so, whats the benefits?

Only the 2nd generation Apple TV can be jailbroken, and that was replaced by the 3rd generation one back in March. Used 2nd gen Apple TVs are selling for $200+.

This article gives some reasons for jailbreaking an Apple TV:
http://www.idownloadblog.com/2012/01...reak-apple-tv/


That said, the article is about a year old, and there may be more capable media players available for less than $200. the Vizio Co-Star has some interesting features for only $100:
http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/19/v...o-star-review/

On the other hand, if you don't feel like you're going to use the AppleTV for anything other than the officially-supported features, a 3rd gen one would be a good purchase.

im looking to play my mkvs

With subtitles or not?

Dont care about the subtitles

mkv plays fine through xbmc
to me, the atv2 is worthless without a jailbreak.. and after its jailbroken, its the best media device option i can find

Supposedly the jailbreak for the 3rd generation Apple TV will be out by the end of the month.

I wouldn't bank on it:
http://www.cultofmac.com/203058/sant...mas-jailbreak/

whats the apple tv 3 have over the 2?

1080p playback (2 maxes out at 720p) and better wifi:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/5687/a...12-mini-review