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40GB or 160GB which did you choose and why?

D

Dingo Dave 69

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 23, 2007
328
92
I have been looking into appleTV and I am currently converting my DVD's into itunes but I haven't actually bought an appleTV yet. Most of the time my PC that it will be running from will be on and connecting wireless. Because of this fact I am thinking about going for the 40GB tv. Is this what most people do? I just wondered what size of AppleTV everyone else has bought and why did they decide on that specific model?

Also, I have a quick question, is there really any difference between connecting it via component over HDMI? Are they going to give me the same PQ? Similarly, do all AppleTV boxes have the same connections and spec ignoring the hard drive?
 
I have the 160GB. In all honesty, if it wasn't a gift from my wife, the 40GB most likely would have been fine since you can stream easily.

To touch on this honesty. If my wife hadn't bought me the appleTV, I wouldn't own one. I have other machines that could do the same thing....but nothing nearly as seamless. I'm enjoying this little gadget a lot more then I expected.
 
Dingo Dave 69 said:
I have been looking into appleTV and I am currently converting my DVD's into itunes but I haven't actually bought an appleTV yet. Most of the time my PC that it will be running from will be on and connecting wireless. Because of this fact I am thinking about going for the 40GB tv. Is this what most people do? I just wondered what size of AppleTV everyone else has bought and why did they decide on that specific model?

Also, I have a quick question, is there really any difference between connecting it via component over HDMI? Are they going to give me the same PQ? Similarly, do all AppleTV boxes have the same connections and spec ignoring the hard drive?
Click to expand...

You have to remember, even if you copy over the movies to the device, they still have to be stored locally on your machine too, so I don't see why a 160GB drive is needed, especially when you can stream most things.

As for component versus HDMI, of course HDMI is going to be better, it's purely digital, but if you don't have HDMI on your set I wouldn't worry. One of the best things about it is it's just less wires.

As for components, I'm not sure, but would assume, other the the drives, they'd be the same.
 
I just wasn't sure if it was worth the extra cash when I will be streaming. Looks like I will be buying an HDMI switcher too, only got one HDMI socket and its already being used. I will try it with component first, I always thought they were meant to be as good as one another.

Is now a good time to buy one? I live in the UK and want to get the best possible deal on this as I can, I don't need it in a hurry :)
 
I went with the 160 GB, and I'm glad I did.

With over 14,000 songs (78 GB), it takes a while to load the library file when I set it up to stream.

Long term, I'm going to keep my music synced, and start streaming my movies from another computer. 78 GB of movies is a much smaller library file to load than 78 GB of music, so the library file load time shouldn't be too bad.
 
Ah so if I plan on syncing it takes a bit of time from first turning appletv on? I didnt know that

Can anyone tell me if it is possible to rip HD-DVD's to my PC to play through AppleTV? So far I have just been working my way through my standard dvds.
 
I bought the 40GB because it was $100 cheaper and I'll be streaming most everything. 160GB is basically as worthless as 40GB when my library is approaching 1TB. Just stream baby :)
 
40GB refurbed for $199

Have a 1T Movie library so can't really sync anyway so why spend extra $$$ on something that will only hold the software to run the :apple:TV
 
To all the people who stream, from turning on your AppleTV and going into movies how long does it take for your library to be up and running?
 
Streaming Times

Just purchased my Apple TV because of the Movie Rentals. I was using my MAC Mini G4 prior to this, but the interface of the Apple TV is smooth and prevents my wife from jumping out of front row (on the Mini) and getting confused. The Apple TV has also become another channel of entertainment for us with YouTube and VideoPodCasts.

I purchased the 40Gb Apple TV because I am streaming about 400GB of content (50Gb Music & the rest movies and TV Shows) to the Apple TV. At first connection to the Mini, it is not more then about a Minute or so) for them to Sync the content list. Because my Mini is a media server, I leave it on and as long as the Apple TV is logged into the Mini for content, it is instantaneous.

In the future with the Software update (any day now), I'll have the Apple TV fetch all my Video PodCast content directly (storing it locallly using part of that 40Gb drive). That and Movie rentals, I see no reason to buy the 160Gb. If I want to keep any of the VideoPodCasts, I sync them back.

Save the $100 if you plan to stream.
 
I have the 40 gig - why? Because that was all that was offered when I purchased it.

I would get the 40 gig again though - I stream everything and have nothing synced to it at all. I have 2 500 gig drives hooked up to a Mac Mini in the other room and it does the job just fine:)

To all the people who stream, from turning on your AppleTV and going into movies how long does it take for your library to be up and running?
Click to expand...

It takes about 2 to 3 minutes to load my main library to stream - 700 gigs of music and video - if you only stream from one library and never change your settings its instant each time after (i.e. the synced library file doe not need to be loaded again - it just updates itself when new content is added).
 
I have the 40 GB. It was much cheaper, I figured I could just stream my permanent content, and the primary reason I bought the Apple TV was to rent HD movies. I don't need the bigger hard drive for rentals since the they get erased in 24 hours.
 
40Gb AppleTv

I got the 40gb appletv for a few reasons.

1.) Cheap
2.) No need for the 160gb drive
3.) A/V Device to connect computer to entertainment center

I could have connected my computer to my entertainment center, but my computer is nowhere near my entertainment center. Wireless connectivity for streaming. I do not even sync anything to my AppleTV currently.

I have a 500gb harddrive, planning on going to two 1tb drives for backup. I am a photographer when I am not at work and need a means of backing up, so the 2, 1tb solution will be in a raid (mirror) setup, for all my photos, mp3s, movies...etc.

Also a means of getting HD rentals from Apple Store (if/when this happens). Instead of buying HD or BlueRay right now (waiting for this to pan out).

If local storage is not needed and you are fine with streaming your content, Id say go for the 40gig, save a few bucks for the movie rentals/buys.

Josh
 
do you use a G network or N?

I'm thinking about the ATV once the update hits for the rental option -- i currently stream music from iTunes with my airport express -- does the ATV replace the airport express in your opinion?
 
yotoad said:
do you use a G network or N?
Click to expand...

I have used both - I currently use N (I have a G and N network setup at home separate from each other so I can have a pure N network for speed and a G network for a couple iPhones and a Powerbook that do not support N). I also have an Airport Express in the front of my house for Audio and extending my wireless G network - 3 wireless routers in a 1400sqr foot home may be a little over kill but eh Im happy:)

yotoad said:
I'm thinking about the ATV once the update hits for the rental option -- i currently stream music from iTunes with my airport express -- does the ATV replace the airport express in your opinion?
Click to expand...

Airport Express is a router - AppleTV is not and will not work as one - its a client only. With the new software update you will be able to use the AppleTV as a speaker destination from iTunes on your computer similar to Airport Express - but the similarities end there.
 
FreeState said:
I have used both - I currently use N (I have a G and N network setup at home separate from each other so I can have a pure N network for speed and a G network for a couple iPhones and a Powerbook that do not support N). I also have an Airport Express in the front of my house for Audio and extending my wireless G network - 3 wireless routers in a 1400sqr foot home may be a little over kill but eh Im happy:)
Click to expand...

I have a question along these lines. I have several 'G' items (Wii, iPhone, PowerBook) in my house and a couple of 'N' items (iMac, soon-to-be-delivered Apple TV--I'm assuming). How do you set up your two different networks? I'd like to run the 'G' items off my current Airport Express and my 'N' items off my soon-to-be-delivered Time Capsule.

Can I do this with one internet connection?

Another quick question--does anyone know if you can plug an external hard drive into an Airport Express? I'd try it, but I'm not at home...
 
I currently only use Airport express as a desination for my speakers -- i guess i will wait until the update rolls out so people can give me the scoop -- i will probably use the airport express as a network extender (if you can do that in a non-apple router environment - don't think you can) after i get the appletv

if i stream over G is that going to suck with video? -- audio i know is fine

another question -- if i hook up my appleTV through HDMI and send my tv audio to my receiver through my optical out, will it play dolby digital? i have an issue with my dvd player that doesn't want to play dolby digital signals from the DVD (HDMI)-> TV (optical)-> receiver. just curious


FreeState said:
I have used both - I currently use N (I have a G and N network setup at home separate from each other so I can have a pure N network for speed and a G network for a couple iPhones and a Powerbook that do not support N). I also have an Airport Express in the front of my house for Audio and extending my wireless G network - 3 wireless routers in a 1400sqr foot home may be a little over kill but eh Im happy:)



Airport Express is a router - AppleTV is not and will not work as one - its a client only. With the new software update you will be able to use the AppleTV as a speaker destination from iTunes on your computer similar to Airport Express - but the similarities end there.
Click to expand...
 
JW008 said:
I have several 'G' items (Wii, iPhone, PowerBook) in my house and a couple of 'N' items (iMac, soon-to-be-delivered Apple TV--I'm assuming). How do you set up your two different networks? I'd like to run the 'G' items off my current Airport Express and my 'N' items off my soon-to-be-delivered Time Capsule.
Click to expand...

I have the Airport N hooked up to the cable modem. I then have my older Airport running G connected via an ethernet cable to the back of the N. I have each set up as its own wireless router. That way the internet is available via the routed ethernet from the N to the G so both have it.

JW008 said:
Another quick question--does anyone know if you can plug an external hard drive into an Airport Express? I'd try it, but I'm not at home...
Click to expand...

You can not - its printer only. I would not recommend trying to stream from a USB drive connected to a wireless router - it does not work well. Keep it connected to a computer - that way you dont get network congestion when streaming (if you connect a USB drive to a wireless router the wireless network sends the stream from the usb drive to the computer and then back to your router to the AppleTV which causes stutter because there is not enough bandwith).
 
Is there anything else that I need to do network wise---or will I be able to use the Airport Utility to set up each as separate networks?

Thanks for the response!
 
yotoad said:
i will probably use the airport express as a network extender (if you can do that in a non-apple router environment - don't think you can) after i get the appletv
Click to expand...

This should work - as long as you set up the non apple wireless to be extended the Airport Express does not care that its coming from a non apple branded device - it will still extend it.

yotoad said:
if i stream over G is that going to suck with video? -- audio i know is fine
Click to expand...

I have streamed with G and had no problem with 720p or SD. The key is to stream from files hosted on your computer or an external hard drive that is connected to your computer - drives hooked up to the USB port on Airport do not work well for this currently.

yotoad said:
question -- if i hook up my appleTV through HDMI and send my tv audio to my receiver through my optical out, will it play dolby digital? i have an issue with my dvd player that doesn't want to play dolby digital signals from the DVD (HDMI)-> TV (optical)-> receiver. just curious
Click to expand...

Your HDMI should be able to carry the original source audio to your receiver without an optical out - you might have a pre HDMI 1.1 cord or device that does not work like the newer ones (HDMI support for DVDs was added in 2004 to the standard, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI). But the optical out should do the trick as well.
 
JW008 said:
Is there anything else that I need to do network wise---or will I be able to use the Airport Utility to set up each as separate networks?

Thanks for the response!
Click to expand...

The Airport utility will do it for you. If you have questions during set up just post a question and someone here will more than likely know the answer:)
 
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