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Anyone else perfectly happy with their appletv?

O

omni

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 20, 2008
335
6
so today came and no new update. Not really sad but not really upset about it.

Maybe it's the way I use mine - provide all my own content via dvd's and bluray rips. I don't dl any bittorent stuff (tried but took 10 days and discrepncy in quality drove me nuts) or get my content from apple. I just plug away updating it with my own stuff: using handbrake, metax, getvideoartwork and anydvd for windows if needed.
 
For the most part I'm pretty happy. I'd like to see it develop an app store and pick up greater capabilities. I'd also like to see small tweaks like changing sort priorities in YouTube and indicating unwatched "favorite" video podcasts so you don't have to manually check for new content on the irregular shows, but my main complaint about the Apple TV is more a complaint about the current business model.

I wish the selection of movies was broader, I wish you had at least 48 hours to watch a rental, and I wish you could rent as soon as you can buy.

For the most part Apple TV is fantastic, however.
 
I love my ATV too. I just got it a couple of weeks ago and have been frantically ripping my 300+ DVD collection using Handbrake and storing the files on my WD MyBook Studio 2TB external drive attached to my iMac via FW800. So far, I have been nothing but astonished by the quality of the rips from Handbrake. They look good on the iMac when I play them back, but viewing them on my ATV through my 40" Sony Bravia is just awsome.

I LOVE IT...

Actually kinda glad they never refreshed it, as I had just bought one, not knowing that there was a possible refresh just days away :eek:

I'd like to see maybe a new firmware version released. Just something that improves stability of the device in general (I find I have to reset the little bugger quite regular when it drops the network connection). Apart from that... it's an amazing little device.
 
i use it every day! i just love it

what i would like, is to be able to download tv shows and movies using itunes; maybe later... for now i just rip my own stuff and watch it...

apart from the lack of movie/tv content in the itunes store -> it's just perfect
 
Love my ATV use it everyday own 2 of them. People that complain either have network issues or didn't understand what they were getting into, and expected more then what it offers.
 
Ditto.

Love mine and use it everyday too.

I'd love to see a refresh, but till then, I'm perfectly happy with it.
 
Slightly off-topic but... What preset are you guys using in Handbrake? I've been using the AppleTV preset in 0.9.2 and have found this great for ATV (quite fast to encode too). However, I've just installed 0.9.3 and there are new presets for ATV which apparently increase quality even more (takes longer to encode, but ends up better quality and smaller file size).

Just wondering if you guys have tried it out.. what's your thoughts? worth the extra encode time?
 
Wish they'd just bump specs

Ok - maybe I'm outta line in this thread as I don't have one yet. (So you have my apologies up front.)

But I'd really like to get one and set it up with Boxee and a network drive for streaming (Airport USB drive).

I don't have a huge list of complaints, but I can't imagine how hard it would be for them to do the following at the same (or lower!) price points, the existing ones have been out for so long:
  • Processor/GPU spec bump to support full HD, Boxee, and better codecs
  • Memory increase (should help things like Boxee improvement)
  • More hard drive capacity
  • SW config to allow direct connect drives (out of the box)
Plus, it might be nice if they went SATA, but not too much of an issue if they otherwise bump the drive space.

I'd like to have all my music *on* the ATV in lossless format. I haven't ripped it that way yet, but I expect it to be in the 110-140GB range. That doesn't leave a whole lot of space for expansion or much else on there. (It looks like with the 160 you get about 145GB, is that right?)

Sure this thing is a "hobby" for Apple, but ya know, hobbies are supposed to be for fun, and what are you if you don't spend any time working on the things that you actually like.

I don't really care if they have a giant media splash for it. A quiet update with these boosts would be plenty.

The only trouble I see with these wishes, is that Apple *likes* the idea that the iPod Touch has become a gaming platform, so they're probably thinking how they can go head to head to and use the ATV to best the PS3.

-Dan​
 
Icewind said:
Slightly off-topic but... What preset are you guys using in Handbrake? I've been using the AppleTV preset in 0.9.2 and have found this great for ATV (quite fast to encode too). However, I've just installed 0.9.3 and there are new presets for ATV which apparently increase quality even more (takes longer to encode, but ends up better quality and smaller file size).
Click to expand...

I do not use Handbrake as the colors never seem right to me. I currently use Compressor 3.5 with the AppleTV preset. I know this is an extremely expensive option as you do need Final Cut Studio to use Compressor. To each his own I guess.
 
I'm happy with mine despite it's limitations. I do hope it gets an hardware refresh and software update soon.

But it's a fantastic device, and I don't think you can fully understand its usefulness until you get one.

Since they added video playlists last year, I've basically created my own mini-TV channel using TV shows I've ripped from DVDs, short home movie clips and of course Apple's Get a Mac commercials.

It's fun to play around with.
 
I was going to say not perfectly happy, but very happy. But to say that, I'd need to say what I want it to do different and honestly, it does everything I want. I love it and will get a second one eventually. I am hoping for upgraded hardware that can handle 1080p before I buy another, but it's not a must. I think there is a lot more potential there as well, but for what it is and what it does, I think it's great.
 
I absolutely love mine. All my movies and music are played through it either locally or through an external connected to my airport extreme base station. The only thing that I wish it had was a visualizer while playing music. I've had mine for over a year now, and might sell it and go for a mini though......or just hand it down to one of my kids for their room.
 
I am pretty happy with the current ATV. Since I have added a tivo to my media center, I don' find myself having much use for it. I used it mainly while out of the country for a few years to watch tv shows purchased from iTunes. Once I got back stateside I used it like the op and put a lot of my favorite dvds on it to watch in the family room.

For it's original purpose, the ATV is decent, but as far as the future is concerned, it doesn't have much help from new customers.

Boxee made the ATV much better as well. I was going to sell my ATV, but now we just use it in the kitchen.
 
I love the AppleTV. I don't think I've personally watched Live TV in over a year.

In fact, my 5-year-old was watching a kids special on Live TV and started crying saying that the TV was broken. When I came running in to see what the problem was, the TV was fine. Actually, she had never seen a commercial before and thought the "show" was broken. Yes -- we love the AppleTV.
 
I love my Apple TV and when I tell my friends what it does, they think it is the coolest thing. However, only one of my friends were so impressed that they bought one.

I do think that this will not catch on as it is now. What I find that I really want is a device that can stream any movie or TV show I want to watch with a subscription. I have a 1 tb hard drive filled with movies and am working on filling a 500 mb hard drive with TV shows and more movies. This seems archaic though. These movies should come from the cloud, I am not buying another hard drive because I have to believe that this is the wave of the future.

I realize that Netflix does this and I have an XBOX 360, but the fan is far too loud to enjoy a movie. Not to mention that Netflix's selection of on demand movies are terrible.

I would love for someone to have a deal with all of the major studios and be able to provide videos on demand in 1080P as soon as they are released to DVD. I would be willing to pay $40 per month (maybe more) for that type of service. Then I don't have to worry about Handbrake, Metax, and keeping storage and backup of all of my movies. This device should also provide some kind of subscription for music as well (similar to SONOS).

I love my AppleTV, and right now, it is the best way to watch movies, but you have to believe that in the near future, movies on your hard drive will be a quaint, old idea. I also use it for music to my patio speakers. But, I never use the Youtube, or the ability to sync music. I have a DVR with my satellite, and don't need one on this, and I can't get rid of my satellite as I get poor antenna reception and I have to be able to watch sports.

I have faith in Apple, and my personal opinion is that they will be the ones to bring all of this to life.
 
sanPietro98 said:
I love the AppleTV. I don't think I've personally watched Live TV in over a year.

In fact, my 5-year-old was watching a kids special on Live TV and started crying saying that the TV was broken. When I came running in to see what the problem was, the TV was fine. Actually, she had never seen a commercial before and thought the "show" was broken. Yes -- we love the AppleTV.
Click to expand...


Lol, that is hilarious. My 5-yr-old starts turning the channel looking for the program when a commercial comes on. He normally watched dvds and ATV until recently.
 
The two I have in my office and bedroom are fine on their respective 32 and 40" 720P TVs, but my 52" would love a 1080P AppleTV with native USB drive support. Right now I'm dealing with a Mac Mini+2TB drive hooked up to it, and while it works, it's still not as nice and simple as AppleTV. And I want gigabit ethernet support as well.
 
I love mine, I use it almost every day. I just wish the :apple:TV could do hulu, I was seriously mad when hulu broke support to boxee.
 
iceman17 said:
I do think that this will not catch on as it is now. What I find that I really want is a device that can stream any movie or TV show I want to watch with a subscription.
Click to expand...

Of course this is more an issue of the iTunes business model. If iTunes were to go subscription the atv would obviously follow as well.
 
I am completely happy with mine. The only changes I would like to see have more to do with the ecosystem in which it operates than the device itself. I would like to see OS X offer native support for blue-ray discs. I also think the season pass costs on iTunes for television programming are too high. Apple really ought to come up with some sort of low cost media server too - they appear to have abandoned this market to HP.
 
It's a really fun system. I finally gave up cable TV a few weeks ago and bought an elgato tuner with the intention of storing broadcast things I want to my Mac Pro, and subscribing to the odd show or two that I'd want from cable. And I have a lot of my movies I watch a lot ripped to it.

I've had a few tiny glitches from it, sometimes it seems slow and it has crashed maybe 6 times in the 9 months or so I've had it.

Other than that, it is amazing. My favorite thing is viewing friends' flickr updates. People take awesome pictures, and a great HD TV is a fantastic way to show it off. My sole complaint is I wish I could go the extra mile and set a "focus area" on my photos - if I do a slideshow, the "Ken Burns Effect" is really nice and smooth, but sometimes zooms from someone's neck to their midsections, and misses faces completely. Small complaint.
 
Very Happy!

Had mine for almost two years and although I've added ATVflash, I use mine primarily for music. Once I buy a large and fast 1+tb drive, I'll start adding my DVD collection (mostly concerts).
 
I love my :apple:TV, but i do wish it offered a search option for YOUR content, rather than just the iTunes Store content. Basically, I wish that they would flip the emphasis on the software to make it more about your content rather than itunes content.

Rentals are great though, having 48 hours to watch them would be better than 24 hours though.

1080p doesnt really concern me yet...although it probably will soon.
 
AmericanScience said:
My sole complaint is I wish I could go the extra mile and set a "focus area" on my photos - if I do a slideshow, the "Ken Burns Effect" is really nice and smooth, but sometimes zooms from someone's neck to their midsections, and misses faces completely. Small complaint.
Click to expand...

If you create a slideshow in iPhoto then you can edit every individual photo's Ken Burns Effect, along with other adjustments. Not sure about Flickr though as I've never used it.
 
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