In my humble opinion, the AppleTV is junk. It doesn't have enough functionality and doesn't support enough codecs to justify the price when competing products offer similar or superior functionality at a similar price.
Agreed. ATV is not worth $50 let alone $100. A stream-only device is an insult to consumers.
I've had WDTV's for years (own 4 currently) and can play anything I throw at it (my personal video and photo collection, and a 2TB library of movies and TV shows in various formats). I can also stream Netflix and online media without paying anything more than I already do. I routinely take a WDTV on trips so I have access to my media in hotel rooms.
iPad is a tool you can use in various ways. It makes a great ebook reader, electronic newspaper, note taker, media streaming device, music & video player, gaming machine, portable web surfer, schedular, address book, e-mailer, etc. I keep mine in the Apple folio case and carry it around in my bag. It goes everywhere with me including bathroom, bed and to work. It's different than my laptops, more accessible and easier to boot. Not as good for creating content but awesome for consuming it.
Just save up your money, earn some pennies yourself, and next March/April when iPad 2.0 comes out you can get the cool tool with a few enhancements. Sucks to have to wait, but we've all been there. When I was in highschool and college I'd cut out pictures of things I wanted because I was too poor to get them. If I kept the same picture in my wallet for 6 months or more then I knew it was something I
really wanted. Those things turned out to be worth the wait.
