I am new to Apple TV and I was thinking of getting one only to utilize the movies I have in Digital format on my Hard Drives, but overall what are the downsides and what are the Pros, I hear something about 1080P limitations, whats the scoop all.
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Apple TV is it worth Buying
- Thread starter Wicked1
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It's fine if you'll never watch HD video, it's fine if you want to see your pictures hugeified on whatever size TV you have, and for music, and for YouTube and for everything else.
But if you have HD movies... nope.
But if you have HD movies... nope.
and it's fine if you have a lot of family members that need an easy to use interface with no geekiness or faffing required on their part.
High bitrate 720p encodes play back beautifully on Apple TV. I have encoded over 50 Bluray movies for AppleTV, and there is no discernible difference on my 42" LCD from the original 1080p.
OP - don't let this "lack of native 1080p" nonsense stop you from enjoying Apple TV!
I hardly even use mine. It's really pretty lame.
Slow, inflexible, HD video is barely passable as such, worst ever remote control and interface (iPhone Remote is a necessity). I mostly regret buying it. Only thing I use it for is to use Boxee to play Euro auto racing I've downloaded. I also listen to classical music and the iTunes/FrontRow interface completely and totally sucks for that.
Slow, inflexible, HD video is barely passable as such, worst ever remote control and interface (iPhone Remote is a necessity). I mostly regret buying it. Only thing I use it for is to use Boxee to play Euro auto racing I've downloaded. I also listen to classical music and the iTunes/FrontRow interface completely and totally sucks for that.
I have both ATV and PS3. I always use my PS3 and never ATV, which in fact I'd like to sell. The PS3 is an excellent media center, I didn't buy it for playing games. The only thing that ATV is better at is as screen saver, showing my photos with a very nice layout. Also the interface is better, but that certainly doesn't mean that the PS3 interface is bad.
So the TV shows I downloaded off iTunes and any HD movie I own I can not rip to be played on ATV, also the fact Apple sells HD movies and they can not be played? That is really crappy, I need to look at how to convert my 2009 Mini to handle the task.
Anything you bought off iTunes in HD can be played on the AppleTV, that's what it's for, it's just 720 not 1080. 720 looks great on my 40" TV in my opinion.
Have a look through this this forum, there are a few step by step guides to converting BluRay for AppleTV in a couple of very active threads.
IMO the mac mini is an extravagant way to watch TV, I couldn't justify that outlay when the AppleTV does everything we need for family viewing, of course it really depends on your own requirements.
I'm becoming increasingly tired with Apple TV and have been considering this player for a while. My only concern is the ability to playback the surround sound. The spec says:
An audio receiver is required for surround sound output. AAC/Dolby Digital decodes in 2 channel output only
If I had a home cinema system consisting of a blu ray player and 5.1 speaker setup, can the blu ray player act as the receiver and output the proper intended sound? ie 5.1 surround sound?
I'll tell you one thing, if the A-TV isn't updated by September I'm going to go for the WD-MP. Looks great! 1080p, whats Apple's excuse now? Get with the program.
A-TV is a great idea, sort of ties in the computer to internet/wireless media. That is what Jobs always envisioned. The Mac as the center of the home entertainment hub. Time to bring it out of the "hobby" status.
It would depend on the spec of the BR player, but I doubt it - you would more than likely need a proper AV receiver.
WD TV - ho hum
I tried the WDTV and it displays HD beautifully on your TV. It seems to play anything you throw at it. It will scan any usb drive you attach and display all your media in a heirarchy menu system. However, be prepared to rename all your files to something that is understandable because the WDTV does not/not read meta data like the AppleTV does. If you don't rename your files before the WDTV scans your drive, then you won't know whaat you are playing. Nice product, especially when it's on sale for $99 but incomplete.
I tried the WDTV and it displays HD beautifully on your TV. It seems to play anything you throw at it. It will scan any usb drive you attach and display all your media in a heirarchy menu system. However, be prepared to rename all your files to something that is understandable because the WDTV does not/not read meta data like the AppleTV does. If you don't rename your files before the WDTV scans your drive, then you won't know whaat you are playing. Nice product, especially when it's on sale for $99 but incomplete.