Well yesterday while at the mall I passed the Apple Store and wondered if the Apple TV was there yet. Sure enough there they were in the back behind the counter. After some debate, I decided to use my tax return and get the Apple TV. I have to say that it was TRULY worth every penny.
Setup was extremely easy as is everything from Apple, so no big surprise there. Our HDTV is a 47 inch Samsung. It is not Plasma or LCD, it is rear projection DLP I believe but I'm not certain. The ATV is hooked up through component using the 1080i display mode.
The video was amazingly crystal clear. Streaming over a 802.11g network works flawlessly, even when streaming trailers over the internet. I have been ripping my DVDs using MediaFork with these settings: H.264 Video/AAC Audio with the framerate set to "Same as source" using the h.264 iPod 2-pass encoding with an average bitrate of 1100. Finally, I keep aspect ratio checked and lower the width to 640 (that way, it is easily played on the iPod). The result? A file between 800mb and 1.1gb (varies from movie, most are about 900mb). This is lower than DVD resolution, but it looks FANTASTIC on the Apple TV. I am NOT crazy, our whole family was amazed, we kept switching between the DVD and Apple TV and could not tell the difference.
The audio? Well, we do not have surround sound so it obviously sounds great and the same as DVDs.
The music and photos are also extremely nice, and the photos look stunning! I also think that the screen-saver is pretty slick.
The optimal syncing settings for me is to sync only the 5 most recent Movies/TV Shows, sync all of my music and photos. Any other movie is just streamed. Also, I noticed that even when the ATV is off(standby), content is still synced automatically while it is "off."
Overall, I am very happy with the purchase, and would easily recommend it to anyone who may have doubts from the lack of HD content.
EDIT:
Obviously if you have to watch movies in 5.1 sound, then DONT BUY until a software update comes along. I have never watched a movie in 5.1 (besides movie theaters?) so it doesn't bother me
Setup was extremely easy as is everything from Apple, so no big surprise there. Our HDTV is a 47 inch Samsung. It is not Plasma or LCD, it is rear projection DLP I believe but I'm not certain. The ATV is hooked up through component using the 1080i display mode.
The video was amazingly crystal clear. Streaming over a 802.11g network works flawlessly, even when streaming trailers over the internet. I have been ripping my DVDs using MediaFork with these settings: H.264 Video/AAC Audio with the framerate set to "Same as source" using the h.264 iPod 2-pass encoding with an average bitrate of 1100. Finally, I keep aspect ratio checked and lower the width to 640 (that way, it is easily played on the iPod). The result? A file between 800mb and 1.1gb (varies from movie, most are about 900mb). This is lower than DVD resolution, but it looks FANTASTIC on the Apple TV. I am NOT crazy, our whole family was amazed, we kept switching between the DVD and Apple TV and could not tell the difference.
The audio? Well, we do not have surround sound so it obviously sounds great and the same as DVDs.
The music and photos are also extremely nice, and the photos look stunning! I also think that the screen-saver is pretty slick.
The optimal syncing settings for me is to sync only the 5 most recent Movies/TV Shows, sync all of my music and photos. Any other movie is just streamed. Also, I noticed that even when the ATV is off(standby), content is still synced automatically while it is "off."
Overall, I am very happy with the purchase, and would easily recommend it to anyone who may have doubts from the lack of HD content.
EDIT:
Obviously if you have to watch movies in 5.1 sound, then DONT BUY until a software update comes along. I have never watched a movie in 5.1 (besides movie theaters?) so it doesn't bother me
