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Apple TV vs Playstation 3
- Thread starter Digitalflick
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As you should be. I've got no PS3 experience, but I would say that my 360 is a better media client than my ATV. The interface isn't as pretty, but the functionality is superior. Playing a video is just playing a video, so there's no real advantage for either in that regard. Photos, however, are where the ATV looses out by a huge margin. The Xbox is hands down the better photo viewer.
If I had to pick just one device, I'd pick the Xbox. Much more versatility, and equal or better than the ATV on all counts for the capabilities that they share.
That is hard to believe. On an AppleTV, I can copy over or stream any of my photos or albums from iPhoto with a only few clicks. I can view them one by one or as a slideshow with various transition options. When I am listening to music, it displays a really good looking (in an almost 3D fashion) screensaver out of the photos I have copied over. How does Xbox exceed AppleTV?
I am pretty sure Xbox or PS3 would be an OK media center. However, I don't know how easy it is to set them up. With AppleTV I don't know if it took me more than 10 minutes to get done with the initial setup. If it becomes a weekend project with an AppleTV alternative, that is not very appealing.
Another advantage with AppleTV comes up if you have an iPod or use iTunes extensively. Setting up a new library and playlists by using a different organizer software with a different interface just to stream my media to the living room is a hassle. If Xbox integrates with Zune's media organizer, MS might have a good position. Sony is at a distinct disadvantage.
Oh, that's easy. Thumbnails. I've got something like 10,000 photos in my iPhoto library. I do what most people do--divide them up into albums based on distinct events. I take a lot of photos. I've got a 92" screen in my theater, and when I want to show people photos, I never use the ATV. Why? Because I can't pick out an individual photo to view. I'm limited to going through my albums in full screen, one photo at a time, in the exact order that the photos exist in my library. There's no "hey, where's the one with the fire?" until we get to it. I've got 175 photos in an album from a camping trip, for example. I don't necessarily want to see all of them, half of them, or even many of them. I might just want one in particular.
With ATV, I can't quickly get to any particular photo. I've got to go through them all. How kludgy is that? With the 360, I get 9 thumbnails on the screen, and can easily move through my albums to find the photo I want to see.
The ATV fails miserably when compared to the 360 in that regard. The 360 has lots of nice touches, too. I can rotate photos on the screen in a super easy fashion. My slideshows for an given album can be randomized. These are things Apple should have done.
See, that's the problem with not doing your homework and working off of assumptions. It takes no longer to set up the Xbox than the ATV--less time, really, but both are so minimal as to be hardly worth noting. The Xbox is zero config on the console itself, and requires just installing Connect360 on your Mac.
Again, doing your homework helps. My 360 reads all of my iTunes playlists--without having to keep iTunes open on my Mac. It's seemless. Frankly, the 360 is just a lot faster to use, particular where I don't have to wait for it to read my iTunes library. The couple of minutes that ATV takes to connect to my iTunes bothers me. It should be faster.
Apple has a nice start with the ATV. I'm happy with mine, but I can't say they've done as well as MS has. They should have, and I hope on Tuesday I can say they've improved.
If people took the time to do their homework for a media client in the $300-range, I think most of them would end up picking the 360. Beyond beating ATV at the features they share, the 360 has HD movie and TV downloads--and once you buy the content, you can download it again at any time. It also happens to be a pretty cool game system, if you're into that sort of thing. Sure, all up you're looking at $100 to $150 more than ATV, but really, how much is that to the target market of ATV? It's chump change.
Har ahr har. Have you tried to use the Zune media organizer? I won't get into the details suffice to say that Microsoft is most certainly not in a good position.
I wish I knew someone with a 360 so I could try the media function out. Sounds like another option. Thanks
I have to say...
I have both. The PS3 is more flexible, but the ATV interface blows away the PS3 if you have anything more than a basic library. Being able to use the iTunes playlists is a big thing. You can create PS3 playlists, but it's not nearly as elegant.
PS3 does have its advantages though, obviously blu-ray, dvd upscaling, can use my ReadyNAS iTunes server (ATV can't do that). Plays Divx.
I think the PS3 is a fantastic value, much more than the ATV, but it is limited. Sony knows that there are loads of folks out there that bought it for everything but gaming, and the software has been coming along.
If they beef up the menu structure, maybe add iTunes support, the thing would be pretty good. I've downloaded trailers to it using the PS3 store (whatever it's called), and they look pretty nice.
I like them both very much, but the ability to use my ReadyNAS drive is a major bonus.
I have both. The PS3 is more flexible, but the ATV interface blows away the PS3 if you have anything more than a basic library. Being able to use the iTunes playlists is a big thing. You can create PS3 playlists, but it's not nearly as elegant.
PS3 does have its advantages though, obviously blu-ray, dvd upscaling, can use my ReadyNAS iTunes server (ATV can't do that). Plays Divx.
I think the PS3 is a fantastic value, much more than the ATV, but it is limited. Sony knows that there are loads of folks out there that bought it for everything but gaming, and the software has been coming along.
If they beef up the menu structure, maybe add iTunes support, the thing would be pretty good. I've downloaded trailers to it using the PS3 store (whatever it's called), and they look pretty nice.
I like them both very much, but the ability to use my ReadyNAS drive is a major bonus.
NONONONO. I made this mistake. Zune software is unfixable bloated garbage. I had to get TVersity and setup a uPnP media server just to play anything. All is not well, though. The 360 will only decode WM7-9 video streams. How much of your video is encoded using WMP7-9? Most of my stuff is XviD/x264, so TVersity has to convert these files ON-THE-FLY to a Windows Media stream. As you can imagine, the result is anything but pretty on less-than-spectacular hardware. I liked blocks when I was a kid; I'm not so fond of them nowadays.
How about music, you ask? Well! You absolutely CANNOT transfer music over the network to be stored locally on your 360. Tunes can only be streamed; your PC must remain ON the entire time, or, alternatively, you can, utilizing Microsoft's great generosity, re-rip your entire CD collection with awful optics, resulting firstly in a great loss of time and, what's more, in terrible quality sound due to all the interpolation. Why the hell did I buy this $400+ 160GB 'Elite' media ********, you ask? TO BUY TRASH FROM XBOX MARKETPLACE IN A SYSTEM THAT ENSURES THAT YOU HAVE MONEY INVESTED IN XBOX(tm) POINTS! AT ALL TIMES.
In short, please, do not look toward Microsoft to fulfill any of your media-related needs. If they get enough foothold, they will lock digital media down completely.
I wouldn't call this an option. I always had issues trying to stream stuff on old pc. Atv is much better user experience and well organized as long as itunes is. Just need some updates for f/w hopefully coming tomorrow.
The xbox 360 CAN play that and Mpeg4, H.264, and divx all natively. I use connect 360 on my mac and stream movies to my xbox all the time and all 4 of those formats work just fine, no transcoding.
Well, check out www.schmartz.com
Some enterprising individual has figured out how to make an IR receiver work with the PS3. One even does power on. I've done this with my PS3, note that I had to use a friends PSP to do so.
Also, FWIW, I have a 360, Wii, PS3,
TV, and a TivoHD....I'll say that it is my opinion that the PS3 is a (distant) second to the TivoHD. I do really like my
TV. The ability to run almost any file with the patchstick mods is great but it lacks in a two key areas, imo. I'd love to see HD content on it (720p and 1080i would suffice), though I am afraid of how BIG the files would be in comparison with the space I have for my files. The second is one that has been beaten to death.....5.1 sound is kind of a must these days.spjoneSi
sorry...
...but can someone who has successfully done this tell me how to setup up Mac content streaming to PS3? Just got one.
THANKS!
...but can someone who has successfully done this tell me how to setup up Mac content streaming to PS3? Just got one.
THANKS!
I think the thread's intention is to compare the media center capabilities of the PS3 and the AppleTV. Not a game console with a media streamer. Don't post ridiculous comments if you don't know anything about it. The PS3 is a powerful media center.
Out of the box, PS3 wins.....native Divx support, nice interface, and BluRay make it a winner, but the AppleTV can be modded to be very powerful as well.
It wasn't a ridiculous comment. It was going with exactly what the first commenter said. The thread starter was not comparing the media capabilites, he/she was comparing the entire device by mentioning the blu-ray and gaming capabilities. If this was a media only comparison it would be fair, but the original poster simply started the thread as another bash the AppleTV fest and we are not biting. The PS3 is horrible as a media server. Clunky software and too much fenageling to get it work semi decently. Its a very good game system, but a very bad media center.
Plus I love how people tout Divx as the 2nd coming of video codecs. Its is by far one of the worst codecs I have ever used. Quite horrid looking.
You seem to be rather angry, and in possession of a great deal of misinformation. Perhaps you have an agenda?
PS3!! -duh
PS3 Absolutely! A more accurate comparison would be PS3 vs Macmini. The PS3 can do Divx, MP4, Mp3, DVD, can do Blu-ray which is now official next-gen HD, has a web browser, LINUX (out of the box -for free!!!), has great cheap PSN games even if you don't like expensive games (Everyday shooter- best $6.00 ever spent!) and everything can be controlled wireless including on/off. All multimedia/web can be wirelessly streamed to PSP anywhere in the world via wifi.
Plus there are deals floating around giving you the PS3+Game+Remote for $299 when you sign up for a Sony Credit Card, so really, why wouldn't you go for the PS3?
I would say the only reason to get an AppleTV would be if you have a huge itunes library of protected content, even so, I would still get a PS3!
PS3 Absolutely! A more accurate comparison would be PS3 vs Macmini. The PS3 can do Divx, MP4, Mp3, DVD, can do Blu-ray which is now official next-gen HD, has a web browser, LINUX (out of the box -for free!!!), has great cheap PSN games even if you don't like expensive games (Everyday shooter- best $6.00 ever spent!) and everything can be controlled wireless including on/off. All multimedia/web can be wirelessly streamed to PSP anywhere in the world via wifi.
Plus there are deals floating around giving you the PS3+Game+Remote for $299 when you sign up for a Sony Credit Card, so really, why wouldn't you go for the PS3?
I would say the only reason to get an AppleTV would be if you have a huge itunes library of protected content, even so, I would still get a PS3!
I bought this remote from Nyko. It takes up one of my two USB ports, but it allows me to use my Logitech Harmony remote with it. The best part was that Logitech even had the Nyko remote in their database, so I didn't even have to program it.
The only thing I can't do is turn the system on and off.
Yeah. I read about that. You still need to either get up or have another device to turn it off and on, though.
Original Post:
Peeaanuut's Post:
No gaming mentioned. Most likely a media center question. Also, he has several posts in this thread related to media capabilities. He's not out to bash on anything, but you apparently are. Also, Divx is a great codec and there's a reason why most people convert with it. It looks great and compresses nicely. Why do you think most people hack the AppleTV.....to watch Divx encoded videos. I guarantee that everyone with a hacked AppleTV has Perian installed for this reason.
Who would complain about the addition of a BluRay Player on an AppleTV anyway? I know I would enjoy it.
Built in Blu-ray player on the PS3 I think does it for me. What would be the advantage of an
This is to determine an option for my Bedroom, I have a PS3 but am wondering if I should just get a second one versus an ATV
Peeaanuut's Post:
No gaming mentioned. Most likely a media center question. Also, he has several posts in this thread related to media capabilities. He's not out to bash on anything, but you apparently are. Also, Divx is a great codec and there's a reason why most people convert with it. It looks great and compresses nicely. Why do you think most people hack the AppleTV.....to watch Divx encoded videos. I guarantee that everyone with a hacked AppleTV has Perian installed for this reason.
Who would complain about the addition of a BluRay Player on an AppleTV anyway? I know I would enjoy it.
Well, I suppose every thread turns into a bash this bash that no matter what the case may be.
Anyways, the point of the thread was to compare the media capabilities of each device.
Anyways, the point of the thread was to compare the media capabilities of each device.
Well, check out www.schmartz.com
Some enterprising individual has figured out how to make an IR receiver work with the PS3. One even does power on. I've done this with my PS3, note that I had to use a friends PSP to do so.
Also, FWIW, I have a 360, Wii, PS3,
...I'll say that it is my opinion that the PS3 is a (distant) second to the TivoHD. I do really like my
spjoneSi
OK, so I am now eating my words. THANK YOU APPLE!
tv could be taking over the second to my tivo HD slot...only thing that is missing is TV Shows in HD. Please oh please oh please oh please....spjoneSi
PS3 has some media advantages
Apple TV only streams from iTunes. PS3 streams from any DLNA (a home entertainment networking standard) compatible software. Unfortunately, that doesn't include iTunes; even Windows Media Player does DLNA.
ATV only does H.264/MPEG4. PS3 does H.264/MPEG4, DivX, XviD, WMV, MPEG1 and MPEG2.
You can hook an external hard drive to a PS3 to extend the local storage capacity.
You get one of the best Blu-ray players on the market, and one of the best upsampling DVD players.
You can do Folding@Home faster than any PC that may cost over four times as much.
The iTunes store thing with rentals, etc., would also just be a matter of a software update for the PS3. Sony has been churning them out regularly, adding a lot of functionality with each one.
Oh, and it plays games.
OTOH, a PS3 is more expensive, sucks a lot more power and makes more noise than an ATV, and it's bigger.
Apple TV only streams from iTunes. PS3 streams from any DLNA (a home entertainment networking standard) compatible software. Unfortunately, that doesn't include iTunes; even Windows Media Player does DLNA.
ATV only does H.264/MPEG4. PS3 does H.264/MPEG4, DivX, XviD, WMV, MPEG1 and MPEG2.
You can hook an external hard drive to a PS3 to extend the local storage capacity.
You get one of the best Blu-ray players on the market, and one of the best upsampling DVD players.
You can do Folding@Home faster than any PC that may cost over four times as much.
The iTunes store thing with rentals, etc., would also just be a matter of a software update for the PS3. Sony has been churning them out regularly, adding a lot of functionality with each one.
Oh, and it plays games.
OTOH, a PS3 is more expensive, sucks a lot more power and makes more noise than an ATV, and it's bigger.
IR bad, Bluetooth good
That IR sucks, is slow, is unreliable, and they can make the console less expensive by using Bluetooth for both the controller and the remote. I for one am happy that I don't need to have a line-of-sight to the PS3 in order to use the remote. It doesn't matter that the coffee table is in the way, or I'm in the next room and want to change songs, or I'm feeling really lazy and simply don't feel like pointing it.
Just wait, universal Bluetooth remotes will come. There's pretty much nothing that can't be done with one, including wirelessly pulling down the latest manufacturer codes from the web via your computer's Bluetooth.
That IR sucks, is slow, is unreliable, and they can make the console less expensive by using Bluetooth for both the controller and the remote. I for one am happy that I don't need to have a line-of-sight to the PS3 in order to use the remote. It doesn't matter that the coffee table is in the way, or I'm in the next room and want to change songs, or I'm feeling really lazy and simply don't feel like pointing it.
Just wait, universal Bluetooth remotes will come. There's pretty much nothing that can't be done with one, including wirelessly pulling down the latest manufacturer codes from the web via your computer's Bluetooth.
Other than, you know, controlling things other than the PS3, like TVs, amplifiers, projectors, and the like.
Other than that, a BT universal remote would be great.