This is garbage.
Apple tv is a very good part of the apple ecosystem. Imac to apple tv to Ipod to iphone.
Gizmodo is back on their anti-apple pony. Bitter bitter hacks that they are.
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Apple TV - "Worst Gadgets of the Decade"
- Thread starter strike1555
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This is garbage.
Apple tv is a very good part of the apple ecosystem. Imac to apple tv to Ipod to iphone.
Gizmodo is back on their anti-apple pony. Bitter bitter hacks that they are.
An updated AppleTV that plays 1080p for, say $199 plus a Blu-Ray player for $119 (I was just at BestBuy and they had a few models on sale for that this week), would still come in cheaper than a Mini with a Blu-ray drive...
And Drobo is just a glorified proprietary RAID-esque solution, and .....
Time Capsule does exactly what it is supposed to do, and there's nothing comparable on the market. Set it down and instantly all your Mac's have a backup solution.
The problem I see (and this goes with the Apple TV here) is people expect TOO MUCH from a product, or try to use it in ways it was NEVER intended for. You want a redundant fail-safe backup system? Go spend a few thousand. You want a simple, easy backup system for all your Macs? Spend $400-$500 on the Capsule.
Similarly with Apple TV. Sure, the Mini does a lot more. It also costs a LOT more than $229. See where I'm heading here?
I bought my 
TV on launch day.
My #1 problem with theTV is its very un-Apple power behavior. Unlike any other product I have bought in the past 6 years it doesn't sleep and effectively uses just as much power when idle as when it is going full bore. (Yes, I've checked it with a Kill-A-Watt.)
This leads to problem #2, HEAT. Because of the embedded power supply and small size/lack of fans it gets and stays really hot.
This in turn leads to problem #3, freezing/stuttering when it overheats.
Unfortunately this means that I can't use it in my current AV cabinet with my TiVo. One of these years I may get a tvTray http://h-sq.com/products/tvtray/index.html to help it keep its cool and actually be useful again...
B
TV on launch day. My #1 problem with the
TV is its very un-Apple power behavior. Unlike any other product I have bought in the past 6 years it doesn't sleep and effectively uses just as much power when idle as when it is going full bore. (Yes, I've checked it with a Kill-A-Watt.)This leads to problem #2, HEAT. Because of the embedded power supply and small size/lack of fans it gets and stays really hot.
This in turn leads to problem #3, freezing/stuttering when it overheats.
Unfortunately this means that I can't use it in my current AV cabinet with my TiVo. One of these years I may get a tvTray http://h-sq.com/products/tvtray/index.html to help it keep its cool and actually be useful again...
B
I've never had my Apple TV overheat, but I'll admit that I keep it outside of my closed AV cabinet. If you are really having problems with overheating have you considered using one of the USB-powered fans to circulate air around/under the Apple TV? You could use the Apple TV's USB port to supply the power. I've also attached rubber feet to the bottom of my Apple TV, but that's the only modification I've made to the unit (i.e. I don't use a fan).
As for the Apple TV being "hot," yes it does get quite warm to the touch and I do wish it had a deep sleep mode and a physical power on/off switch. This April, my Apple TV will be three years old and I'm actually a bit surprised that the HD is still working fine. I've had several DVRs over the last ten years and the hard drives in those units typically last only about two years. Thus, I'd rate the reliability of the Apple TV hardware as pretty good (running "hot" or not).
Interesting. How much does it burn? No posted Energy Saver information at Apple. I wonder what happens if you tell it to sleep via the terminal or use the standby option in the menu? I'd give it a shot but I'm not near mine.
The AppleTV uses about 15 watts any time it's on or in standby mode. Around here that equates to about 4-5 cents per day. Hardly anything to get all flustered about. My DirecTV HD (non-DVR) box uses about 20 watts when in standby.
It does not have a fan, so the housing itself acts as a heat sink. It will feel warm, and will require proper ventilation (as do most devices).
I couldn't agree more. I bought my xbox 360 elite with 120gb HD for £200 and that included 2 wireless controllers and a copy for forza 3 and modern warfare 2...!
The ATV isn't a games console, and i don't want it to be, but it's incredibly overpriced for what it does.
Same here; it may be overpriced, but to be fair to it, it's a workhorse! My first gen has been powered on since the day it was bought and it's still working just fine!
It's not one of the worst gadgets; however, it is one of the most neglected...sadly.
Hopefully that will change in 2010. It needs new hardware badly as it can not perform basic functions anymore without crashing or stuttering.
Couldn't agree more.
I love my ATV. It's simple and is perfect for the whole family... Even my 4 and 5 year old children can work it... Not a lot of devices can boast that kind of simplicity... But... It's overpriced and in dire need of some TLC from apple. The hardware needs upgrading and (more importantly) the software too... I think they could easily add a few vital features to it and still keep the simplicity;
- Enabling the USB port for external drives
- Allowing network file access
- I STILL can't play TV shows continuously without using a playlist, something which iTunes itself does without any problems!
- The thumbnails in the movie trailer section are getting smaller with each update; i may be getting old but the text is so small now i have to really squint to see it!
I could go on but basically (and this has been said many times before) apple need to stop thinking of this as a "hobby" and start taking their own product seriously. It's undervalued by Gizmodo and sadly, by Apple too.
Put me down as one who thinks the Apple TV is a half-baked, closed and restrictive, poor performing, awkward to use, waste of money. It's the one Apple device I regret buying and am embarrassed to own.
Apple TV, iPhone, Mac, mobileMe, iTunes, iPod, iLife, AirPort Extreme station and more. I can link all my hardwares and softwares and it is complete worry free.
strike1555, can you name one company provides such great and complete solution.
Besides, I've try similar product, G-play, some mpeg playback enclosures, and these are junk, not Apple TV.
TV is so expensive for what it does, it almost makes more sense to get a finally updated Mac Mini. Is there a difference between front row and TV software? aside- Why can't you continue to listen/view selected content while you browse for the next to be played? This is the lamest part of Front row IMHO.
I heard a lot of failure on time capsule so I got airport extreme station and Stardom safe capsule. Can't really make comment on time capsule but with safe capsule, it has built-in raid 1 (2 drives) and I am happy with it.
I got 4TB (2TB if set up as RAID 1) for $469.
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I previously had it on an open, but ~6" tall, shelf and it would still overheat. It actually got better when I upgraded the HDD to 160 GB, but it still overheats and freezes for no reason. Usually when I want to use it. I did recently add a quiet 12 V fan to my AV cabinet just to keep the heat generated by the TiVo moving. Didn't cool things down enough to enable the :Apple:TV to work consistently. I should probably inspect and replace the thermal interface goop on the CPU/GPU.
Mine runs closer to 25-30 W all the time, or at least it did with the stock 40 GB drive. Might be a bit less with the 160.
It isn't the money that bothers me, it's the waste. It isn't doing anything for me for that power except generating heat and wearing out the components unnecessarily in a very un-Apple-like way. If you assume all estimated 6 M Apple TVs are hovering somewhere around 20 W at all times that adds up to a 120 MW (or 1 TWh per year) which is just wasteful. All of my "always on" components do something for me or they get shut off.
B
Overhere in The Netherlands, the issue is primarily the lack of iTunes store content. You can just by Music, Apps, iTunes U and Podcast,..... no movies no rentals,.... nothing that can make the Apple TV a success.
So yes, I agree with Gismodo that the product is a failure (at least as long as you do not rip your own content
Sorry, Gizmodo - no peanuts for you.
In all fairness the AppleTV is a limited device at a relatively low price. I'll accept that. But to then throw out this list of lackluster and/or proprietary devices (most with their own "walled gardens") is just BS.
Roku? I own one. And unless you want to use content from their paid premium providers, too bad. UPNP? No coming, no plans to implement.
LG Blu-Ray? Netflix only, dude.
Tivo? Walled garden, unless you hack it.
O!Play? C'mon, there's USB enclosures with more features. No Wi-FI? Please.
I'll take that AppleTV you hate so much off your hands.
The max power consumption Ive seen during peak times of playing HD video is 20 W with most of the time it running 15-17 W. It sounds like your Apple TV may have a hardware issue.
My ATV runs at 21W idle or standby (the standby feature is utterly useless as it does NOTHING except turn the screen black). BTW I modified mine with a 5400 RPM 320GB WD disk. I just turn it off when not used with a remote controlled power outlet thingy...
BTW, I just bought my second ATV last night thru eBay so couldn't disagree more with gizmodo either
BTW, I just bought my second ATV last night thru eBay so couldn't disagree more with gizmodo either
How?
I have problems playing 720p, but only with the 720p blue-ray stuff i download, apples stuff is perfect. How can I play my own 720p stuff that runs a smooth as apples?
Thanx
I have problems playing 720p, but only with the 720p blue-ray stuff i download, apples stuff is perfect. How can I play my own 720p stuff that runs a smooth as apples?
Thanx
Of course it does, I have had mine apart more times than I care to count and it has a fan.
As Dynaflash pointed it, it has a fan (although it’s a quiet one).
People love to complain now about how hot the Apple TV’s surface gets. They would really complain if there was no fan.
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Perhaps the fan in your Apple TV has failed and that's why your unit is overheating.
As for the playback problems with 720p video, I've never had that issue on my Apple TV. However, I've probably rented or purchased only about a dozen HD movies/TV shows from iTunes so I don't have a vast experience with HD content from the iTunes Store. In any case, I've also compressed some of my own content to 720p and those seem to play just fine.
No the fan seems to work just fine. I can feel the airflow when it is on.
I do however think there is a thermal interface problem somewhere, or my PSU generates too much heat.
The later firmware versions have aggravated the problem. Under 1.0 I attributed the stuttering/etc to a wonky wireless connection, as it seemed to be better once I switched it over to wired with a wireless bridge, but that may just have been the reduction of heat being generated by the wireless card. Things got a lot worse once I upgraded to 2.0 and have not improved since.
FWIW the
TV was my first and last Rev A/release date purchase of hardware. The laptops were both refurbs and flawless, and I waited quite a bit before buying my other gear.B
I love my Apple TV! I haven't watched broadcast television in years now and I'm so much happier because of it.
I'm not even remotely surprised to see this. I firmly believe this product has become a substantial revenue generator for Apple and was probably launched before it's time which is why it got off to such a dismal start. The market and infrastructure for this type of distribution is finally here and now the ATV fits in and in a lot of ways is now leading the pack. Like I said, at least in Canada it's practically the only game in town so far and Apple has a significant market lead here.
I would bet a lot of money that this product is now starting to sell WAYYYY better than Apple lets on and Stevie is probably seriously regretting saying the ATV was "just a hobby product" a while back as now that's one more hurdle the ATV has had to overcome. My ATV is starting to remind me of the "the little engine that could" story and it's still a winner in our household and obviously becoming a winner in a lot of other households. Cheers!
James