AppleTv: Worth It?

[JellyFish]

I would say yes it is worth it. I got mine a few days ago and I'm enjoying the hell out of it. I'm already planning to get a huge hard disk to store my library so I can stream it off my mac. I'm starting to fill up my macbook pro's hard disk already.

Grab yourself one, you'll have a blast with it.

 

[jparenteau]

A couple things:

First, the best way to go is to have one computer act as your "server", namely to store all your media. If you want to watch something on Apple TV, you simply tell it to put it there and you can play it immediately, like a stream, as it transfers it. That's one of the best features in that you don't have to wait for a 2gb feature to transfer. It is viewable right away.

Second, the system does have its drawbacks, but it is first gen and I'm being patient. I bought the 160 gb model and so far have transfered 38 features to it and it's not half full yet. I don't expect to put all my library on their but since it plays immediately on transfer I don't have to worry about that.

I use Handbrake, by the way, and the quality at the Apple TV preset is awesome. I watch stuff on both the HD tv downstairs and a 100 wide theater screen with HD projection upstairs. The media looks amazing on both.

 

[defsquad]

How about the same question slightly rephrased: is the TV worth it for someone who doesn't have a desktop Mac already? I'd want to use the TV to watch ripped DVDs and video podcasts, as well as for music and photos. My media collection wouldn't fit on the internal HDD of the TV, though, so I'd need to stream. However, I wouldn't want to keep all the ripped content on my MBP hard drive or move my iTunes library to an external drive (if I do that, I don't have my library when I'm away from home - I know I could have 2 libraries, but frankly that's too much fuss).

So, am I not better off buying a Mac Mini which I could also use as a PVR and a hardware DVD player for stuff I haven't ripped yet, not to mention having access to all the other codecs etc. without hacks? To be honest, at the moment I'm hard pressed to see why anyone would buy an TV over a mini, you can do so much more stuff with the mini....

I'm currently in the same delima as you; I have a macbookpro with an external 500 gig hd and really just want an appliance to stream ALL of my media; not just ITunes maintained media. I guess if I wanted to be proper about it, I would just get a mac mini, hook up the external drive to that, and then use that as the server/media player and then stream music/movies to my macbook pro; but then i'm left with the predicament of having media content on my laptop when i travel. I guess I can just start reencoding my content to H.264 anyway and just be proper about it. ANyway, i'm just rambling now and thinking threw things here in this response. I'd like to definitely hear your final decision of what you ended up doing since i'm in a similar boat as you.

thanks.

 

[alFR]

At the moment I'm waiting for one of two things:

1. Mac mini revision.
2. Mac mini to be discontinued so I can snap up one of the last ones/ a refurb at a discount.

I think that, for people like you and I who don't have a desktop Mac, having a mini as a media box still makes more sense than an Apple TV at the moment (although the 160Gb Apple TV does reduce/eliminate the streaming issue). I think I will have to have 2 libraries, but I'll just keep my music on the MBP and another copy of my music plus all my video stuff on the mini. Chronosync can probably help me out there.

I'm also waiting for Apple to make the iTunes TV show/movie store available outside the US. Once that's available I'll probably kill/drastically reduce our satellite TV package and just buy season passes to shows through iTunes, thus avoiding paying for all the crap I don't watch.

 

[roland.g]

The only regret that I have is early adopting, had I waited 2 months I could have bought the 160GB model for $100 more. Currently I cannot sync all my music and photos to the 40GB (32 or so avail.) model nor do I add movies to the syncing. And honestly I wouldn't sync movies, maybe some favs with the larger model, it would be about all photos and all music mostly. I think it is great, it is really nice to see my photo library float by while listening to music.

I actually only have an older g base station and it streams movies fine, no hiccups even over the g network, but it takes longer to sync the very first time (30+ GB over g is a lot). I rip my movies at 720x6?? based on aspect ratio and they look great. Don't even need that high of a bitrate (I'd have to check but around 1500, maybe less - I think 2000-2500 is overkill and don't think you will even notice it on a larger screen, remember 1080 is 1080 just stretched over more inches) in my experience though I only have a 42" Samsung DLP. I even bought my first iTS movie - Robin Williams' Bicentennial Man, which of course comes at 640x res. but really couldn't notice any difference to a DVD, it looked great.

Eventually after I get a new Mac, iMac or Pro, using a Mini now, I will set up some extra drives for video and Handbrake my DVD library, especially since we are expecting our first and have nephews over.

 

[gkarris]

At the moment I'm waiting for one of two things:

1. Mac mini revision.
2. Mac mini to be discontinued so I can snap up one of the last ones/ a refurb at a discount.

I think that TV has a better interface than the Mini (I tried using my Mini). But, I guess that's going to be a mute point when Leopard comes out and Front Row is essentially the same as TV.

If you're relying on #2, if it was anything like when the Cube was discontinued (I'm an Apple collector), you have a couple of hours after the announcement to get one before they dry up...

 

[MagicWok]

The TV's worth over in the UK is considerably less, to the point of not wasting your money.

As the best video you can get on the crappy uk ITMS is the Pixar Shorts or Music Vids.

In short, UK has been severely overlooked for content (as with the 360 Live Marketplace for UK) - meaning I personally still don't see the point in buying one myself. Even though the potential of the machine does intruige me.

 

[danny_w]

TV was worth it to me but for a very different reason. I use it strictly for audio playback using the tv menu, but I got it cheap at $225 used right after the 160GB units were announced. I can't really use video right now as I only have a 4:3 tv and things look all squashed, but I seriously don't think I would ever be interested in the video aspect of it; the video just has no attraction for me. I don't buy iTunes videos and never will, and I don't care to go the the bother of ripping all of my dvd's. But as an audio player it works well. I do wish that it had better searching capabilities, however.

 

[Nicolasdec]

The TV's worth over in the UK is considerably less, to the point of not wasting your money.

As the best video you can get on the crappy uk ITMS is the Pixar Shorts or Music Vids.

In short, UK has been severely overlooked for content (as with the 360 Live Marketplace for UK) - meaning I personally still don't see the point in buying one myself. Even though the potential of the machine does intruige me.

I agree, Im going to try and buy a US itunes gift card and see if i can download movies here in the uk.

 

[combatcolin]

If Apple released a new version with a nice big display on the front then maybe i would be tempted.

Or, maybe a remote with a Bluetooth touch screen, nice and big, that displays what music is playing , naviagation etc.

Don't want to turn my TV on so that i can play a song.

Big drawback for me, although the new big HDD is good.

 

[danny_w]

If Apple released a new version with a nice big display on the front then maybe i would be tempted.

Or, maybe a remote with a Bluetooth touch screen, nice and big, that displays what music is playing , naviagation etc.

Don't want to turn my TV on so that i can play a song.

Big drawback for me, although the new big HDD is good.

I replaced a Roku Soundbridge with the TV just so that I could get that tv menu. The Roku had a nice front panel display that showed the song playing and was used for navigation, but it was way too small to see from the couch. It also had better navigation, but I'm hoping that Apple will improve in that area.

 

[Shoesy]

❤ tv​

​

 

[MagicWok]

I agree, Im going to try and buy a US itunes gift card and see if i can download movies here in the uk.

I'm popping over to the States soon. If I buy a UK iTunes gift card, what's the process I go through so I can get some content from the US store when I'm back in the UK?

Hope someone who's done this before can help?

 

[Much Ado]

The TV's worth over in the UK is considerably less, to the point of not wasting your money.

As the best video you can get on the crappy uk ITMS is the Pixar Shorts or Music Vids.

In short, UK has been severely overlooked for content (as with the 360 Live Marketplace for UK) - meaning I personally still don't see the point in buying one myself. Even though the potential of the machine does intruige me.

You think we've got problems? Koreans can buy TVs and they don't even have an ITS!

 

[maokh]

AppleTV is worth it ..

I dropped my Dish network service last month, as even premium subscription services in iTunes are much, much cheaper than paying $80 each month.

The HD video podcasts are pretty good, not to mention all your movies and tv shows right on the device. MP3 library is great to have direct access to, and the iPhoto is a very nice touch. "The Best Of" YouTube has a lot of great videos, but not everything.

Its nice how well everything connects together. Right now, I have just the iPhone photos sent to the AppleTV. Its fun to come home, pop the iPhones into the dock, and see what pictures the wife and I took during the day.

The only real delema is the amount of disk space all this media requires...it can really add up if you arent prepared.

160GB vs 40GB? You are going to run out of space on both, so you might as well stream it and get the cheaper unit. I would only go with 160GB if your images and music exceed 20GB.

 

[MagicWok]

AppleTV is worth it ..

I dropped my Dish network service last month, as even premium subscription services in iTunes are much, much cheaper than paying $80 each month.

The HD video podcasts are pretty good, not to mention all your movies and tv shows right on the device. MP3 library is great to have direct access to, and the iPhoto is a very nice touch. "The Best Of" YouTube has a lot of great videos, but not everything.

Its nice how well everything connects together. Right now, I have just the iPhone photos sent to the AppleTV. Its fun to come home, pop the iPhones into the dock, and see what pictures the wife and I took during the day.

The only real delema is the amount of disk space all this media requires...it can really add up if you arent prepared.

160GB vs 40GB? You are going to run out of space on both, so you might as well stream it and get the cheaper unit. I would only go with 160GB if your images and music exceed 20GB.

Meh, good for you. Like we said, the TV is only really worth the purchase if you have content to purchase, after all, that is it's main purpose. If you are in the UK, or from Korea evidentally, then you are just simply screwed lol. Apple will have the iPhone out in the UK before any decent video content hits our ITMS... Oh well.

Anyone have any experience with reference to my earlier question regarding the ITMS voucher?

 

[powerbook911]

Having my Apple TV a few days, I absoultely love it. Wish I had bought it sooner. Just having the music hooked up to surround system is nice, but what I love is having the podcasts and videos/shows/movies available.

I encode a lot of stuff myself, and I have some purchases from iTunes.

I think if you love iTunes and have a widescreen display, it's a product you shouldn't pass on.