ATV3 Illustrated Buyer's Guide

[Mrbobb]

This is for people who are wondering what you are getting, visually and interface-wise.

REMOTE - Very slick, one solid block of aluminum, can't see any seams! although I feel it flexes during operation.

iTUNES - Very disappointed, only takes half of the screen and seems no way to custom sort the media nor does it have any search feature. Don't have any bought media from Apple to test sorry.

NETFLIX - Just like u would see on your PC.

MIRRORING - See picture, 1-1 mapping displays screen on top left of TV. Fit TV leaves 4 small black bars around. DeSelect Overscan adjustment and it will fill the entire screen (1920x1080). I had thought 1-1 mapping would give me the sharpest picture but not so on my TV, filling it all around seems the way to go. Your TV may vary. I have CAT5 between ATV and LAN, no WIFI hookup here.

Am able to mirror 1080 movie to my ATV3 no studder, no buffering, picture acceptable, it only takes ~13 mbit/sec out of my 802.11G. My WIFI tops out 27 mbit/sec and I don't have multiple users. Mac Air gets moderately warm. Am not able to mirror 5.1, only stereo.

You must use 2011 or later hardware for mirroring with Mountain Lion. Folks with older hardware have option of using a third party called Parrot.

 

[S.B.G]

If you click on the iTunes icons called Movies & TV Shows, you get a full screen menu along with a search function.

 

[slothrob]

iTUNES - Very disappointed, only takes half of the screen and seems no way to custom sort the media nor does it have any search feature. Don't have any bought media from Apple to test sorry.

This is misleading, as it makes it look like the aTV menus only fill part of the screen, while they actually fill the entire screen when set up correctly.

 

[salohcin]

iTUNES - Very disappointed, only takes half of the screen and seems no way to custom sort the media nor does it have any search feature. Don't have any bought media from Apple to test sorry.

If you select the "Computers" option on the main menu you can select from the available iTunes libraries on your network that have home sharing turned on.

You will have more functionality (including sorting and searching) to select from your iTunes library through that.

That top part is just a preview, it usually displays items that have been recently added or that you've recently watched. Basically it's a quick way to get back to something you've been watching or to something new that you'd like to watch.

The biggest strength of the Apple TV is it's ability to play all the content of your iTunes library with ease. Very helpful for people like myself who have large iTunes video collections (mostly from my DVD and Blu-ray library).

I'm only posting because I feel that you have unknowingly misrepresented the main feature of the Apple TV, and want to make things clear for potential new users. That being said, as with any new gadget, the Apple TV is a learning experience, and to discover all it's uses does take time. I hope you enjoy your Apple TV!

 

[Blaquespell]

While mirroring, my display was 1:1 with the Overscan disabled. My desktop is 1920 x 1080, so no scaling was involved.

 

[Mrbobb]

Thanks for the correction guys, I shall play with it some more.