Convince Me Please...

[filmguy15]

Just to clarify: The ATV won't play anything that you can throw in iTunes. It has certain bitrate limits, etc... But the good news is, that if you get a video into itunes, you can just right click it and hit "Covert for Apple TV" and bingo, it will work. That is just a quick and easy solution, which is fine for most things. But if you want top quality for movies, it is better to convert using Handbrake or VisualHub, as you can really customize your compression.

Regarding the original post: It just depends on how much ease of use and "plug and play" functionality you care about. Sure, the Mac Mini will play many different formats, but you still have to have a keyboard and mouse to set things up, and probably to keep things going day to day. The ATV on the other hand, has one elegant interface, which can be navigated with one remote. Soon, you'll be able to do everything under the sun with just that tiny remote. (rent, buy, etc... from the itunes store)

It really depends on personal preference. I am willing to sacrifice the playback of divx to be able to sit down at my couch and call up a movie without fooling with a keyboard/mouse. To each his own...

 

[ebony]

Another advantage of the AppleTV is that it gives you thumbnail images of shared content. Thus you only need to manage a single library back on your computer.

I have a mac mini, imac ( media server with 1TB usb drive shared out to mini ) and appletv. Unfortunatley to view image thumbnails on the mini, I have to maintain its own local itunes library. All the content is still stored on the single usb drive connected back to the imac, but it is a major pain keeping both libraries in sync.

The advantage of the mac mini is it has a dvd drive, and I can mount ripped Video_TS folders through frontrow, so I get full dvd quality with all the dvd extras content.

 

[digduggler]

I just made the switch from my mini to apple TV. I've had a mini there for about 3 years now (since the initial launch). Worked good, but I had to use a mouse. Last year I upgraded to an Intel based mini (with an IR port) for front row goodness. However, I really only used it for front row.The Sony Trinitron I have has no HDMI inputs, only component. So with mini the best I could do is s-video.

What almost stopped me was the lack of divx support on the apple TV (unless I wanted to get hacky). However, I have Popcorn and the converter to Apple TV yields good results. The downside is I have to convert the file, but I rarely want to watch something instantly after getting it.

So far I'm happy. 1080i >>>> than s-video. It's snappier than front row on my mini was (and now with the shared library I get album art, something still not fixed on the new front row). I'm looking forward to HD rentals when they happen. Youtube is shockingly entertaining (something I couldn't do on the mini without bringing out the mouse and keyboard). And I'll recoup some money from selling the mini and be in the black.

It really depends on what you want to use it for. The rentals combined with actual HD output were a compelling reason enough to get me to downgrade.

 

[Live Steam]

Wouldn't this be better. It can stream 1080p. It basically can stream anything that exists on your HD. It can also work as a DVR with an PC or Mac that it interacts with. Again, I guess ATV is not what it can and should be. JMO.

 

[ebony]

Wouldn't this be better. It can stream 1080p. It basically can stream anything that exists on your HD. It can also work as a DVR with an PC or Mac that it interacts with. Again, I guess ATV is not what it can and should be. JMO.

Its a $130 more expensive, does not access itunes library directly, cannot play itunes store DRM'd content, does not have wireless n, looks awful and has no internal hard drive.

For some it may be a good alternative, but I'm not convinced.

 

[northy124]

Wouldn't this be better. It can stream 1080p. It basically can stream anything that exists on your HD. It can also work as a DVR with an PC or Mac that it interacts with. Again, I guess ATV is not what it can and should be. JMO.

Right we get it you don't like the ATV who cares this is for people who like or a considering getting ATV or being helpful. You are none of those plus that link shows an item that cost $130 more than ATV

Northy124