DO I have to be logged into my PC to Use AppleTV?

[mdelaney123]

I was just at the Apple store and the rep there just shot down any chance of me getting an Apple TV.

Can anyone confirm that this is true?

I have an iMac 24" with multiple user accounts for my family. All are password protected and we generally let the iMac sleep when we are not using it.

My question is --

1. Will the Apple TV wake my computer from sleep when it needs to access content on my computer?

2. Will the Apple TV access my user account on my iMac, even if I am not logged in...

The guy at the Apple Store said no to both... He said I would have to goto my Imac, wake it from sleep, and log into my account (where the iTunes content is) to be able to fully use the Apple TV.

This is a deal breaker if true. The whole point of me getting an Apple TV is so my family can access my iTunes content any time, even when I am not home. Also, I don't want to have to leave my iMac logged into my account at all times...

 

[jeremy.king]

If you sync your content, your machine doesn't even need to be on.

To stream content, well I hope that would be obvious that your computer will need to be on. Not sure about logged in.

 

[mdelaney123]

To stream content, well I hope that would be obvious that your computer will need to be on. Not sure about logged in.

My iMac is always sleeping... Not off... I was hoping that it would support some sort of "wake-on-LAN' thing where the Apple TV would wake it up when needed to get to the content.

Can you selectivly sync the content? ie. Pick certain albums in iPhoto, and iTunes?

 

[0007776]

I think that you can selectivly sync content like on an iPod.

 

[synth3tik]

in system frefs you can set your iMac to wake on network activity. I don't know if it will help, but its worth a shot.

 

[Aegelward]

I tend to juggle content on my computer, just curious. would the apple tv automatically remove content that it can't see on itunes, or is there a way to disable automatic syncing like that?

 

[dsnort]

My iMac is always sleeping... Not off... I was hoping that it would support some sort of "wake-on-LAN' thing where the Apple TV would wake it up when needed to get to the content.

Can you selectivly sync the content? ie. Pick certain albums in iPhoto, and iTunes?

Your computer has to on and awake in order to stream content.

The Apple TV will show up in iTunes on your computer under devices. It gives you a wide array of options as to what content to sync; ie, you can sync your entire music collection, or only certain playlists. Same with movies, TV shows, photo's, and podcasts.

 

[dsnort]

I tend to juggle content on my computer, just curious. would the apple tv automatically remove content that it can't see on itunes, or is there a way to disable automatic syncing like that?

Not that I'm aware of. The content has to be present in iTunes in order to be on the Apple TV, to the best of my knowledge.