To me it is funny that one of the things Apple touts about the ATV2 is the fact that it only uses 2w while in use. Whats funny about that is the fact that in order to stream your own content to the device you likely have a machine that has a 250 watt power supply (typical pc)serving the files to the ATV2. Where as the 1st gen ATV had it's own storage and draws about 35 watts. So to me that is more energy conservative than the new setup. Because you dont actually need to have a pc or mac running to actually play videos or music from the 1st gen device. And the ATV1 has a standby mode as well. LOL
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Do you guys leave the atv2 on 24/7 ?
- Thread starter Che Castro
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I think they are assuming that most people are using it for streaming content online, which it is what it's primarily marketed for. I rarely stream content locally because I'm not a pirate and I don't buy movies to keep and rip. Don't have stats on this but I'm willing to bet most people do the same.
Perhaps it's not energy efficient to run an iTunes server using a desktop PC. You could run an iTunes server using a newish Mac that has a wake-on-LAN feature. This will allow the Mac to sleep most of the time. When an aTV (or other iOS device) wants to stream media, the Mac will wake-up.
I personally use an older Pentium 4 laptop as an iTunes server. I recently set up an external SATA drive to house the iTunes library. I keep the screen turned off and let the HDD spin down (need to verify that the drive is actually spinning down). Not sure how much energy this set-up is using, but I am curious.
ft
Does anyone else notice that the power light on their ATV2 comes back on after it has been asleep for a long time?
Right now I have mine set to sleep after 15 minutes, I believe. When it initially goes to sleep, the little light goes out. However, every night, if I wake up, a few hours later, the power light is back on. Is something causing it to wake itself up?
Right now I have mine set to sleep after 15 minutes, I believe. When it initially goes to sleep, the little light goes out. However, every night, if I wake up, a few hours later, the power light is back on. Is something causing it to wake itself up?
I've seen this if I flip the TV's input onto the aTV. The light will come on, but the actual aTV is not awake. I'm guessing that the HDMI port is sensing some activity that makes the aTV sort of wake up.
And what makes you think pirates are the only ones streaming content locally?
I have 500 cd's converted to MP3 which I bought and actually have the cd's I also have many movies that came with the digital versions as well so again I ask what would make you think local streaming is for pirates? The new box not being able to store content is a negative not a positive. You cant even buy content on the new one just rent. That is lame and is one hell of a cash cow for apple. Keep on buying into the Apple way. keep on spending dollar after dollar. LAME
Did ya notice I said not a pirate AND I'm not someone who buys movies and rips them. A little sensitive, aren't we? The small number of people who hoard media like you are not the target audience for the new ATV so get over it.
But the way you said it implies people who stream locally are. Not being sensitive just your rational is wrong.
Only to you. My very simple point directed at the post I quoted was that most people stream over the internet with the new ATV, which is what it's designed for and why Apple talks about its low energy requirement. The ability to stream locally is a nice-to-have for those people who have the content. You're the one that read some kind of personal attack into it. Probably because you have a guilty conscience, in my opinion. Otherwise, why would you go so ballistic over nothing?
All you can do with the new ATV2 is stream period. That is my point. If you have to stream locally then it is obviously not very power efficient. Since the ATV1 can store data local on it's own HD it is more efficient. with the old box you had/have better options. Like I said before the new one is just a cash cow for Apple.
I honestly don't understand your beef. It was designed for a certain purpose and only $99. If it doesn't do what YOU want it to do, buy something else that does. Nothing to be mad about.
I honestly don't get why you think anyone is mad. I simply pointed out that the logic of the new device being more "green" is not really true. Lets just agree to disagree.
On the subject of on or off....
I now leave my TV on continuously. When the TV was set to go to sleep then sometimes it got confused about my Mac iTunes library when it woke up and I would have to pull the power. That was not wife friendly so I changed it to never go to sleep. So far no troubles.
I now leave my TV on continuously. When the TV was set to go to sleep then sometimes it got confused about my Mac iTunes library when it woke up and I would have to pull the power. That was not wife friendly so I changed it to never go to sleep. So far no troubles.
My ATV1 has been on for over 2 years...
I don't have an ATV2, but have an ATV1 and i've never turned that off since i bought it, which was over 2 years ago!
Since the ATV2 draws a lot less power than the first gen, i would imagine it would be fine to leave it on....
I don't have an ATV2, but have an ATV1 and i've never turned that off since i bought it, which was over 2 years ago!
Since the ATV2 draws a lot less power than the first gen, i would imagine it would be fine to leave it on....
I just purchased my ATV2 yesterday and had it up and running after just a few minutes...used it most of the evening to stream several episodes of 24 S04 in HD...everything worked very well until I got up this morning and noticed the power light was off...I turned on the tv (Sony NX710) and switched to the ATV2 HDMI input but the ATV2 never turned on...I didn't know what else to do so unplugged the ATV2 and plugged it back in and it came on...It was set to sleep after one hour so I reset it to "never"...I also had a problem setting my iTunes password again as it repeatedly rejected my correctly input password...I did a reset and it seems to be working properly now but I'm wondering if I will run into the same problem of not being able to power the ATV2 back up if I let it sleep...