Few old Apple TV questions

[WiiDSmoker]

I'm highly thinking about buying an old 160 GB Apple TV for my sister and her family (doesn't have internet) and loading a bunch of movies on it.

I was reading some reviews on Amazon that were posted back in 2008, but wanted to see if they have been fixed or not.

1. Does it actually get hot as I've heard it does?
2. Is there anyway to turn it off? I've heard it pulls down a lot of power?
3. How is the UI compared to the new Apple TV UI?
4. Is it laggy?

If you could chime in on any details that would be great too.

 

[roidy]

1. Yes, very very hot. But the whole case is the heatsink so it's supposed to get hot.

2. Short of unplugging it no, it's supposed to be left running all the time and only draws about 20 watts of power which isn't that much. Mines been running 24/7/365 since I got it 2 years ago.

3. Basically the same. The main difference is that the new ATV lists your own library content under the Computers menu were as the old one lists it under Movies and TV Show, which I think is much more logical and looks better.

4. People keep saying this, but in all honesty I've had my 40Gb ATV for about 2 years and never had any problems with laggy menus.

 

[jas1973]

can you use the new airplay features with the old atv?

 

[MrMister111]

can you use the new airplay features with the old atv?

no unfortunately I have a 160Gb one and would love airplay

 

[WiiDSmoker]

1. Yes, very very hot. But the whole case is the heatsink so it's supposed to get hot.

2. Short of unplugging it no, it's supposed to be left running all the time and only draws about 20 watts of power which isn't that much. Mines been running 24/7/365 since I got it 2 years ago.

3. Basically the same. The main difference is that the new ATV lists your own library content under the Computers menu were as the old one lists it under Movies and TV Show, which I think is much more logical and looks better.

4. People keep saying this, but in all honesty I've had my 40Gb ATV for about 2 years and never had any problems with laggy menus.

Great thanks

 

[Panch0]

I'm highly thinking about buying an old 160 GB Apple TV for my sister and her family (doesn't have internet) and loading a bunch of movies on it.

I was reading some reviews on Amazon that were posted back in 2008, but wanted to see if they have been fixed or not.

1. Does it actually get hot as I've heard it does?
2. Is there anyway to turn it off? I've heard it pulls down a lot of power?
3. How is the UI compared to the new Apple TV UI?
4. Is it laggy?

If you could chime in on any details that would be great too.

1. Hotter than the new aTV, but I'd call it "very warm" instead.
2. not without unplugging it.
3. In your case, there's not going to be much difference in the interface. The biggest difference between the menu systems is that the old version combined your 'local' content with iTunes Store content, while the new menu has your iTunes content tucked away under the Computers menu. Since there will be no internet connection, it's all local content anyway.
4. I had some issues when I was STREAMING local content from iTunes, but not playing SYNCED content. I always thought it was due to the fact that my 160GB drive was always full and it was slow at clearing space to buffer the streamed stuff. That's just a theory though... Anyway, it doesn't sound like this will be an issue in your case.

 

[roland.g]

There is a standby mode like sleep that does reduce power usage and temp and you can activate it through the menu or with a two button remote combo.