Haven't convinced myself to buy one just yet, but did spend a good amount of time with one in one of my local Apple Stores. My observations:
(1) Heat. The models in the store were hot enough that I'd have serious issues plopping one on top of my other boxes (cable, surround, etc.) This may have been due to the close proximity to some bright lights, but given past issues with heat, it gives you pause.
(2) Transitions/interface. As far as eye-candy/impress-your-friends value, it's pretty sweet and very smooth. No jumping/staggering. While visually very appealing, it's completely lacking in options. (See below.)
(3) Photos. You can't show photos individually, only in a group as setup in iPhoto. The one thing I'd really like to do with the box is have it be a photo organizer. It'd be nice to be able to pull up thumbnails and also zoom in/out on individual photos. The only options are the transitions and timing. Also, it takes awhile to go backwards, and each step back goes through a transition.
(4)Movies. For the movies that were preloaded, it looks awesome. If only the movies were cheaper, this would be a nice alternative to buying dvd's. Load up your movies on a 500GB hard drive, then stream to the
TV. Now, will it let you play iMovies? It doesn't appear to, and that'd be a real shame.
Dave
(1) Heat. The models in the store were hot enough that I'd have serious issues plopping one on top of my other boxes (cable, surround, etc.) This may have been due to the close proximity to some bright lights, but given past issues with heat, it gives you pause.
(2) Transitions/interface. As far as eye-candy/impress-your-friends value, it's pretty sweet and very smooth. No jumping/staggering. While visually very appealing, it's completely lacking in options. (See below.)
(3) Photos. You can't show photos individually, only in a group as setup in iPhoto. The one thing I'd really like to do with the box is have it be a photo organizer. It'd be nice to be able to pull up thumbnails and also zoom in/out on individual photos. The only options are the transitions and timing. Also, it takes awhile to go backwards, and each step back goes through a transition.
(4)Movies. For the movies that were preloaded, it looks awesome. If only the movies were cheaper, this would be a nice alternative to buying dvd's. Load up your movies on a 500GB hard drive, then stream to the
TV. Now, will it let you play iMovies? It doesn't appear to, and that'd be a real shame.Dave
