How does apple TV work and is it what i want?

[JONTY.UK/FR]

Ok.......

Im on the verge of buying 40 GB ATV but want to understand how it will work and fit in with what I have and how I use things'.

I have a MacBook and my wife has windows XP. We have 1TB TC which we only connect to wirelessly

We have about 70GB of music files and 150GB of Movie Files.

We travel with work lots and need to have our Itunes folders on our laptops.

I dont plan to save any media onto ATV just want it to stream movies to the TV at home.

Would I be right in saying I have to stream from TC to Laptop to ATV? is this the only way to do things?

Will I be happy with ATV is what I need to know?

Cheers.

Jonty.

 

[grawk]

Streaming from the TC to the laptop to your airport will be problematic for high def content, but will probably work with low def, if you've got an 802.11n network that's set up for N only. Otherwise, you'll be unhappy with anything that isn't synced. You might be happier with the western digital box plugged directly to the TC.

 

[netdog]

Streaming from the TC to the laptop to your airport will be problematic for high def content, but will probably work with low def, if you've got an 802.11n network that's set up for N only. Otherwise, you'll be unhappy with anything that isn't synced. You might be happier with the western digital box plugged directly to the TC.

It works fine with HD.

My question would be regarding format. If you have ATV compatible media, it will play fine. If you have DVD rips with VOB files, you'll want to add Boxee (free). In any case, I love my AppleTV. Highly recommended.

NB: I have never regretted getting the 40GB model.

 

[grawk]

It works fine with HD.

My question would be regarding format. If you have ATV compatible media, it will play fine. If you have DVD rips with VOB files, you'll want to add Boxee (free). In any case, I love my AppleTV. Highly recommended.

NB: I have never regretted getting the 40GB model.

I get stuttering on occasion with double streaming HD (even single streaming if I'm in N/G mode instead of solid N).

 

[billp1]

Think of it as an IPod for your TV.

 

[millar876]

Unless the majority of your videos are iTunes stor baught I wouldne even bother. There are other things out there for non apple files.

 

[tom1971]

Ok.......

Im on the verge of buying 40 GB ATV but want to understand how it will work and fit in with what I have and how I use things'.

I have a MacBook and my wife has windows XP. We have 1TB TC which we only connect to wirelessly

We have about 70GB of music files and 150GB of Movie Files.

We travel with work lots and need to have our Itunes folders on our laptops.

I dont plan to save any media onto ATV just want it to stream movies to the TV at home.

Would I be right in saying I have to stream from TC to Laptop to ATV? is this the only way to do things?

Will I be happy with ATV is what I need to know?

Cheers.

Jonty.

You could sync your music on a 160 GB ATV and stream your video or even connect an external hd for your movies to it.

 

[JONTY.UK/FR]

Would it not make sense just to plug my MacBook into my TV and and not buy ATV?

I save myself €299 and 1 less stage in the wifi connection??

 

[dickovski]

I just bought an ATV to replace my original Xbox. Needless to say the Xbox is staying put and I'm selling the ATV. The ATV is great at playing stuff via iTunes but you can pretty much forget about anything else even after unlocking it.

If you can hook up your MacBook then that's the way to go.

 

[dmm219]

I just bought an ATV to replace my original Xbox. Needless to say the Xbox is staying put and I'm selling the ATV. The ATV is great at playing stuff via iTunes but you can pretty much forget about anything else even after unlocking it.

If you can hook up your MacBook then that's the way to go.

Examples? Boxee plays just about every kind of media perfectly on my ATV...

 

[JONTY.UK/FR]

I dont really understand why you would buy ATV, if you have to stream via your mac from TC and on to ATV (unless you store media on the ATV, which will also be on youre TC and in my case on my macbook), when it would be much more reliable, to use Frontrow directly from your Mac directly to the TV???

Sounds like a waist of money to me...I did go to buy the ATV this afternoon but fortunatly I could'nt get hold of it in store.........

If I have missed something and there is a huge feature I have missed please inform me

cheers.

 

[dickovski]

Examples? Boxee plays just about every kind of media perfectly on my ATV...

Yep I have boxee and xbmc on my ATV and they both work great streaming all kinds of files from my imac... but... I don't want to stream from my iMac as I actually turn it off to save power when not using it. Copying stuff over to the ATV is painfully slow over SFTP and again I don't want to leave it on all the time.

My original Xbox running XBMC still wins hands down for me even after all these years. It starts up in about 10secs holds 250GB of stuff and I can copy a whole film over to it in about 4mins, streams BBC iPlayer, YouTube & Flickr and costs about £25 these days. I know it has no HD capability but I don't need that really.

As they say in the boxing world 'Pound for pound the best media centre in the world' IMHO.

I think the ATV is still a good bit of kit, just not good enough (yet) to replace my cheap old Xbox.

 

[bucksaddle]

I dont really understand why you would buy ATV, if you have to stream via your mac from TC and on to ATV (unless you store media on the ATV, which will also be on youre TC and in my case on my macbook), when it would be much more reliable, to use Frontrow directly from your Mac directly to the TV???

Sounds like a waist of money to me.

It may be a waste of money for you in your situation, with a Macbook that you can hook direct to the TV, but i don't really want to lug my 24" iMac and Time Capsule downstairs every time i want to watch a movie.
I think you would be best of with just your MacBook and save some money
Cheers.

 

[dmm219]

Yep I have boxee and xbmc on my ATV and they both work great streaming all kinds of files from my imac... but... I don't want to stream from my iMac as I actually turn it off to save power when not using it. Copying stuff over to the ATV is painfully slow over SFTP and again I don't want to leave it on all the time.

My original Xbox running XBMC still wins hands down for me even after all these years. It starts up in about 10secs holds 250GB of stuff and I can copy a whole film over to it in about 4mins, streams BBC iPlayer, YouTube & Flickr and costs about £25 these days. I know it has no HD capability but I don't need that really.

As they say in the boxing world 'Pound for pound the best media centre in the world' IMHO.

I think the ATV is still a good bit of kit, just not good enough (yet) to replace my cheap old Xbox.

To each their own I guess. I know XMBC is hugely popular...but I have just never liked it. I far prefer using boxee and atv to it. For the money however, yea you can't beat picking up an old xbox.

Also, ATV is not a good choice for anyone who doesn't want to stream their content. I never understand why people don't get this, but it IS a big deal of a lot of people (me included). I would far prefer an ATV that isn't tethered, in any way, to another computer running itunes. ATV will not become successful with the broader market, until it can seperate from an itunes server with no penalties. Take 2 was a good first step, but they need to do far more (opening up the stupid USB port for an external drives is beyond obvious).

 

[JONTY.UK/FR]

I think i'll be spening £15 on this ,
and £180 adding to my DVD collection!!


Thanks for the advice and info...........


New Post...whats your top 10 to buy movies..

 

[dickovski]

To each their own I guess. I know XMBC is hugely popular...but I have just never liked it. I far prefer using boxee and atv to it. For the money however, yea you can't beat picking up an old xbox.

Also, ATV is not a good choice for anyone who doesn't want to stream their content. I never understand why people don't get this, but it IS a big deal of a lot of people (me included). I would far prefer an ATV that isn't tethered, in any way, to another computer running itunes. ATV will not become successful with the broader market, until it can seperate from an itunes server with no penalties. Take 2 was a good first step, but they need to do far more (opening up the stupid USB port for an external drives is beyond obvious).

Yes indeed, I haven't got a problem with Boxee or ATV - both good products at what they do - you just have to know what they can and can't do before making your choice. The Xbox is perfect for me but I understand it might not be for everyone.

If I were Jonty I'd just connect my laptop to the telly - simple and cheap!

 

[TheCheapGeek]

I have very little purchased content, mainly dvd rips, and a few downloads and i love my apple tv. I use 2 40GB apple tv's one connected via ethernet, and the other over 802.11 G and I can stream two shows at once with no stuttering at all. I think the interface and ease of use is what makes the apple tv so great for me. You don't have to hook up your laptop to the tv, you just plug it in and everything in iTunes is on your TV. The only real issue i have with it is the frame rate limitations on 720p content, all my eyetv recordings are 30 fps in 720p.

 

[JONTY.UK/FR]

Happy days



so i got the said lead and am very happy with the out come.

I think for my set up connecting the macbook to the TV is perfect, I live in a 1 bed apartment, 1x42" tv, macbook is in the living room as is TC etc...

I also stummbled accross this blog which works a treat and lets me take the movies off the Macbook to free up some GB's
http://theappleblog.com/2008/07/07/view-time-capsule-movies-in-front-row/

Happy days