is Apple TV worth it?

[NightStorm]

BUT if you dump cable/satellite which will save you 80-100 bucks per month, the $30 for a full season of shows doesn't seem all that expensive anymore.

Let's say you have 5 favorite shows...that costs you $150 for a year/season. Cable/Sat would cost you around $1000 or more.

For us, it sure was worth it. Even going with the HD versions.

Subscription would be better, but even the way it is now it is a huge money savings if you want to dump cable/sat.

This is my theory as well. I used to pay for cable and then would buy the season sets of my favorite TV shows when they were released on DVD. Now, I just buy the HD season pass on iTunes and get the shows delivered to me every week. It has saved me quite a bit of money over the past two years.

 

[B.A.T]

$30 will also get you almost two months of Netflix (3 movies at a time) where you can go on a short rent/rip/watch whenever you want binge.

 

[NightStorm]

$30 will also get you almost two months of Netflix (3 movies at a time) where you can go on a short rent/rip/watch whenever you want binge.

Maybe, but some of us have morale problems with doing that.

 

[alehel]

I moved out of my parents house just over a year ago. At home I have well over 100 dvd's that I own personally, but I just can't be bothered to transport them and I don't have room for the where I live now. I therefore used HandBrake to rip them to my Apple TV and took that with me instead. I have a copy of everything on my Macbook Pro, but the Apple TV makes it really easy for me to watch them. For this the Apple TV works great. If on the other hand you want to transfer your blu-ray films at full quality, wait for the next apple tv to come out, if there will ever be one. I really hope Apple brings us a new Apple TV with bigger HD and support for higher speced files. This isn't a problem for me though. I started buying blu-rays after I moved, so I've got them all where I live now anyway, but sooner I buy a lot of movies, and sooner or later I will want to put them on my AppleTV aswell. Hopefully by then there will be something new. I'm scepticle though. Doesn't look like Apple take this product seriously enough to make a new one.

If they use the iPhone OS for the Apple TV and make an SDK for it, more people might buy it. They could play games on their TV using the iPhone as a remote. I'd love that.

 

[Primejimbo]

BUT if you dump cable/satellite which will save you 80-100 bucks per month, the $30 for a full season of shows doesn't seem all that expensive anymore.

Let's say you have 5 favorite shows...that costs you $150 for a year/season. Cable/Sat would cost you around $1000 or more.

For us, it sure was worth it. Even going with the HD versions.

Subscription would be better, but even the way it is now it is a huge money savings if you want to dump cable/sat.

True, but still not the same. I come home from work and just flip through channels and something will catch my eye. I got hooked on new shows that way. A lot of shows I watch aren't on iTunes also. I wish Apple TV would work for this and ditch cable.
Also can you use a Mac Mini as an Apple TV?