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bluedoggiant

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Jul 13, 2007
2,656
100
MD & ATL,GA
i mean, look at its features, just take the laptop into the living room, it isnt worth the money just to stream content from your computer, i mean, even the new ipod has more storage than it
 
Perhaps you are not in the market for it.
Not all people have laptops, and not all people have the technical expertise to stream content, and the Apple TV is quite a convenient device for the market it calls for.
Obviously not you.
 
well, at least for a lower price
Hellofalot better than buying another laptop for your kids.
I can hear it now-
MOMMMMMYYYY. I WANT [insert iTunes buyable TV show] NOWWWWWWW.
"Ok honey"
Minimize your work, open iTunes up for a second, download and transfer it to the device, and BAM.

So many other practical uses I can think of, but this one may just be simple enough to fit your mindset. Good day. :)
 
Hellofalot better than buying another laptop for your kids.
I can hear it now-
MOMMMMMYYYY. I WANT [insert iTunes buyable TV show] NOWWWWWWW.
"Ok honey"
Minimize your work, open iTunes up for a second, download and transfer it to the device, and BAM.

So many other practical uses I can think of, but this one may just be simple enough to fit your mindset. Good day. :)

Or say no and take the kid on a bike ride/walk? Booo tv
 
i mean, look at its features
I did. They're great.

just take the laptop into the living room, it isnt worth the money just to stream content from your computer
Tell that to Amazon, Slingbox, Microsoft, HP, Divx, Hauppauge, Alienware, and the dozens of other companies making similar devices with similar features and functions, and everyone that's buying them.

You're obviously not the target market for this product, and you obviously don't have the mental flexibility to understand that the product is exactly what others want. Anything can be easily distilled down into "just use [other thing] instead."

If you want a lower price with more features, look into a modded Xbox. It doesn't do HD, but it's a fantastic gateway into understanding just how valuable these media streaming devices can be. That is, if you ever intend to actually try these things out instead of just dismissing them as dumb.
 
i mean, look at its features, just take the laptop into the living room, it isnt worth the money just to stream content from your computer, i mean, even the new ipod has more storage than it

If you dont want it dont buy it ! I have to say i am incredibly impressed how quickly you formed your opinion though ! How long has it been out now ?

On a lighter note, i LOVE my ATV. Its not about how much storage you have or anything else, it's about the fact that IT JUST WORKS.
 
Yeah. There's nothing quite like gathering the family around the laptop to watch a movie...

macbook pro 17 inch, get a mac mini and hook it up to a 30 inch display, well, i guess im seeing the pluses of the :apple:tv, but they have to add more storage, again, EVEN the ipod has MORE storage than it, it should be like 130GB and 200GB
 
macbook pro 17 inch, get a mac mini and hook it up to a 30 inch display, well, i guess im seeing the pluses of the :apple:tv, but they have to add more storage, again, EVEN the ipod has MORE storage than it, it should be like 130GB and 200GB

Let me know when the 130 GB drive becomes available :)

Just kidding.

I could hook up my laptop/mac mini to become an ATV but I would have to get the necessary cables to convert DVI --> Component or HDMI. Then the necessary Audio cable...

If I use my laptop I am sure I would want to disconnect it every now and then to use it, and buying a second one is a bit over kill. I see the OPs point, but I find hooking things up and taking them apart a nuisance... just hooking them up is a headache. The ATV would fit nicely in my house sans the storage issues if it also allowed me to download stuff off of TV (TiVo/DVR) then I would have had one a long time ago.
 
macbook pro 17 inch, get a mac mini and hook it up to a 30 inch display, well, i guess im seeing the pluses of the :apple:tv, but they have to add more storage, again, EVEN the ipod has MORE storage than it, it should be like 130GB and 200GB

No storage needed at all on the :apple:TV (except for OS software)....it streams. I don't have anything stored on mine at this time.....it's all on the iMac.
 
macbook pro 17 inch, get a mac mini and hook it up to a 30 inch display, well, i guess im seeing the pluses of the :apple:tv, but they have to add more storage, again, EVEN the ipod has MORE storage than it, it should be like 130GB and 200GB
You don't need any storage at all. It streams everything that's in your iTunes library.

What's really dumb here, the product or the person that hasn't done a bit of research on it?
 
then why does it have a hard drive
For the dummies that can't figure out how to stream? :D

Seriously, in another thread someone suggested a stripped down ATV with no hd and no wi-fi. That could get the cost down to $100 and maybe get the product into more hands. I mainly use mine for music and photos and have been using a Media MVP for the past three years. Support from Hauppauge hasn't been overwhelming and I've had many dreams about a product like the ATV. I'm very happy with my ATV.
 
A bit more explanation?

i mean, look at its features, just take the laptop into the living room, it isnt worth the money just to stream content from your computer, i mean, even the new ipod has more storage than it

Probably you should explain yourself a bit more. Based on the above reactions, nobody really understoods your reasoning.. What are you looking for, what is it your are missing...:confused:

I partly agree with you. From an European pespectice it is just a very expensive box. You can't buy anything on itunes, there is not much other content available outside YouTube, the solution is clearly geared to US customers, etc. On the other hand, if you have some content it is quite a versatile box with of course a number of limitations.
 
then why does it have a hard drive
What does it matter? It streams and it can store. It does both. Getting into the semantics of the purpose of individual components in the device still doesn't make it make any sense when you try to directly compare hard drive sizes between an Apple TV and an iPod in an attempt to rationalize the product's usefulness.

There are other features at work here: streaming being the main one that makes your iPod hard drive comparison worthless. They are similar devices, but trying to compare the quality of the devices as determined by hard drive size is apples to oranges. That really appears to be your only argument here, and I don't see how that makes the Apple TV dumb when it has a one-up in features compared to the iPod. Nevermind the fact that both the Apple TV and iPod max out at 160gb hard drives.

Seriously, in another thread someone suggested a stripped down ATV with no hd and no wi-fi. That could get the cost down to $100 and maybe get the product into more hands.
I promise you that the wireless network connection and 40gb hard drive do not come anywhere close to being worth $200 of the cost.
 
then why does it have a hard drive

There is a difference between "need" and "have". It doesn't need one if you have a desktop system that you leave on 24/7. Most people fit this category. In addition, if you don't want it to compete with your other computers on the wireless network, then sync as much as you can. We have a 160 gig drive in our ATV and have sync'd our music library (30 gigs) and all our kids movies (about 80 gigs) on the ATV. With this configuration we don't even have to have the ATV connected to the network and we can play all our music (and their playlists) and watch any of the kids' movies.

The other type of person who would want an ATV with a hard drive is anyone who has a laptop that they have to take off their network, such as when they take it to work or go on a trip. Simply sync files while the laptop is connected to the network and when it's done, just remove it and go about your business. This way the ATV can function without any computer on the network.

Use your imagination a bit.
 
My :apple:TV is sitting in the box waiting to get sold. The only feature thats missing is the ability to run programs without hacking. I want to be able to run Joost on it.

My many issue with it is that after every show I watch or after I listen to an album I have to re-sync to my library, which takes about 10 minutes.
 
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