I got my hands on the new Apple TV yesterday and thought I would post some of my initial observations.
I have had an Apple TV with a 40GB hard drive for a few years now along with the ROKU box.
My first impressions after playing around with the new Apple TV is somewhat positive. The interface is pretty much the same as the old Apple TV minus a few features. Quite frankly, I'm already starting to miss the onboard storage (hard drive). I had some movies stored on the old Apple TV just so I wouldn't have to turn on the computer to stream from iTunes. That functionality is pretty much gone. Not sure if that's good or bad and I'm not sure what Apple is thinking but I guess from a cost perspective, it was a good move. You can't purchase movies and TV shows from the new Apple TV either which is kind of puzzling. You can rent however.
The picture quality on the new Apple TV is pretty good. I browsed HD trailers and YouTube HD videos. They actually looked better than on the new ROKU XD/S box (which I received last week). Watching video on Apple TV has always been a high quality experience and much better than any other streaming services out there. I would much rather watch good quality 720p than highly compressed 1080p full of artifacts. I'm also happy to see that Apple has included 8GB of storage in the new Apple TV which enables movies to buffer large amounts of data. That's a good thing. I was concerned that quality might be compromised as compared to the old Apple TV. The ROKU box doesn't have all that much storage so compression is a bit high.
Movie selection is pretty good but TV content needs improvment. Only a few networks are available. The 99 cent rentals are a good idea but don't hold up against the Amazon 99 cent purchase model. The other day I purchased the entire first season of Glee for $20 on the ROKU box in HD and 5.1 Dolby Digital. Can't do that on the Apple TV. Only rent.
The Netflix integration is pretty good. It looks and acts like you are using iTunes. You simply use your login information for Netflix and it hooks right up. No need to activate the device like on the ROKU box. The only thing I don't like is that you can't tell which movies are in HD. The Apple TV simply lists the movie and adjusts the data stream accordingly no matter if its SD or HD. I will try watching a Netflix HD movie on the Apple TV and then compare it to the ROKU XD/S box first chance I get.
I haven't decided yet but I think I will probably use the new Apple TV in the home theater room for just a few weeks. Rent a couple of movies and play around a bit more. I will then probably move it to one of the bedrooms and put the old Apple TV back. I don't know what Apple has planned for this box but it needs more work. It almost seems like a downgrade right now. Guess we will see what the future holds.
I have had an Apple TV with a 40GB hard drive for a few years now along with the ROKU box.
My first impressions after playing around with the new Apple TV is somewhat positive. The interface is pretty much the same as the old Apple TV minus a few features. Quite frankly, I'm already starting to miss the onboard storage (hard drive). I had some movies stored on the old Apple TV just so I wouldn't have to turn on the computer to stream from iTunes. That functionality is pretty much gone. Not sure if that's good or bad and I'm not sure what Apple is thinking but I guess from a cost perspective, it was a good move. You can't purchase movies and TV shows from the new Apple TV either which is kind of puzzling. You can rent however.
The picture quality on the new Apple TV is pretty good. I browsed HD trailers and YouTube HD videos. They actually looked better than on the new ROKU XD/S box (which I received last week). Watching video on Apple TV has always been a high quality experience and much better than any other streaming services out there. I would much rather watch good quality 720p than highly compressed 1080p full of artifacts. I'm also happy to see that Apple has included 8GB of storage in the new Apple TV which enables movies to buffer large amounts of data. That's a good thing. I was concerned that quality might be compromised as compared to the old Apple TV. The ROKU box doesn't have all that much storage so compression is a bit high.
Movie selection is pretty good but TV content needs improvment. Only a few networks are available. The 99 cent rentals are a good idea but don't hold up against the Amazon 99 cent purchase model. The other day I purchased the entire first season of Glee for $20 on the ROKU box in HD and 5.1 Dolby Digital. Can't do that on the Apple TV. Only rent.
The Netflix integration is pretty good. It looks and acts like you are using iTunes. You simply use your login information for Netflix and it hooks right up. No need to activate the device like on the ROKU box. The only thing I don't like is that you can't tell which movies are in HD. The Apple TV simply lists the movie and adjusts the data stream accordingly no matter if its SD or HD. I will try watching a Netflix HD movie on the Apple TV and then compare it to the ROKU XD/S box first chance I get.
I haven't decided yet but I think I will probably use the new Apple TV in the home theater room for just a few weeks. Rent a couple of movies and play around a bit more. I will then probably move it to one of the bedrooms and put the old Apple TV back. I don't know what Apple has planned for this box but it needs more work. It almost seems like a downgrade right now. Guess we will see what the future holds.
