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POLL: Owners Scorecard on AppleTV
- Thread starter netdog
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
What's with the CODECs complaints? DivX/Xvid are mostly used by the warez scene. MPEG-4 video with VBR MP3 audio in a .AVI wrapper? Please. 
If only they switched to real .mp4 files with MPEG-4 video and AAC audio, or even better H.264 video with AAC audio, then nobody would be complaining about "the lack of CODECs" in the
TV anymore.
So, rip your own DVDs to H.264/AAC and stop asking for DivX. And tell those warez groups to get with the times and support real standards.
Complaining about the lack of DivX on theTV is like complaining about the lack of WMA on iPods.
And apart from not having a built-in letterboxing mode, it does everything I expected. Yes I know the requirement is "widescreen TV" but they could've had a setting for letterboxing, hence converting my square tube into a "widescreen TV". After all, my DVD player can do it, why not theTV?
If only they switched to real .mp4 files with MPEG-4 video and AAC audio, or even better H.264 video with AAC audio, then nobody would be complaining about "the lack of CODECs" in the
TV anymore.So, rip your own DVDs to H.264/AAC and stop asking for DivX. And tell those warez groups to get with the times and support real standards.
Complaining about the lack of DivX on the
TV is like complaining about the lack of WMA on iPods.And apart from not having a built-in letterboxing mode, it does everything I expected. Yes I know the requirement is "widescreen TV" but they could've had a setting for letterboxing, hence converting my square tube into a "widescreen TV". After all, my DVD player can do it, why not the
TV?
when i bought my tv i knew they had started to hack the thing so i figured hey what the hell, i'll but it and it'll fully fit my needs later. realistically though, it pretty much already suits my needs.
the biggest kicker i thought would be the whole lack of codec situation. but i tell you what, it's really not that hard to open up iSquint and add a whole list of stuff to convert to the queue and just let it run while i'm at work all day.
at this point, for me, the ability to hack that cute little box isn't a selling point anymore. it'll be cool to have added functionality that the hacking community is providing, but i don't think i'm actually going to open the thing up. i'll probably hack it once they get the Patchstick project working.
also, everyone is all up in arms about the 40GB hard drive and i'm kind of mixed on the subject, but i'm leaning toward the "so?" side of things.tv is a bridge between iTunes and my TV. if i want to put different stuff on the tv then i can just select it in iTunes and then it syncs up. or you can also just stream audio and video directly from iTunes.
here are my problems so far with thetv:
tv i knew they had started to hack the thing so i figured hey what the hell, i'll but it and it'll fully fit my needs later. realistically though, it pretty much already suits my needs.the biggest kicker i thought would be the whole lack of codec situation. but i tell you what, it's really not that hard to open up iSquint and add a whole list of stuff to convert to the queue and just let it run while i'm at work all day.
at this point, for me, the ability to hack that cute little box isn't a selling point anymore. it'll be cool to have added functionality that the hacking community is providing, but i don't think i'm actually going to open the thing up. i'll probably hack it once they get the Patchstick project working.
also, everyone is all up in arms about the 40GB hard drive and i'm kind of mixed on the subject, but i'm leaning toward the "so?" side of things.
tv is a bridge between iTunes and my TV. if i want to put different stuff on the tv then i can just select it in iTunes and then it syncs up. or you can also just stream audio and video directly from iTunes.here are my problems so far with the
tv:- this has bothered me forever in Front Row - FOR THE LOVE OF GOD JUST FOLLOW THE ORDER I HAVE MY MUSIC VIDEOS AND TV SHOWS IN!!!!! for example, i encoded the whole dvd to BT - This Binary Universe but when i go to watch the videos they are all out of order. And i imported a tv show and for the first day or so the order was being followed but now for some reason that information has disappeared off of the tv.
- for some reason while the tv is syncing with iTunes i get horizontal lines in the video
- the fact that there are some things that play in iTunes (i'm talking video podcast from the iTunes Store not something that requires 3rd party codecs) that won't get copied to the tv
We need an AC3 codec
i agree with the comments about about the video codecs, but i still voted for will great once we have the codecs.
overall i am very please with my AppleTV, but Apple does need to supply us with a AC3 passthrough codec, i mean what's the point of having HDMI and a Optical Audio out and the ATV just supporting stereo. Quicktime really needs an update to FULLY support HD Video & Sound (DTS & AC3 at least) and that does not even mention DD+ or HD-DTS. This is a must for me if it supposed to be the DVD player for your HDTV, what HD TV channel that does not have AC3 sound. i really think Apple dropped the ball with this one.
I know Quicktime is free and for that to support AC3 probably will never happen, due to the licensing of the DoblyDigital codecs, but they could have supplied it with the AppleTV and passed on the licensing cost to the consumer or at least they should release the codec to purchase like the MPEG2 codec.
What's with the CODECs complaints? DivX/Xvid are mostly used by the warez scene. MPEG-4 video with VBR MP3 audio in a .AVI wrapper? Please.
If only they switched to real .mp4 files with MPEG-4 video and AAC audio, or even better H.264 video with AAC audio, then nobody would be complaining about "the lack of CODECs" in the
So, rip your own DVDs to H.264/AAC and stop asking for DivX. And tell those warez groups to get with the times and support real standards.
Complaining about the lack of DivX on the
And apart from not having a built-in letterboxing mode, it does everything I expected. Yes I know the requirement is "widescreen TV" but they could've had a setting for letterboxing, hence converting my square tube into a "widescreen TV". After all, my DVD player can do it, why not the
i agree with the comments about about the video codecs, but i still voted for will great once we have the codecs.
overall i am very please with my AppleTV, but Apple does need to supply us with a AC3 passthrough codec, i mean what's the point of having HDMI and a Optical Audio out and the ATV just supporting stereo. Quicktime really needs an update to FULLY support HD Video & Sound (DTS & AC3 at least) and that does not even mention DD+ or HD-DTS. This is a must for me if it supposed to be the DVD player for your HDTV, what HD TV channel that does not have AC3 sound. i really think Apple dropped the ball with this one.
I know Quicktime is free and for that to support AC3 probably will never happen, due to the licensing of the DoblyDigital codecs, but they could have supplied it with the AppleTV and passed on the licensing cost to the consumer or at least they should release the codec to purchase like the MPEG2 codec.
My only 2 complaints.
1. No subfolders for Movie Genres. Just a big list. Needs to be changed.
2. No prioritizing of TABS. Since Photos only sync, I'd like to drag that tab to the left and make it the #1 priority, with others following and music or podcasts last since my library is larger than the Apple TV. For movies I use streaming anyway.
1. No subfolders for Movie Genres. Just a big list. Needs to be changed.
2. No prioritizing of TABS. Since Photos only sync, I'd like to drag that tab to the left and make it the #1 priority, with others following and music or podcasts last since my library is larger than the Apple TV. For movies I use streaming anyway.
Very pleased
I am very pleased with my Apple TV. I watch and listen to all my podcasts on it every morning and evening. It's also very nice to just chill in my living room, listening to my music with out having to hook my iPod up to my stereo or wearing headphones everywhere. I would REALLY like to be able to shop the iTunes Store though directly from it. And more codec support would be great. Converting all my movies is a real b***h. Other than that, I really like and DO NOT regret buying it at all.
I am very pleased with my Apple TV. I watch and listen to all my podcasts on it every morning and evening. It's also very nice to just chill in my living room, listening to my music with out having to hook my iPod up to my stereo or wearing headphones everywhere. I would REALLY like to be able to shop the iTunes Store though directly from it. And more codec support would be great. Converting all my movies is a real b***h. Other than that, I really like and DO NOT regret buying it at all.
Of limited use to me in the UK, as there aren't any TV shows or movies in iTunes. I think the lack of any extra codecs is a huge oversight, as contrary to former posts railing against the use of Divx/Xvid as some tool exclusively used by the warez scene, I have plenty of legal content in Divx that I'd like to be able to stream. Right now all I can watch are some lousy video podcasts and the one and only music video I've bought from iTunes.
Without some of the work done by the AppleTV mod scene in the past few weeks I'd be left with a device that would really only be useful (to me) for streaming audio, and I've got three Airport Express that do that perfectly well. I suppose I can stream Aperture photos which is a novelty but nothing more.
Thankfully I'm safe in the knowledge that I've got a £199 Mac, so if I get bored with AppleTV I can use it as a little desktop unit or a mini server with a full-fat OS X install.
Without some of the work done by the AppleTV mod scene in the past few weeks I'd be left with a device that would really only be useful (to me) for streaming audio, and I've got three Airport Express that do that perfectly well. I suppose I can stream Aperture photos which is a novelty but nothing more.
Thankfully I'm safe in the knowledge that I've got a £199 Mac, so if I get bored with AppleTV I can use it as a little desktop unit or a mini server with a full-fat OS X install.
I got a refund on mine.
But I'll buy one again as soon asTV natively supports MPEG2. Encoding all my MPEG2 (yes, legal) content to H.264 (or any half-decent looking compatible format) took stupidly long on my iBook G4.
SL
But I'll buy one again as soon as
TV natively supports MPEG2. Encoding all my MPEG2 (yes, legal) content to H.264 (or any half-decent looking compatible format) took stupidly long on my iBook G4.SL
What's with the CODECs complaints? DivX/Xvid are mostly used by the warez scene. MPEG-4 video with VBR MP3 audio in a .AVI wrapper? Please.
I agree. I'm getting annoyed with everyone complaining that it doesn't have DivX/Xvid support. I don't know anyone but geeks who know what those acronyms mean.
Me too. I go only with Netflix and iTunes now
What'd you expect? The G4 is such an old and outdated processor. If you really want to process H.264 get something made in the last year or so
Overall, the Apple TV would get a 6/10 for me. Annoyances:
- It needs purchasing of movies and tv shows directly from the remote. If I'm already sitting on the couch, I'm too lazy to walk over to the computer and spend 5 minutes searching the iTS finding what I want to buy. Yes, that is how lazy I am
- Still very buggy and quirky. Doesn't handle many things very smoothly. Why should I have to enter some key code on my computer? When I'm sharing music normally between computers on iTunes I don't have to do that. Why does it stop playing music when I go to the main menu? I just want to change the screensaver, sheesh!
It feels like a rushed job, and it feels like it's missing a lot of features. I have never thought "wow" when using it. More like "meh". It's essentially a bigger iPod with HD outputs.
One benefit is it plays music much louder than AirTunes
What'd you expect? The G4 is such an old and outdated processor. If you really want to process H.264 get something made in the last year or so
Gosh I never realised!
Although, you will find that Apple were shipping G4 units within the last year-or-so. No matter! You have a point! I'll leap into my Maserati now, advance straight to Regent Street and pick myself up one of dem nice new 8 core Mac Pros. I can't imagine why I haven't done this already.
Thank you for your constructive support.
SL
Constructive support? I thought I gave that, e.g., buy a computer with a faster processor and faster hard drive?