Questions before I buy...

[gwsat]

I never quite understood the logic of ripping everything to Apple TV. It's easier for me just to pluck the DVD of choice from my collection and throw it into a good DVD player.

In my case, the operative term is, “good DVD player.” I have a 4 year old Momitsu, which by the standards of the day was excellent. It will play any disk, regardless of Region Code and upconvert via component, which most DVD players would not do. Its weaknesses are its remote control features, which are balky, and provide only limited on-screen information concerning where you are on the disk.

Converting my DVDs to MP4 files and being able to manipulate them with the Apple TV’s much superior user interface has been like being let out of jail. The ease with which its possible to accomplish the conversion, thanks to Handbrake, made the decision a no-brainer for me.

 

[IgnatiusTheKing]

Its weaknesses are its remote control features, which are balky, and provide only limited on-screen information concerning where you are on the disk.

This actually made me think of another question. Are you stuck with the Apple remote or can you program another remote to take its place?

 

[gwsat]

This actually made me think of another question. Are you stuck with the Apple remote or can you program another remote to take its place?

I have my old Harmony Remote programmed for my Apple TV and it works well. The Apple TV interface will never be confused with TiVo's but compared to Momitsu’s it’s out of this world.

 

[IgnatiusTheKing]

I have my old Harmony Remote programmed for my Apple TV and it works well. The Apple TV interface will never be confused with TiVo's but compared to Momitsu’s it’s out of this world.

Great, thanks!

 

[AppleFan360]

I agree it's a bit troublesome, but to me it's worth it. I started off ripping just the kids' movies because I got tired of juggling the same discs over and over--then when I realized what a convenience it was, I started eyeing the rest of my DVD collection and asking myself, "Why the heck do I even want to keep all this media around, anyway?" The discs just take up space and are a tempting target for little hands.

So I've started ripping the rest of my DVDs, storing them on my Time Capsule and backing up the files on another external drive. It's sheer digital bliss.

In my case, the operative term is, “good DVD player.” I have a 4 year old Momitsu, which by the standards of the day was excellent. It will play any disk, regardless of Region Code and upconvert via component, which most DVD players would not do. Its weaknesses are its remote control features, which are balky, and provide only limited on-screen information concerning where you are on the disk.

Converting my DVDs to MP4 files and being able to manipulate them with the Apple TV’s much superior user interface has been like being let out of jail. The ease with which its possible to accomplish the conversion, thanks to Handbrake, made the decision a no-brainer for me.

I guess so. I can see your points. I think in my situation, throwing them onto the Apple TV would be downgrading. I shoot my DVD's, HD-DVD's and Blu-Rays up on a 106" projection system. If I convert them to play on the Apple TV, quality is reduced.

 

[gwsat]

I guess so. I can see your points. I think in my situation, throwing them onto the Apple TV would be downgrading. I shoot my DVD's, HD-DVD's and Blu-Rays up on a 106" projection system. If I convert them to play on the Apple TV, quality is reduced.

I hear you. I have a combination of only a 50 inch HDTV and aging eyeballs that makes my assessment of PQ suspect. In addition, my hard to use DVD player is a pain in the – uh – neck to use. Thus, for my purposes, the Handbrake plus Apple TV option works better than watching the DVD itself. Still, if my screen were bigger and my vision better, I might not think so.