That's actually not true. The Apple TV will only show the blue dots for tv shows and their episodes, not movies. I know because I've tried and I wish that it actually did do this.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Sell me on AppleTV please.
- Thread starter BrianDavid0523
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
That's actually not true. The Apple TV will only show the blue dots for tv shows and their episodes, not movies. I know because I've tried and I wish that it actually did do this.
If you have music and photos on your computer that you would like to access on your HT system, the AppleTV is great. Most people seem to focus on the movie capabilities, but it can be worth it just for music and photos.
I got mine mainly for music, but I love the way it uses our digital photos as a screensaver while playing music. We get so much more enjoyment out of our photo collection now.
The other thing I really like it for is home videos. With the AppleTV, you don't have to burn them to DVD to view them on your TV.
I got mine mainly for music, but I love the way it uses our digital photos as a screensaver while playing music. We get so much more enjoyment out of our photo collection now.
The other thing I really like it for is home videos. With the AppleTV, you don't have to burn them to DVD to view them on your TV.
I got my Apple TV as an adjunct to my stereo system. It is now hooked up to my A/V Receiver and I play all of my music from the Apple TV. I ripped my CDs into iTunes (over the years) and now the entire music library lives on my Apple TV. I bought the 160 GB model so I could sync my whole music library.
There's nothing nicer than not having to deal with those CD cases.
I agree that the unfortunate 24 hour time limit imposed on movie rentals by the motion picture industry is a crippling limitation. Because of it, I have not rented any more movies since I rented 4 or 5 HD movies immediately after I got my Apple TV in early March. Nevertheless, I love my Apple TV and the iTunes app on my MacBook Pro for their ability to slickly display movies I have ripped from my DVDs and converted to MP4 files with Handbrake. They arent HD but they are the next best thing. Plus, its easy to do and its paid for.
I agree that the unfortunate 24 hour time limit imposed on movie rentals by the motion picture industry is a crippling limitation. Because of it, I have not rented any more movies since I rented 4 or 5 HD movies immediately after I got my Apple TV in early March. Nevertheless, I love my Apple TV and the iTunes app on my MacBook Pro for their ability to slickly display movies I have ripped from my DVDs and converted to MP4 files with Handbrake. They arent HD but they are the next best thing. Plus, its easy to do and its paid for.
I don't rent movies through my Apple TV (still hooked on Netflix at the moment), but the announcements for rentals in the UK and Canada stated a 48 hour window. I can't imagine they'd do this without extending the US window as well. Can anyone confirm that the current time restriction is still 24 hours?
Thats a really good idea but I havent done it, despite my huge CD collection, which I started in the early days of CD, in the mid 80s. I also have an A/V receiver, which is connected to my Apple TV via optical.I got my Apple TV as an adjunct to my stereo system. It is now hooked up to my A/V Receiver and I play all of my music from the Apple TV. I ripped my CDs into iTunes (over the years) and now the entire music library lives on my Apple TV. I bought the 160 GB model so I could sync my whole music library.
There's nothing nicer than not having to deal with those CD cases.
How long does it take to rip an audio CD to disk? I use my Time Capsule as a repository for my iTunes movie files, so it should be just as easy to set it up for music as well. I have ripped and converted about 50 of my DVD movies with Handbrake but that exercise requires nearly two hours per movie.
Just a minute or two. And that includes having it go out to the internet database to get art, title of album and track names. It's very fast, especially when compared to something like ripping a DVD. Try one. You'll like it.
You're going to be in for a nice surprise. Just make sure when you rip the CDs that you listen to one or two -- I recommend you try Apple Lossless. Takes a little more room, but room is cheap.
Thanks for the feedback, Ill try it. Which internet database has art, track names, and the like? That would be very useful.Just a minute or two. And that includes having it go out to the internet database to get art, title of album and track names. It's very fast, especially when compared to something like ripping a DVD. Try one. You'll like it.
You're going to be in for a nice surprise. Just make sure when you rip the CDs that you listen to one or two -- I recommend you try Apple Lossless. Takes a little more room, but room is cheap.
Also, which software program should I use to copy a CDs files to iTunes? Will they have to be converted, as is required by movie files? I have now had a lot of experience using Handbrake to rip movie DVDs and convert them to MP4 format for iTunes but music CDs are a brand new ballgame for me.
Use iTunes to import your CDs. The track data will be retrieved from the CDDB, and the artwork will be retrieved from the iTunes Store. Another good source for high-quality artwork is the Album Art Exchange.
I wouldn't say that Lossless takes a "little more" room; it takes quite a bit more. Uncompressed audio is about 10 MB per minute, so an hour is about 600 MB. If I recall correctly, lossless is about half that, so about 300 MB per hour. If you encode to AAC at 192 kbps, it will take less than 2 MB per minute (about 100 MB/hour) and it is unlikely that you'll notice the difference (you might, but most people wouldn't). "Room" might be cheap, but you should try to figure out how much hard drive space (on your computer and the AppleTV) you want to dedicate to music.
One other thing. If you should decide to get an iPod, you’ll really want to consider how big you want the audio files to be. If you have a flash-based iPod, you’ll fill it up pretty quick with lossless files. If your iPod is HD-based, you won't fill is up as fast, but it greatly reduces your anti-skip buffer. Because this buffer is a fixed amount of RAM, you’ll be able to buffer quite a bit less if you use uncompressed or lossless. I’ve experienced skipping on AIFF (uncompressed) files with my HD-based iPod in the car.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t use lossless, but you should do some thinking ahead of time about how big you want those files to be.
I got the 160 GB version soon after my HDTV/surround audio system was set up earlier this year. I use it to listen to music from my iTunes collection (mostly ripped from CDs and copied from vinyl records) and look at images from my Aperture library.
I've also rented quite a few movies. The convenience is worth the cons (24 hour time limit, no special features as on DVDs). Overall, my family and I have been very happy with the purchase.
I've also rented quite a few movies. The convenience is worth the cons (24 hour time limit, no special features as on DVDs). Overall, my family and I have been very happy with the purchase.
Here's what I use my Apple TV for, in order of frequency:
1. Watching (HD) video podcasts streamed from the internet. I probably watch those more than normal TV.
2. Watching the most viewed videos on YouTube (same deal as point 1).
3. Renting movies without waiting for a queue/shipping delay or having to drive to a store (that's what I bought it for).
4. Showing my Flickr pictures/YouTube videos of my baby daughter to relatives, which is a snap, and automatically updates as you upload content once you subscribe to the feeds.
If all you want is a way to get iTunes to your stereo, consider the Airport Express vs. the Apple TV.
1. Watching (HD) video podcasts streamed from the internet. I probably watch those more than normal TV.
2. Watching the most viewed videos on YouTube (same deal as point 1).
3. Renting movies without waiting for a queue/shipping delay or having to drive to a store (that's what I bought it for).
4. Showing my Flickr pictures/YouTube videos of my baby daughter to relatives, which is a snap, and automatically updates as you upload content once you subscribe to the feeds.
If all you want is a way to get iTunes to your stereo, consider the Airport Express vs. the Apple TV.
The CDDB (as Galley pointed out) is what iTunes uses and it's automagic. So is the artwork fetch, as long as you tell iTunes in its preferences to look for it. Since every album is not on the ITMS, you may have to resort to other places for album/CD art. I find Barnes & Noble.com as well as Amazon.com fairly good when the art isn't in ITMS.
Use iTunes to autmatically rip them, and you're good to go!
