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Should I buy a ATV if I have a PS3?

M

MattG728

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 17, 2008
17
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With the blu ray player on the PS3 should I buy the ATV?

Will the quality on my blu-ray player be better than that of a HD rental off of iTunes?

I know the ATV will be cheaper with renting movies and TV shows, but why should I have two machines that will both play movies and I already own something that plays Blu Ray movies.

I mean why spend $500 on a PS3 and $300 on a ATV when both can basically do the same thing
 
I am really interested in what you decide. I have neither device, but I am considering one or the other, but not both. The Apple TV fulfills my primary use (music listening, podcast listening, etc). The GUI is beautiful and looks like it is the best device for this purpose. The PS3 does all of this (with MediaLink) but does not do it in the same elegant way. However, the PS3 does blu-ray, games, etc. The problem is that I don't really play games, though I might pick up a game or two if I had the PS3 anyway. Additionally, I am not in desperate need of a blu-ray player, though it is oh so tempting since the prices are not incomparable (you can get a 40GB ps3 for 299 on sonystyle.com if you sign up for a sony visa).
 
I am in exactly the same boat. One major disadvantage of the Apple TV is that the standard definition movie rentals do not have 5.1 sound, they are stereo only. THat severely limits its use as a home theater component, the PS3 has no such problems, it upscales DVD's and offers 5.1 sound in multiple formats.

Another problem with the Apple TV is that new releases will be subject to a 30 day delay after the DVD releases, the PS3 will not have this inconvenience.

I think in the end the PS3 is the much better solution for me, but oddly enough I want the Apple TV more. As a Mac user it seems like the natural way to go, hopefully NullRiver MediaLink will go a long way towards integrating the Mac with the PS3 seamlessly.
 
MattG728 said:
With the blu ray player on the PS3 should I buy the ATV?

Will the quality on my blu-ray player be better than that of a HD rental off of iTunes?

I know the ATV will be cheaper with renting movies and TV shows, but why should I have two machines that will both play movies and I already own something that plays Blu Ray movies.

I mean why spend $500 on a PS3 and $300 on a ATV when both can basically do the same thing
Click to expand...

The quality on blu-ray will destroy the Apple TV assuming you are watching on a TV at least 42". Blu-Ray has 1080p at 25 mbps while the ATV is only 720p at 4 mbps. The PS3 can play all major file formats now including divx and xvid (this is the big one).

I'm running the PS3 in conjunction with Nullriver's Medialink and can stream everything perfectly from my iMac. This even keeps playlist structure and displays album art on the PS3.
 
Well I was thinking of buying a AYV ... then I found this thread and was thinking of buying a PS3 .... now I am thinking of buying the Apple TV.

From what I am reading not everything that works in iTunes ( purchased TV shows ) will work on PS3. I am not interested in Gaming.

For the cost of a PS3 I could acquire an Apple TV and a 1 Terabyte USB Hard Drive.

Still thinking it through though.
 
harcosparky said:
Well I was thinking of buying a AYV ... then I found this thread and was thinking of buying a PS3 .... now I am thinking of buying the Apple TV.

From what I am reading not everything that works in iTunes ( purchased TV shows ) will work on PS3. I am not interested in Gaming.

For the cost of a PS3 I could acquire an Apple TV and a 1 Terabyte USB Hard Drive.

Still thinking it through though.
Click to expand...
I Have both and for streaming content the ATV wins Hand down for it's Gui. The XMB on the PS3 is functional but nothing more. The ATV Gui , at least Version One is beautiful, we'll see about version 2
 
How often does a person use the GUI when playing a video?

I like my ATV. It's a neat little device, with some really nice touches. For most things, however, my Xbox 360 is as good or better.

MS and Sony are trying to position their video game systems as media clients. They've done a good job, and keep improving the products. ATV doesn't have the numbers behind it for Apple to have an incentive to truly improve it. Even this new release doesn't really add that much to the device.
 
If only Xbox 360 offered a Blu-Ray add-on as opposed to HD-DVD it would be the perfect media center. I think they will offer this soon as Blu-Ray is about to win the format war and Microsoft doesn't want people buying PS3s for their Blu-Ray advantage.

My vote Xbox 360.

Edit: Sorry didn't read that you already have a PS3. I've been tired lately.
 
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