Should I get one? Please help.

[Tird Ferguson]

I am interested in purchasing Apple TV for my wife's birthday. She loves her iPod. She just got an iPhone last month and couldn't be happier. I want to get her Apple TV but I am hestitant.

Please answer these questions so I can make my decision.

1) About how many movies can we purchase or download for the Apple TV?

2) How much does the average movie cost?

3) Can I rent movies for the apple TV online?

4) If so, how much does the average rental cost?

5) Does it support surround sound (5.1 or 7.1)?

6) Does it support 2.1 (poor man's surrond sound)?



I need to make the purchase by Nov, so any help would be appreciated.

 

[Squareball]

All of this can easily be found on Apple's web site and in iTunes but here goes.

1) About how many movies can we purchase or download for the Apple TV?

A lot. Just go into iTunes Store and see.

2) How much does the average movie cost?

Around $20

3) Can I rent movies for the apple TV online?

Not as of now

4) If so, how much does the average rental cost?

N/A

5) Does it support surround sound (5.1 or 7.1)?

I believe 5.1 however from what I understand most content doesn't output at 5.1 so for now I'd suggest googleing AppleTV 5.1 and reading up on this.

6) Does it support 2.1 (poor man's surrond sound)?

Yes

 

[Tird Ferguson]

Ballpark it for me.

Thanks for the reply. I did do some searching for all of this and found a lot of the information to be vague or simple slams.

When I ask about the number of movies, I am interested in a rough number of titles.

For example: If I go to Amazon, there are 7000 movie titles available for download. If I go to Vudu I know I would have access to about 5000 movie titles. I know those items are not compatible with ATV, so I am looking for a number to guage ATVs relative content value on movies.

I cannot find such numbers for Apple TV on the web. I was hoping someone here had happened accross such a number or was willing to ball park it for me.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Every movie on iTunes works on the Apple TV. I don't know how many that is.
Also, with a program called Handbrake, you can turn any DVD into a file that Apple TV can read.

 

[yoyo5280]

1) About how many movies can we purchase or download for the Apple TV? as many as your computer/apple tv can hold (not all from iTunes. Using handbrake as-well)

2) How much does the average movie cost? on iTunes um.... $15 i think

3) Can I rent movies for the apple TV online? not yet

4) If so, how much does the average rental cost? not sure

5) Does it support surround sound (5.1 or 7.1)? not yet

6) Does it support 2.1 (poor man's surrond sound)? not sure lol

Apple TV is a really amazing product. As soon as it gets rentals and surround sound it will be the best on the market. I own one and couldn't be happier. It is sooo much easier and cooler looking then any other similar product I have used. Even better the PS3 media center (acutely...by miles)

 

[beetlejuice]

I have an atv and I never buy anything from the iTune store. (i cant justify the prices for the poor quality when you can normally find a dvd version cheaper) If you have stuff that is the wrong format, its really not hard to convert it. I use iSquint, but I am sure there are lots of other software options out there. People have also hacked their atv's to play a larger variety of content.

 

[DTphonehome]

From Apple.com:

"Open 24/7, the iTunes Store features more than 6 million 99¢ songs, 100,000 free podcasts, 30,000 audiobooks, 600 TV shows, 500 movies, and iPod games."

Emphasis mine.

Seems to me you might benefit more from a TivoHD (see my other thread about this here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/372384/ ). There's tons available to rent (for $2-4). But, you can't move the shows or movies to your iPod or iPhone. And there's the monthly Tivo fee commitment. But it supports 5.1 out (maybe even better, I'm not sure), has a bigger HD, and an awesome DVR that will soon allow you to take your files with you when TivoToGo is activated.

 

[Cave Man]

1) About how many movies can we purchase or download for the Apple TV?

Hundreds. But just about any DVD can be converted with Handbrake with Dolby Pro Logic II.

5) Does it support surround sound (5.1 or 7.1)?

The hardware is there for 7.1, but not software. So, "no" is the correct answer at this point in terms of x.1 surround. It will do 5-channel DLPII (L, R, C, LR, RR).

I need to make the purchase by Nov, so any help would be appreciated.

I'd wait as long as you can. There might be some surprises this week or next.

 

[rulerofthemoon]

not movies

Yeah, movies are not the best reason to get an Apple TV now. Home movies and Vid Podcasts are a better reason. Of course, if you have decent stereo, listing to music and watching photo slideshows will become a joy.

With her ipod, you could get a video dock and just plug it into the TV. A DLO homedock costs about $100. An Apple Dock is $29. The experience is much the same as an Apple TV, just a bit kludgier. The Apple TV has better quality though - supports HDMI.

 

[ChrisA]

When I ask about the number of movies, I am interested in a rough number of titles.

If you can get the movie into your computer you can get it onto the Apple TV. So, there are many titles. You can rip DVDs. But if you have the DVD in hand why bother with ATV? There are a zillion better ways to get movies. The local library has enough to keep my wife and kids happy and they are all free. I don't think the ATV is the best way to watch movies

But I never watch TV or DVDs but I still want to get one of these. I have a lot of content I shot myself and I'd like to show it on the 1080p TV in the living room. There really is no other easy way to move HD content from my computer to the TV set.

As soon as Apple offers a unit that will do 1080p I'll buy it. I don't want to get the current unit only to have to replace it.

 

[MikieMikie]

Warning, Will Robinson. Danger!

Frankly, Tird, I don't think this is the box for you. Since there are a mere 500 or so movies available to you, and no rentals available, I would recommend you stay away.

Always buy based on a understood feature set.

-- Mikie

 

[forrestmc4]

I have to echo the other posters here, it does not seem that ATV is for you. If you and your wife enjoy watching a wide selection of movies regularly and are looking to get them from the interwebs you may be better off going with a different product.

It does not seem as though the rent, rip, and load process of getting DVD content onto an ATV is the way to go for you. Frankly, your wife may be left asking, "Soooo, why don't we just use a DVD player?" particularly if you do not go back and watch movies again often.

Here are some options (many of them noted by previous posters):

1) A video dock for her iPod if she has content she enjoys on it.
2) Tivo HD
3) Netflix?
4) An iPhone or iPod related accessory such as some nice docking speakers.
5) An elgato eyetv product to capture her favorite shows and movies on your mac and easily export them to any apple product. (I own one, it is simple to use and is a great way to get more content onto your iPod and iPhone.)

Hope this helps, good luck.

 

[Algalli]

Sould I get one

I found 290 movies on Itunes most were priced at $9.99 with some at $14.99

Al

 

[JoeyBrill]

Atv

I'm holding off on Apple TV for now.

Special features are not currently available and you can't skip to a specific chapter in the movie - you scroll through, instead.

I love the idea of purchasing pure content and avoiding wrap rage, but the selection is too small at present time.

I wish Amazon supported Mac, but it doesn't. In theory, you can download content running bootcamp and Vista and then use your HDTV as a monitor to display. I still haven't figured out how to transmit audio from my MBP, though.

 

[Curtis72]

My answer would be ...

sure if you have the money to spend. Apple TV should have a least another year because its competitors are clear winners either. This is unlike the iPod HI-FI where there 100's of competing products and Apple's market share was very small.