I am thinking about getting AppleTV but I don't know much about them. What are the pros and cons? Any suggestions? Thanks
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Thinking about getting AppleTV...
- Thread starter jasonmilford
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Hazy got most of the pros, so I'll hit some of the cons that I know. Most of these are minor; I would still recommend the Apple TV.
- Limited to 720p video.
- Only has an HDMI output. The original Apple TV allowed component video. HDMI is obviously the better output choice, but it would have been nice if Apple had kept the component output for those who don't have HDMI inputs or have a limited amount of HDMI inputs.
- No native Hulu Plus support
- Inputting text (for passwords, etc.) is obnoxious.
- Limited to 720p video.
- Only has an HDMI output. The original Apple TV allowed component video. HDMI is obviously the better output choice, but it would have been nice if Apple had kept the component output for those who don't have HDMI inputs or have a limited amount of HDMI inputs.
- No native Hulu Plus support
- Inputting text (for passwords, etc.) is obnoxious.
I almost listed 720p as a con, but figured I wouldn't. 720p is enough now for most everyone.
Buy a new TV or get an HDMI hub.
I'd have to agree with inputting text for passwords. Anything else, I use the keyboard on my iPhone with the Remote app.
Depends on what you call "playing nice." All you get on the Apple TV are the ones listed in iTunes.
* I love it because my local sports station is on there.
I almost listed 720p as a con, but figured I wouldn't. 720p is enough now for most everyone.
Buy a new TV or get an HDMI hub.
I'd have to agree with inputting text for passwords. Anything else, I use the keyboard on my iPhone with the Remote app.
I agree for the most part about 720p. But it would be nice to playback the 1080p videos that I am currently storing on my computer in their native resolution. But as I said, not a deal breaker for me.
And I should point out that not HDMI hubs play nice with the Apple TV. I have a HDMI switch in my bedroom that automatically detects which device is on and automatically switches to that devices. It does not get along well with the Apple TV because the switch thinks the Apple TV is always on. So ocassionally I'll be watching DirecTV only to have the switch flip me over to the Apple TV without asking! But then I have a HDMI switch in my living room that works perfectly with the Apple TV, so I'll blame this more on the switch.
thinking of getting this myself, is there a major difference between 1st gen and 2nd gen? wouldnt be using is all the time so looking to pick one up faily cheap.
I am looking into getting one too, and a major con for me is the lack of streaming support for media outside of iTunes.
I have a stack of films on an external drive that I can't stream without changing the format.
I was looking at the Boxee Box as an alternative, but that does not offer iTunes support
I have a stack of films on an external drive that I can't stream without changing the format.
I was looking at the Boxee Box as an alternative, but that does not offer iTunes support
The lack of 1080p is fairly significant as far as HD movie viewing. Even with download speeds of 30 Mbs, color banding and motion blur due the compression make it not comparable yet to blu ray quality. The same could be said about the roku with amazon streaming. However, the roku is capable of streaming in 1080p and the few channels that do, look really good.
Another option for streaming non-iTunes content to the Apple TV is Plex. I jailbroke a few months ago and was using XMBC but couldn't ever get the library to work like I wanted it too -- easy enough for my kids and wife to use it. I installed Plex a week ago and it is exactly what I needed.
The disadvantage to Plex is that Plex server has to be running on your computer to stream content (just like iTunes has to be running to stream iTunes content). The benefit is that the Plex system for identifying movies/tv episodes and downloading metadata is incredibly easy and seamless. And once you have it set up on your computer/server, the library, including cover art and metadata, populates beautifully for all Plex clients - Apple TV and an iOS app for iPad and iPhone/iPod touch (note that XMBC is only available on iPad/iPhone/iPod touch if you jailbreak).
Another Plex disadvantage is that the Apple TV and iOS clients won't stream Video_TS folders (XMBC can't do this reliably either). But Plex will stream Video_TS folders repackaged as .mkv files (which takes about 10 minutes for a movie). From now on I'm ripping into .mkv.
The disadvantage to Plex is that Plex server has to be running on your computer to stream content (just like iTunes has to be running to stream iTunes content). The benefit is that the Plex system for identifying movies/tv episodes and downloading metadata is incredibly easy and seamless. And once you have it set up on your computer/server, the library, including cover art and metadata, populates beautifully for all Plex clients - Apple TV and an iOS app for iPad and iPhone/iPod touch (note that XMBC is only available on iPad/iPhone/iPod touch if you jailbreak).
Another Plex disadvantage is that the Apple TV and iOS clients won't stream Video_TS folders (XMBC can't do this reliably either). But Plex will stream Video_TS folders repackaged as .mkv files (which takes about 10 minutes for a movie). From now on I'm ripping into .mkv.
There is an app called Air video that allows you to stream non iTunes friendly content to your ATV without a jailbreak. You do need an iOS device and a client running (Air Video server) running on your computer.
Just putting my $0.02 in here. I have a 1st gen ATV that is jailbroken and streams media from my NAS (and sometimes my Mac Pro). It does almost everything I want it to with the exception of being a little slow/laggy at times, especially on some higher quality HD videos (even though they were encoded for "Apple TV" on Handbrake), and most Internet feeds or video sites (like Vimeo).
So for my birthday this past Monday, my g/f got me a Boxee Box and it is absolutely amazing. That wonderful remote makes any type of search or text input a dream and it has the horse power under the hood to watch any Internet feed/video site, and I haven't yet run into any challenges with HD videos that I stream from my NAS. The interface is also very intuitive and the movie and TV feeds it scraps content from (e.g., Discovery, Global, HGTV, Spike, etc, etc) make it a lot easier to find new shows (I choose not to have cable). All of this without the need for jailbreaking.
Very, very happy with my Boxee Box (and my g/f).
So for my birthday this past Monday, my g/f got me a Boxee Box and it is absolutely amazing. That wonderful remote makes any type of search or text input a dream and it has the horse power under the hood to watch any Internet feed/video site, and I haven't yet run into any challenges with HD videos that I stream from my NAS. The interface is also very intuitive and the movie and TV feeds it scraps content from (e.g., Discovery, Global, HGTV, Spike, etc, etc) make it a lot easier to find new shows (I choose not to have cable). All of this without the need for jailbreaking.
Very, very happy with my Boxee Box (and my g/f
).