I saw an ad for a 160GB AppleTV and I have to say that I am tempted to buy it. Is there a benefit to having the original one as opposed to buying either the AppleTV2 or 3? Thanks.
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Usefulness of original AppleTV?
- Thread starter RedCroissant
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They have an internal hard drive for locally storing media. This and analog out are the only two notable advantage over the Apple TV 2/3. The hard drive is good for loading your media onto it and traveling with it. Say to a hotel or a remote place with only electricity and (hopefully) running water.
I didn't think about the traveling possibility. Is there a way to use it as a DVR or something to record live TV, or anything like that?
I use them for product demos because they store video. There are newer, cheaper Western Digital TV units that play videos stored on USB sticks which we now prefer, but the original AppleTV is great if you've purchased a lot of movies from iTunes, because it will store them. So will an iPad, but it doesn't store as much.
Thanks for the response. I just upgraded my iMac with 8 GB RAM and 3TB HDD, so personal storage isn't as necessary as it once was. I was just hoping that there were some other not so well known functions that would make the purchase worthwhile. I don't think it seems to be worth my money.
Besides the storage, and more output options ... if you want to hack it you have infinitely more options. XBMC running linux rocks and with a CrystalHD chip for 40 bucks you can have true 1080p output rendered to your display that will eat raw decrypted blu ray. I have all 3 and prefer the modded atv 1 personally. Like all things its just an opinion.
to echo this comment:
if you are an avid XBMC user/apple eco system enthusiast/and have a large 1080p TV/projector then this is the ONLY way to go
crystalbuntu on an ATV1 with w crystal HD card inside will run 1080p via HDMI perfectly.
Thanks for linking to that thread. I had no idea you could do that on an AppleTV1. I already use my 2009 iMac with a 3TB HDD as a media server since I primarily use my MBP now. I was just hoping that there was a benefit to having the older one as opposed to the newer versions. I like the idea of having local storage and maybe that would be the way to go if I could fit a high capacity drive in there, but I think that's a long way off.
But do you guys think that the benefit of local storage is worth the $100+ price tag? Two that I saw are 160GB and they are priced at $110 and $150 respectively.
Currently the AppleTV sells for $99 and only gives you a local 8GB storage (which you can't even access directly).
I would gladly take the 160GB version and pay those $150. It is all about storage.
320 using just a PATA drive or 1.5TB using a SATA to PATA adapter.
To some people it is worth the extra money. Are you planning to do lots or traveling? Is your home network really slow making streaming media difficult to use? Do you not want to use Apple's iTunes Cloud for media playback and don't want to leave a local machine on just to be able to playback media? Do you have a slow internet connection or an unreliable one?
Isn't the HDD AppleTV a PATA link? I read your link, but it requires the HDD to be outside... kind of defeats the purpose. However, 250GB is a lot of storage.
Interdasting.... link? Very interested now.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
I just had a guy buy mine because he still had a HDTV he liked but it didn't have HDMI (he needed component). So he now has a couple of 
TV 3s and what was my TV1.
Now that i have a "3", I still think the final incarnation of the "1s" UI was the bestTV UI yet. I wish Apple would go back to putting our own movies under "movies", our own TV shows under "TV shows", etc. (instead of sticking it all in "computers").
And I miss the sync (to local storage) option (though I would rather Apple just let us hook whatever size storage we want to a normalized USB port instead of choosing a size to build inside).
And, by the way, shop craigslist for the "1". I sold mine for $65 there. $100 or so more would buy the 320GB internal replacement (drive) via Ebay.
TV 3s and what was my TV1.Now that i have a "3", I still think the final incarnation of the "1s" UI was the best
TV UI yet. I wish Apple would go back to putting our own movies under "movies", our own TV shows under "TV shows", etc. (instead of sticking it all in "computers"). And I miss the sync (to local storage) option (though I would rather Apple just let us hook whatever size storage we want to a normalized USB port instead of choosing a size to build inside).
And, by the way, shop craigslist for the "1". I sold mine for $65 there. $100 or so more would buy the 320GB internal replacement (drive) via Ebay.
I don't think they ever made 2.5" PATA drives bigger then 320GB. Because of that, that is the limitation for PATA drives. Here's one from NewEgg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136345
Here's a thread discussion about SATA-PATA adapters in Apple TVs.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/683178/