Well, it makes sense. Having an external hard drive plugged into the WDTV under the TV is fine, but having to plug an external hard drive into the laptop every time he wants to listen to music/watch videos on the TV would be more awkward.
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Whats the point of an Apple TV
- Thread starter SuperMiguel
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Well, it makes sense. Having an external hard drive plugged into the WDTV under the TV is fine, but having to plug an external hard drive into the laptop every time he wants to listen to music/watch videos on the TV would be more awkward.
He doesn't have to connect the external drive to his computer. If he has a router that supports it, he can use a USB disk, if not he can get a cheap NAS solution wired to the router.
I regret purchasing the ATV2, I was hoping it would replace my dvd player so I ripped a whole bunch of DVD's, however I cannot store them all in itunes due to lack of space on my laptop, so no movies on demand
I'm more in the market for a WDTV i feel, has wifi, streams from PC, can connect two drives to it and plays any file.
Airplay doesnt work like advertised either when plaing Real Racing HD.
Ipad2 - Airport express - ATV2. Set to maximum settings but still jerky even after an instore Genius assisted me with optimal settings, replaced it with another unit but still same issue of jerkiness.
For now its going on CL and throw it on my to consider list down the track.
Maybe someone can let us know know the ATV2 can stream content from either an external USB hard drive or from a NAS?
I don't use mine for that but I imagine it's possible if jailbroken.
Clearly i cannot use 1tb of internal space to store my movies/tv shows (moving to a 2x1tb drives (2.5") soon so it doesn't take use up any additional power outlets).
Where would I store music/documents/osx/windows/ipad & iphone backups? on my mac?. Only choice is to have all my data on an external drive which means wdtv is the right choice for me, atv2 doesn't support external drives to be connected, it only streams from itunes. For now atv2 doesn't work the way i was expecting it to.
My alternatives is an old PC set up as HTPC, which I'd expect to run me a little bit more than $100 WDTV would. WDTV seems very simple to setup/use and play any format.
Nas also, but I'm trying to keep my setup as simple as possible, with minimal cables etc.
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Your other option is to store your iTunes library on the external hd and transcode your movies to M4V format using Handbrake and the ATV2 preset, store them in iTunes, and have all your movies available and playable on your ATV, iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch.
So i have an apple tv just stting under my tv... i have an internet tv and and ps3. Trying to find something to do with my apple tv
Since you have a PS3, you could get a software like
http://www.yazsoft.com/products/playback/
and sell the Apple TV - or use it on a second TV set in the bedroom etc.
(Of course, your Mac would then need to be running most of the time for streaming purposes)
So how did you expect the ATV2 to work?
Is an external drive that's connected to the WDTV accessible as a network drive?
I have a WDTV and an aTV2. I stuck with the WDTV for a long time, but got tired of waiting for them to fix certain problems with the device, but they just abandoned support for the device when they came out with a new version. There was no way I was going to buy a second device from them, only to have them drop support for that before they had it working correctly.
The WDTV was generally fine for watching video, despite the color saturation being off, so that's what I used it for. When I got the aTV2, I got tired of constantly having to eject the hard drive, unplug it, move it to the computer, load a new movie on it, eject it, then move it back to the WDTV. I was having to do this every day and it was a pain compared to being able to simply keep everything in iTunes on the computer and stream it to the aTV2. On top of that, iTunes takes care of keeping it all organized. Now it sits next to the spare TV with cartoons on it for when kids are over, but we use the aTV.
The WDTV was generally fine for watching video, despite the color saturation being off, so that's what I used it for. When I got the aTV2, I got tired of constantly having to eject the hard drive, unplug it, move it to the computer, load a new movie on it, eject it, then move it back to the WDTV. I was having to do this every day and it was a pain compared to being able to simply keep everything in iTunes on the computer and stream it to the aTV2. On top of that, iTunes takes care of keeping it all organized. Now it sits next to the spare TV with cartoons on it for when kids are over, but we use the aTV.
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okay, basically i wouldnt have an atv without it being jb'ed. yes, it can be used very well to stream movies from your computer. out of the box the thing is useless, but with atv flash (and i particularly like the plex server) the storage is limited only by how many external drives you have.
i stuck to the first gen for a while because the 2nd gen doesnt have a usb port, but plex server sorts this and now all my drives are in my office.
there are easy ways to obtain movies (for me i hate paying $45 for a ufc ppv) and once they are on your drive away you go. definitely recommend atv flash.
google, research and attain atv joy!
Personally i used to watch all my Movies / Tv shows via iTunes which meant i had to sit in front of computer in my office. Now i open up iTunes, go and sit in the lounge with a beer and the cat watch some tv.
I have now got Dad one too, he does the same rather then sitting in front of computer!
I have now got Dad one too, he does the same rather then sitting in front of computer!
Picked up an ATV2 yesterday, wouldn't have much of a use of it if it wasn't for Firecore so i'll be buying that too.
Must say i was disgusted to find there was no HDMI cable in the box, it would probably cost Apple like a penny each to mass produce these things...
I picked up a micro USB for £10 and will need to head out and get a HDMI which will be about £5. rip off.
Must say i was disgusted to find there was no HDMI cable in the box, it would probably cost Apple like a penny each to mass produce these things...
I picked up a micro USB for £10 and will need to head out and get a HDMI which will be about £5. rip off.
Are you saying that £5 is a rip off for a hdmi cable? I had to go and buy one recently cost me 50$+ for it. i wish i could get one for £5
A Far Better Option
I sold my ATV2 due to its limitations.
While fully aware of it's Pro's & Cons before I bought it, I expected it would be more useful than it ended up being. So I sold it and upgraded to the latest Samsung 60" LED 8000 Series Smart TV (UN60D8000YF).
It's an amazing unit that has a smooth, fast and very slick web browser built in. It easily integrated with my home theater gear, which now comprises a very complete and enjoyable system.
Samsung continues to innovate at a very nice pace. I see now why they strike fear into the minds of those who go to great lengths to bash them.
I'm so happy with the gorgeous picture it produces.
I sold my ATV2 due to its limitations.
While fully aware of it's Pro's & Cons before I bought it, I expected it would be more useful than it ended up being. So I sold it and upgraded to the latest Samsung 60" LED 8000 Series Smart TV (UN60D8000YF).
It's an amazing unit that has a smooth, fast and very slick web browser built in. It easily integrated with my home theater gear, which now comprises a very complete and enjoyable system.
Samsung continues to innovate at a very nice pace. I see now why they strike fear into the minds of those who go to great lengths to bash them.
I'm so happy with the gorgeous picture it produces.
TV's with streaming possibilities built in > set top boxes
Which limitations made you sell the ATV2, if you don't mind me asking?
In theory, I'd agree. In actual practice, I disagree. Here's why.TV's with streaming possibilities built in > set top boxes
Typically, TV manufacturers don't update or upgrade their "extras", so you're stuck with the same interface/features that you had when you buy the TV. Is it that big of a deal if the built-in software isn't updated after a few months ... nah, not really. But you kinda pay for something that gets old after a while.
With a set-top box, they're cheap enough that you just get a new one for the main TV and move the old one to another TV.
In the end, the cost is probably a wash. But I put more faith in Apple/Roku/Google to update their software and push it out to older devices over the Sonys/Sammys/Pannys of the world. Don't even get me started with LG ... I read some stuff about them and how quickly they drop support for their devices.
ft
That's a fantastic TV, but it is ~$2300 more than an aTV2, if you already happen to own a TV.
I love my Apple TV and I can never understand why people either hate it or don't "get it" so frequently. I wish Apple would do more with it but even as is, its fantastic. I had a couple ROKU boxes that I paid over $100 for JUST to stream Netflix. That's ALL it did when it first came out. Now they've added a ton since then and in fact, surpassed ATV, but in the mean-time, I've put most of my vast DVD collection on my hard drive and now have access to over 600 movies plus a way to stream my music collection to my main stereo, plus Netflix, etc. etc. I LOVE it.
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