With what I've learned here and from Apple's own web site, I think the Apple TV is too severely limited in what it offers the consumer to justify the $299 price! I bought a 12' VGA cable for $10 and a $3 adapter and hooked my MBP up to my 52" Sony LCD. I can listen to all my music, videos, pictures with music, EyeTV TV shows recorded with my EyeTV Hybrid, Podcasts from ITMS, and downloaded movies from Limewire via my movie directory... all via Front Row using the little remote control that came with my MBP! Also, I can pull content from my wife's PowerBook and my daughter's iMac via Bonjour and play any of their content on the same wide screen TV. Why would anyone spend that kind of money to do LESS when the $13 I spent can do so much more?
I don't have to convert any of the EyeTV programs into iPod codec before viewing either. My A/V amp is adjacent to my TV so (most) of my cables all go to the amp for switching. The shows I record (like 24 and CSI) all come thru via the ATSC tuner in digital quality in widescreen and I canNOT tell the difference between this quality and true HD via live HD broadcasts from rooftop VHF/UHF antenna feed. Life is good without AppleTV. I might buy a Mini to put in my A/V rack and dedicate it to DVR status.
I don't have to convert any of the EyeTV programs into iPod codec before viewing either. My A/V amp is adjacent to my TV so (most) of my cables all go to the amp for switching. The shows I record (like 24 and CSI) all come thru via the ATSC tuner in digital quality in widescreen and I canNOT tell the difference between this quality and true HD via live HD broadcasts from rooftop VHF/UHF antenna feed. Life is good without AppleTV. I might buy a Mini to put in my A/V rack and dedicate it to DVR status.
TV is not that out of whack, particularly since it looks like it's basically a low end Mac for your HDTV given what folks have made it run.