AppleTv: Worth It?

[Gentile]

I recently saw that the AppleTv is offered for $249 refurbished and am tempted to get it at some point.

I have a Samsung HDTV 1080i with 16:9 resolution and a dvi connection. I will be streaming from a 20" imac using the Airport Extreme N basestation. I think I will be primarily watching DVD's ripped with handbrake.

To those of you who have this, is this worth buying?

What is your daily experience with it?

Do you find that this has revolutionized video watching like the ipod has done with music?

I saw the demo at the local Apple Store and the movie playing looked awful - very grainy, but the menus were impressive. What will a ripped DVD look like on my display?

Thanks for any responses.

[Cave Man]

To those of you who have this, is this worth buying?

Yes.

What is your daily experience with it?

Great so far. Still waiting for 5.1 surround and HD video, though.

Do you find that this has revolutionized video watching like the ipod has done with music?

Too early to tell. I think it's off to a good start and there's room for improvement without hardware additions.

I saw the demo at the local Apple Store and the movie playing looked awful - very grainy, but the menus were impressive. What will a ripped DVD look like on my display?

Handbrake will give you DVD-quality video (2500 bit rate H.264) and Dolby Pro Logic II (5-channel surround). The price will be file size - about 2 gigs per 2 hours at these settings.

[luckystephens]

I was skeptical until I bit the bullet and ordered one. I wrestled with the Mac Mini vs. Apple TV debate. Now I'm contemplating dropping DirecTV, after the Soprano's finale on June 10th. I wish iTunes offered HBO programming, but other than that, I'm very satisfied. I find we listen to music just as often as we watch TV Shows now. As soon as Steve decides to make movie rentals available, I'll be dropping Netflix too.

[andygiff]

The shear ease of use and a large chunk of my music being available at the push of a button means our house has never had so much music playing in a long time. I've rediscovered a lot of old tunes and my wife and kids love it! It's not exactly hard working loading a CD but this really is effortless. We don't even have download TV or Movie content in the UK yet so it can only get better...

[neven]

To those of you who have this, is this worth buying?

In short, yes.

What is your daily experience with it?

I watch about an hour of it every night. I subscribe to about 20 video podcasts and I buy two weekly TV shows on a regular basis. I also have about ripped 30 movies ready for it. I take a lot of family pictures and watching those on my big TV is definitely something else. It's very convenient to be able to just flip through all this from the sofa and have content magically beamed over when there's new episodes. Streaming also works beautifully on my wireless-g network.

Do you find that this has revolutionized video watching like the ipod has done with music?

Not yet. I actually bought a TV just for it though, because I hate optical media and I'm expecting downloadable content to become bigger and bigger in the future.

I saw the demo at the local Apple Store and the movie playing looked awful - very grainy, but the menus were impressive. What will a ripped DVD look like on my display?

I've seen AppleTV run on a few TV sets so far, and I'm amazed to find that it looked the worst by far on the Bravias at the Apple store. I'm told that they upscale video oddly. The picture looks DVD-like on my Westinghouse TV, especially with the latest episodes of TV shows. It's not HD yet, but it's perfectly watchable.

There are some HD podcasts out there that will make your AppleTV really shine. Check the "AppleTV Showcase" section under Podcasts in the iTunes store. I expect more and more of these to be added. (my favorites are MacBreak Weekly, The Merlin Show, Stump The Chef).

[virus1]

I've seen AppleTV run on a few TV sets so far, and I'm amazed to find that it looked the worst by far on the Bravias at the Apple store. I'm told that they upscale video oddly. The picture looks DVD-like on my Westinghouse TV, especially with the latest episodes of TV shows. It's not HD yet, but it's perfectly watchable.
i might cry. i am considering buying an apple tv as well, and i already have a 42" bravia

[ClassicBean]

Just got it as a gift a few days ago. I'm in Canada so there are no movie or TV show downloads available from the iTunes store here. Ergo, I probably wouldn't have gone out and bought this on my own.

Nevertheless, I'm ecstatic to have it. This thing has changed my living room completely. I work from home so it's nice to be able to sit downstairs with the laptop and play music through the stereo. That said, I could have just hooked up my Airport Express to the stereo and streamed music.

But the Apple TV is 10 times cooler. The HD video podcasts look amazing on Apple TV. And movie trailers are fantastic as well. Once movies and TV shows hit here, it will be even more incredible.

In a nutshell, the thing really is just an iPod for your TV.

The fact that they have committed to updating the software with new features will make this thing even more amazing.

[Gentile]

Thanks for the replies. This seems like a good product that can get hd content to my HDTV monitor in the family room. My thinking is to record HD on the Elgato EyeTv and then stream it to my HDTV monitor.

[imlucid]

Thanks for the replies. This seems like a good product that can get hd content to my HDTV monitor in the family room. My thinking is to record HD on the Elgato EyeTv and then stream it to my HDTV monitor.

You won't be able to stream raw HD from EyeTV recordings to the Apple TV as the Apple TV doesn't support MPEG2.

What I do is record HD with my EyeTV and have all the shows automatically export to Apple TV which will add them to iTunes.

The downside is that the quality of the shows will be reduced (though they still look quite good) and it can take quite a while to export. This isn't so much an issue for me personally since 90% of my TV shows are from iTS and I'm not too worried about when something gets recorded, just when it shows up on one of my Apple TVs.

[zap2]

Yes, I have one, and its perfect for my set up. Streams all my stuff great, and I'm on wireless G network!

And its work so nicely with my Mac and iTunes set up. I use iTunes for alot, and its really nice to not have to worry about making sure it works with Mac OS X/iTunes/ DRM(atleast the DRM I have)

[i.Feature]

As i mentioned in a previous post. Without a doubt the best "toy" i've bought since my first ipod. It gets daily use. I've loaded all kinds of movies and tv into itunes. I even watch podcasts now which previously i did not.

So yes its worth it to me!

[combatcolin]

Cough cough 1st gen kit.

;)

Think i'll wait for the 2nd gen, interested - but cautious.

[Yvan256]

I'm in Canada, so I'm using the :apple:TV mostly for my ripped DVDs, but still.

It changed my viewing habits so much that last night I've packed my DVD player and VHS recorder, I haven't used either one since I got my :apple:TV. If I do rent a DVD I'll play it on my Xbox360 (please no comments, I'm only using it for Final Fantasy XI). :D

[mutejute]

can you play videos directly from the internet without turning on the pc/mac? like for example youtube or podcast?

[daveporter]

We have two Apple TVs. One in the living room and one in our bedroom.

We think they are great and would not like to be without them now. We have about 200 movies, 150 tv shows and hundreds of music tracks that we can now have access to on our HD TV sets. Wonderful!

We have just about stoped watching our Satellite TV system and are thinking of just turning it off.

Dave

[neven]

can you play videos directly from the internet without turning on the pc/mac? like for example youtube or podcast?

There is a hack that adds YouTube browsing; it's messy, like all the other AppleTV hacks.

Podcasts are pretty much by definition downloaded before they are played. If you subscribe to podcasts in iTunes, they'll show up on AppleTV and play. That's probably the #1 thing I'm using my AppleTV for.

[Gentile]

You won't be able to stream raw HD from EyeTV recordings to the Apple TV as the Apple TV doesn't support MPEG2.

What I do is record HD with my EyeTV and have all the shows automatically export to Apple TV which will add them to iTunes.

The downside is that the quality of the shows will be reduced...

How bad is the quality? Does it look better or the same as a dvd?

Cough cough 1st gen kit.

Think i'll wait for the 2nd gen, interested - but cautious.

What features are you looking for in particular? Can any of those be included with a firmware/software update?

[combatcolin]

What features are you looking for in particular? Can any of those be included with a firmware/software update?

Bigger Hard drive

Recording of tv programmes

Apple offering HD rental films - this would be very good.

Plus the normal "fun" of 1st gen kit. ;)

Price drop would be nice too.

[Gentile]

According to an interview of Steve Jobs by The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg the AppleTV may have some upgrades coming

"'The other thing you can do is buy TV shows.” Jobs pulls up a clip from “The Office.” He says sending stuff from your computer to the Apple TV isn’t the main deal here. “Wouldn’t it be great if you could see YouTube on your TV?” Apple will be offering a free software upgrade come June that will allow Apple TV users to view YouTube videos on their televisions."

http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/13752/

[JellyFish]

I'm in Canada, so I'm using the :apple:TV mostly for my ripped DVDs, but still.

It changed my viewing habits so much that last night I've packed my DVD player and VHS recorder, I haven't used either one since I got my :apple:TV. If I do rent a DVD I'll play it on my Xbox360 (please no comments, I'm only using it for Final Fantasy XI). :D

So you can rip movies off DVDs and play them on Apple TV? That's not bad at all but 160GB of storage isn't much. I have about 200 DVDs so they'd never fit on just that. But I would love to rip some and then get rid of the DVDs as I'm sick of them taking up space in my house.

[macmex]

I recently purchased an :apple: TV and I have a Bravia. I don't know if that has anything to do with it but the picture wasn't that good. When I downloaded a movie as opposed to watching one that I made it was a little better but wasn't up to par. It isn't the hardware though but the content I am sure. I really wish they had HD content in itunes. All the rest is there, nice interface and right hardware, well could be a little bigger hard drive. Returning for now...

[APPLENEWBIE]

I got an apple TV a few days ago. So far, I love it.

I thought I would be mostly interested in the movie/video side of things, and I have made several movies/DVDs that really look good. I am not planning to use it to play all the movies. A lot of movies I don't want to keep/store. Mostly, I am concentrating on storing on the mac some "classics" like Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, Oh Brother Where art Thou, the Abyss, Nemo, Narnia, monsters inc, Guess who's coming to dinner, true grit, the harry potter movies, etc. I probably won't ever have more than 20 or 30 stored movies.

The device makes all the music locked up in the mac fully accessable. it streams music, movies and podcasts seamlessly. It streams so well that I don't plan on keeping much content at all on the apple TV. It surprises me how much I am enjoying having all the music on my mac so available. I believe that I will use it to access music probably more than video, although it does both type of media well.

The device is very easy to set up. Took me about two minutes using a non-apple DSL router. The most complicated part was dialing in the WEP code. It found and allowed easy access to the other computers on my network.

The screen saver, showing iphoto images while playing music is spellbinding. You can designate which iphoto albums you want it to play, so changing it periodically keeps it interesting.

So, my vote is definitely "WORTH IT."

[Gentile]

Along the same lines, I was thinking of storing video that I would watch over and over, like some of my favorite tv series.

I want to get one after I get the next upgraded imac. Then all my media will be stored on the imac and streamed to the AppleTv using the Airport Extreme basestation.

[Maui]

Along the same lines, I was thinking of storing video that I would watch over and over, like some of my favorite tv series.


We have a 2 year old son and this is exactly what we use it for. (No, he doesn't watch too much TV.) He wants to see the same show over and over and over and the ATV is much easier than swapping DVDs.

The iTunes movie & tv show offerings are limited and need to grow for this thing to really make sense. But if you are realistic about what the ATV is -- a hard drive for your TV with some nascent Internet offerings -- and what it is not -- a Tivo replacement -- it is great, and the ease of use means almost no "tech calls" from the family room.

[alFR]

How about the same question slightly rephrased: is the :apple: TV worth it for someone who doesn't have a desktop Mac already? I'd want to use the :apple: TV to watch ripped DVDs and video podcasts, as well as for music and photos. My media collection wouldn't fit on the internal HDD of the :apple: TV, though, so I'd need to stream. However, I wouldn't want to keep all the ripped content on my MBP hard drive or move my iTunes library to an external drive (if I do that, I don't have my library when I'm away from home - I know I could have 2 libraries, but frankly that's too much fuss).

So, am I not better off buying a Mac Mini which I could also use as a PVR and a hardware DVD player for stuff I haven't ripped yet, not to mention having access to all the other codecs etc. without hacks? To be honest, at the moment I'm hard pressed to see why anyone would buy an :apple: TV over a mini, you can do so much more stuff with the mini....

[JellyFish]

I would say yes it is worth it. I got mine a few days ago and I'm enjoying the hell out of it. I'm already planning to get a huge hard disk to store my library so I can stream it off my mac. I'm starting to fill up my macbook pro's hard disk already. :D

Grab yourself one, you'll have a blast with it. :)

[jparenteau]

A couple things:

First, the best way to go is to have one computer act as your "server", namely to store all your media. If you want to watch something on Apple TV, you simply tell it to put it there and you can play it immediately, like a stream, as it transfers it. That's one of the best features in that you don't have to wait for a 2gb feature to transfer. It is viewable right away.

Second, the system does have its drawbacks, but it is first gen and I'm being patient. I bought the 160 gb model and so far have transfered 38 features to it and it's not half full yet. I don't expect to put all my library on their but since it plays immediately on transfer I don't have to worry about that.

I use Handbrake, by the way, and the quality at the Apple TV preset is awesome. I watch stuff on both the HD tv downstairs and a 100 wide theater screen with HD projection upstairs. The media looks amazing on both.

[defsquad]

How about the same question slightly rephrased: is the :apple: TV worth it for someone who doesn't have a desktop Mac already? I'd want to use the :apple: TV to watch ripped DVDs and video podcasts, as well as for music and photos. My media collection wouldn't fit on the internal HDD of the :apple: TV, though, so I'd need to stream. However, I wouldn't want to keep all the ripped content on my MBP hard drive or move my iTunes library to an external drive (if I do that, I don't have my library when I'm away from home - I know I could have 2 libraries, but frankly that's too much fuss).

So, am I not better off buying a Mac Mini which I could also use as a PVR and a hardware DVD player for stuff I haven't ripped yet, not to mention having access to all the other codecs etc. without hacks? To be honest, at the moment I'm hard pressed to see why anyone would buy an :apple: TV over a mini, you can do so much more stuff with the mini....

I'm currently in the same delima as you; I have a macbookpro with an external 500 gig hd and really just want an appliance to stream ALL of my media; not just ITunes maintained media. I guess if I wanted to be proper about it, I would just get a mac mini, hook up the external drive to that, and then use that as the server/media player and then stream music/movies to my macbook pro; but then i'm left with the predicament of having media content on my laptop when i travel. I guess I can just start reencoding my content to H.264 anyway and just be proper about it. ANyway, i'm just rambling now and thinking threw things here in this response. I'd like to definitely hear your final decision of what you ended up doing since i'm in a similar boat as you.

thanks.

[alFR]

At the moment I'm waiting for one of two things:

1. Mac mini revision.
2. Mac mini to be discontinued so I can snap up one of the last ones/ a refurb at a discount.

I think that, for people like you and I who don't have a desktop Mac, having a mini as a media box still makes more sense than an Apple TV at the moment (although the 160Gb Apple TV does reduce/eliminate the streaming issue). I think I will have to have 2 libraries, but I'll just keep my music on the MBP and another copy of my music plus all my video stuff on the mini. Chronosync can probably help me out there. :)

I'm also waiting for Apple to make the iTunes TV show/movie store available outside the US. :rolleyes: Once that's available I'll probably kill/drastically reduce our satellite TV package and just buy season passes to shows through iTunes, thus avoiding paying for all the crap I don't watch.

[roland.g]

The only regret that I have is early adopting, had I waited 2 months I could have bought the 160GB model for $100 more. Currently I cannot sync all my music and photos to the 40GB (32 or so avail.) model nor do I add movies to the syncing. And honestly I wouldn't sync movies, maybe some favs with the larger model, it would be about all photos and all music mostly. I think it is great, it is really nice to see my photo library float by while listening to music.

I actually only have an older g base station and it streams movies fine, no hiccups even over the g network, but it takes longer to sync the very first time (30+ GB over g is a lot). I rip my movies at 720x6?? based on aspect ratio and they look great. Don't even need that high of a bitrate (I'd have to check but around 1500, maybe less - I think 2000-2500 is overkill and don't think you will even notice it on a larger screen, remember 1080 is 1080 just stretched over more inches) in my experience though I only have a 42" Samsung DLP. I even bought my first iTS movie - Robin Williams' Bicentennial Man, which of course comes at 640x res. but really couldn't notice any difference to a DVD, it looked great.

Eventually after I get a new Mac, iMac or Pro, using a Mini now, I will set up some extra drives for video and Handbrake my DVD library, especially since we are expecting our first and have nephews over.

[gkarris]

At the moment I'm waiting for one of two things:

1. Mac mini revision.
2. Mac mini to be discontinued so I can snap up one of the last ones/ a refurb at a discount.


I think that :apple:TV has a better interface than the Mini (I tried using my Mini). But, I guess that's going to be a mute point when Leopard comes out and Front Row is essentially the same as :apple:TV.

If you're relying on #2, if it was anything like when the Cube was discontinued (I'm an Apple collector), you have a couple of hours after the announcement to get one before they dry up...

[MagicWok]

The :apple:TV's worth over in the UK is considerably less, to the point of not wasting your money.

As the best video you can get on the crappy uk ITMS is the Pixar Shorts or Music Vids.

In short, UK has been severely overlooked for content (as with the 360 Live Marketplace for UK) - meaning I personally still don't see the point in buying one myself. Even though the potential of the machine does intruige me.

[danny_w]

:apple:TV was worth it to me but for a very different reason. I use it strictly for audio playback using the tv menu, but I got it cheap at $225 used right after the 160GB units were announced. I can't really use video right now as I only have a 4:3 tv and things look all squashed, but I seriously don't think I would ever be interested in the video aspect of it; the video just has no attraction for me. I don't buy iTunes videos and never will, and I don't care to go the the bother of ripping all of my dvd's. But as an audio player it works well. I do wish that it had better searching capabilities, however.

[Nicolasdec]

The :apple:TV's worth over in the UK is considerably less, to the point of not wasting your money.

As the best video you can get on the crappy uk ITMS is the Pixar Shorts or Music Vids.

In short, UK has been severely overlooked for content (as with the 360 Live Marketplace for UK) - meaning I personally still don't see the point in buying one myself. Even though the potential of the machine does intruige me.


I agree, Im going to try and buy a US itunes gift card and see if i can download movies here in the uk.

[combatcolin]

If Apple released a new version with a nice big display on the front then maybe i would be tempted.

Or, maybe a remote with a Bluetooth touch screen, nice and big, that displays what music is playing , naviagation etc.

Don't want to turn my TV on so that i can play a song.

Big drawback for me, although the new big HDD is good.

[danny_w]

If Apple released a new version with a nice big display on the front then maybe i would be tempted.

Or, maybe a remote with a Bluetooth touch screen, nice and big, that displays what music is playing , naviagation etc.

Don't want to turn my TV on so that i can play a song.

Big drawback for me, although the new big HDD is good.
I replaced a Roku Soundbridge with the :apple:TV just so that I could get that tv menu. The Roku had a nice front panel display that showed the song playing and was used for navigation, but it was way too small to see from the couch. It also had better navigation, but I'm hoping that Apple will improve in that area.

[Shoesy]

❤ tv

[MagicWok]

I agree, Im going to try and buy a US itunes gift card and see if i can download movies here in the uk.

I'm popping over to the States soon. If I buy a UK iTunes gift card, what's the process I go through so I can get some content from the US store when I'm back in the UK?

Hope someone who's done this before can help?

[Much Ado]

The :apple:TV's worth over in the UK is considerably less, to the point of not wasting your money.

As the best video you can get on the crappy uk ITMS is the Pixar Shorts or Music Vids.

In short, UK has been severely overlooked for content (as with the 360 Live Marketplace for UK) - meaning I personally still don't see the point in buying one myself. Even though the potential of the machine does intruige me.

You think we've got problems? Koreans can buy :apple:TVs and they don't even have an ITS! :)

[maokh]

AppleTV is worth it ..

I dropped my Dish network service last month, as even premium subscription services in iTunes are much, much cheaper than paying $80 each month.

The HD video podcasts are pretty good, not to mention all your movies and tv shows right on the device. MP3 library is great to have direct access to, and the iPhoto is a very nice touch. "The Best Of" YouTube has a lot of great videos, but not everything.

Its nice how well everything connects together. Right now, I have just the iPhone photos sent to the AppleTV. Its fun to come home, pop the iPhones into the dock, and see what pictures the wife and I took during the day.

The only real delema is the amount of disk space all this media requires...it can really add up if you arent prepared.

160GB vs 40GB? You are going to run out of space on both, so you might as well stream it and get the cheaper unit. I would only go with 160GB if your images and music exceed 20GB.

[MagicWok]

AppleTV is worth it ..

I dropped my Dish network service last month, as even premium subscription services in iTunes are much, much cheaper than paying $80 each month.

The HD video podcasts are pretty good, not to mention all your movies and tv shows right on the device. MP3 library is great to have direct access to, and the iPhoto is a very nice touch. "The Best Of" YouTube has a lot of great videos, but not everything.

Its nice how well everything connects together. Right now, I have just the iPhone photos sent to the AppleTV. Its fun to come home, pop the iPhones into the dock, and see what pictures the wife and I took during the day.

The only real delema is the amount of disk space all this media requires...it can really add up if you arent prepared.

160GB vs 40GB? You are going to run out of space on both, so you might as well stream it and get the cheaper unit. I would only go with 160GB if your images and music exceed 20GB.

Meh, good for you. Like we said, the :apple:TV is only really worth the purchase if you have content to purchase, after all, that is it's main purpose. If you are in the UK, or from Korea evidentally, then you are just simply screwed lol. Apple will have the iPhone out in the UK before any decent video content hits our ITMS... Oh well.

Anyone have any experience with reference to my earlier question regarding the ITMS voucher?

[powerbook911]

Having my Apple TV a few days, I absoultely love it. Wish I had bought it sooner. Just having the music hooked up to surround system is nice, but what I love is having the podcasts and videos/shows/movies available.

I encode a lot of stuff myself, and I have some purchases from iTunes.

I think if you love iTunes and have a widescreen display, it's a product you shouldn't pass on.