Hey Guys
I just unwrapped my new sleek black box and hooked it up to my 55" tv, I will post my impressions with pictures tomorrow.
Heres the review more pictures coming.
The How I switched to iTunes Content
When Blu ray came alone, I felt the industry was pushing me to repurchase my standard definition DVD movie collection. Unsure about the stickiness of the new expensive HD movie format and whether a new thing would supplant it years later, I was hesitant to budge given the number of discs accumulating.
The When
Ah those where the days, back than I owned IMac, with access to a physical disk drive, I heavily relied on physical media for watching my favorite standard definition TV shows Sliders, Xfiles and Battlestar Galactica to name just a few. Fast forward to today, and I am running a MacBook retina, it is fair to that this has had a major impact in the surge of HD content I have purchased through the iTunes store (123 movies 529GB and 13 TV shows 179GB to be exact).
That said boy did it feel good to dispose of all those DVDs that had been taking space and collecting dust on my shelves. It was one less thing to worry about, a revelation of sorts, much like giving up all your material possessions for a religious cause in my case for Apple.
Lets stop the waffling now
So what can I say about the tiny black puck that have not already been said?
The Good
Yeah its here, I got through that plastic wrapping fast, it was Christmas all over.
The Setup
There is a saying in the global neighborhood “if its made by Apple, it works and works very well”.
So how does this urban myth hold up? In my books the Apple TV is sturdy, mobile and very easy to physically setup. All I had to do was plug a power cord to the wall outlet and a HDMI lead to the TV. Yet it was quite a surprise to only find a power cord in the packaging, luckily I had a spare HDMI lead tucked away in my cupboard. Oh I almost forgot about the instructions not that I ever needed them. However I am not sure if there were any of those tacky Apple stickers underneath so i could stick them on my brothers back (an android fanboy
).
Next I had to configure the brand spanking new unit to access my wireless network, it took only a couple of minutes, joggling with the remote. That said I really like the simplicity of Apples metallic remote in contrast to the monstrosity I have for my TV. I than jostled, across the house to turn on home sharing so I can access all the wonderful content I had purchased over the year.
The Good
I watched a movie ‘Avatar’, from my computers menu on the Apple TV, it was not too slow, but it took a couple of seconds to appear. I am not going to tell you that iTunes 1080p movies are better than Blu ray in terms of both picture and sound quality as I am sure I will hear a few barks. But in most cases they are surprisingly, close with blu ray movies as far as video goes. Also given the difference in their file sizes I was impressed with my wildlife documentaries like Planet Earth and Africa (I am a big Attenborough fan) they really brought life to my Sony HX850. The bottom line is that all my movies and TV shows were watchable, so the viewing experience for me was fine and above my expectations.
The Bad
So here is the conundrum in a comparison by Arstechina they found that in cases iTunes 1080p content were noticeably lacking areas. Specifically highlights, dark and let me add bright areas. The only time I saw any glitches (where the video/audio transfer was not smooth) on my tv and my parents old Samsung tv. Moreover SD definition content was not on par with 1080p, shows like The X files pilot was of low quality with blurry images and a labyrinth of artifacts, but once again still watchable.
The Ugly
Apple has basically done nothing to its glossy UI, I hate to say it but I prefer iOS7’s flatter design because it has a clean and simple feeling. But what I don’t really get, thus far is the lack of physical storage (flash), or even an option through the micro USB port to physically plug an external HDD to the box in order to physically stream all content on the HDD rather than on restrictive iTunes. Thus it means that my MacBook, is to be switched on and awake at all times (this is practically impossible given my MacBook’s battery life.) whilst I must have always access to a internet confection in order to stream movies.
Conclusion
To sum up in a few words for those like me who are locked in the Apple ecosystem, where all your music, movies and TV shows shows come from iTunes it makes a lovely extension.
I just unwrapped my new sleek black box and hooked it up to my 55" tv, I will post my impressions with pictures tomorrow.
Heres the review more pictures coming.
The How I switched to iTunes Content
When Blu ray came alone, I felt the industry was pushing me to repurchase my standard definition DVD movie collection. Unsure about the stickiness of the new expensive HD movie format and whether a new thing would supplant it years later, I was hesitant to budge given the number of discs accumulating.
The When
Ah those where the days, back than I owned IMac, with access to a physical disk drive, I heavily relied on physical media for watching my favorite standard definition TV shows Sliders, Xfiles and Battlestar Galactica to name just a few. Fast forward to today, and I am running a MacBook retina, it is fair to that this has had a major impact in the surge of HD content I have purchased through the iTunes store (123 movies 529GB and 13 TV shows 179GB to be exact).
That said boy did it feel good to dispose of all those DVDs that had been taking space and collecting dust on my shelves. It was one less thing to worry about, a revelation of sorts, much like giving up all your material possessions for a religious cause in my case for Apple.
Lets stop the waffling now
So what can I say about the tiny black puck that have not already been said?
The Good
Yeah its here, I got through that plastic wrapping fast, it was Christmas all over.
The Setup
There is a saying in the global neighborhood “if its made by Apple, it works and works very well”.
So how does this urban myth hold up? In my books the Apple TV is sturdy, mobile and very easy to physically setup. All I had to do was plug a power cord to the wall outlet and a HDMI lead to the TV. Yet it was quite a surprise to only find a power cord in the packaging, luckily I had a spare HDMI lead tucked away in my cupboard. Oh I almost forgot about the instructions not that I ever needed them. However I am not sure if there were any of those tacky Apple stickers underneath so i could stick them on my brothers back (an android fanboy
). Next I had to configure the brand spanking new unit to access my wireless network, it took only a couple of minutes, joggling with the remote. That said I really like the simplicity of Apples metallic remote in contrast to the monstrosity I have for my TV. I than jostled, across the house to turn on home sharing so I can access all the wonderful content I had purchased over the year.
The Good
I watched a movie ‘Avatar’, from my computers menu on the Apple TV, it was not too slow, but it took a couple of seconds to appear. I am not going to tell you that iTunes 1080p movies are better than Blu ray in terms of both picture and sound quality as I am sure I will hear a few barks. But in most cases they are surprisingly, close with blu ray movies as far as video goes. Also given the difference in their file sizes I was impressed with my wildlife documentaries like Planet Earth and Africa (I am a big Attenborough fan) they really brought life to my Sony HX850. The bottom line is that all my movies and TV shows were watchable, so the viewing experience for me was fine and above my expectations.
The Bad
So here is the conundrum in a comparison by Arstechina they found that in cases iTunes 1080p content were noticeably lacking areas. Specifically highlights, dark and let me add bright areas. The only time I saw any glitches (where the video/audio transfer was not smooth) on my tv and my parents old Samsung tv. Moreover SD definition content was not on par with 1080p, shows like The X files pilot was of low quality with blurry images and a labyrinth of artifacts, but once again still watchable.
The Ugly
Apple has basically done nothing to its glossy UI, I hate to say it but I prefer iOS7’s flatter design because it has a clean and simple feeling. But what I don’t really get, thus far is the lack of physical storage (flash), or even an option through the micro USB port to physically plug an external HDD to the box in order to physically stream all content on the HDD rather than on restrictive iTunes. Thus it means that my MacBook, is to be switched on and awake at all times (this is practically impossible given my MacBook’s battery life.) whilst I must have always access to a internet confection in order to stream movies.
Conclusion
To sum up in a few words for those like me who are locked in the Apple ecosystem, where all your music, movies and TV shows shows come from iTunes it makes a lovely extension.
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