My ATV3 Review

roxics · Mar 17, 2015

Just bought an ATV3 a couple days ago and decided to write a little first impression review.

It's a little long so I put it on my personal blog. No ads or anything crazy like that.

http://www.roxics.com/apple-tv-review-3rd-generation-2015/

oneMadRssn · Mar 17, 2015

Did you actually use it? You say it has an Amazon app/channel, but it doesn't.

roxics · Mar 17, 2015

Yes I have used but holy crap you're right. I skated through most of the channels because I was more interested in the new stuff. I just assumed it did and I didn't get into it yet. That's crazy, why is there no Amazon app?

SuperKerem · Mar 17, 2015

roxics said:
Yes I have used but holy crap you're right. I skated through most of the channels because I was more interested in the new stuff. I just assumed it did and I didn't get into it yet. That's crazy, why is there no Amazon app?

Apple would rather have people use iTunes.

westrock2000 · Mar 17, 2015

roxics said:
Yes I have used but holy crap you're right. I skated through most of the channels because I was more interested in the new stuff. I just assumed it did and I didn't get into it yet. That's crazy, why is there no Amazon app?

It is a mystery. Hulu Plus app only came a couple years ago.

Personally I do not see an issue from Apples perspective. While Amazon does allow renting of movies, it is independent of the streaming service offered with Prime.

I think it's more that Amazon does not want you to access them through Apple's ecosystem. They only finally offered access in Android 6 months ago, while iOS access had been around for a while. Where as Android was a more direct competitor to Amazon's mobile products.

someoneoutthere · Mar 17, 2015

Sorry, but I don't believe your review is genuine. So many technical details, but still you portray yourself not being aware of "mirroring" and everything which has been there for a long time. "Amazon app" also gives you away. Your comments on storage in my own opinion is also misleading - sounds like a "set up".
My apologies if I'm being a little too judgmental, but after all the Apple TV news coverage on a variety of websites for the past couple of days; your "review" sounds like you are trying to build a "base audience" for your blogspot - no harsh feelings there - good luck with that.
Best,

TallManNY · Mar 18, 2015

Hmm, there is also a review of shaved [_____]. Quiet a far reaching blog considering just a handful of posts. I might have to revisit it at a later date.

roxics · Mar 18, 2015

someoneoutthere said:
Sorry, but I don't believe your review is genuine. So many technical details, but still you portray yourself not being aware of "mirroring" and everything which has been there for a long time. "Amazon app" also gives you away. Your comments on storage in my own opinion is also misleading - sounds like a "set up".
My apologies if I'm being a little too judgmental, but after all the Apple TV news coverage on a variety of websites for the past couple of days; your "review" sounds like you are trying to build a "base audience" for your blogspot - no harsh feelings there - good luck with that.
Best,

Well of course I wrote it for other people to read it. Why would I write it otherwise and then post a link here? That's silly.

But yes I do own one. Just bought it on Sunday. I just hadn't spent a ton of time with it by the time I wrote the blog post. Which is why it's more about my first impressions. The fact that amazon is missing shocked me. I just assumed it was there. Amazon is on everything, including my smart tv and blu-ray player. It's part of the standard package of streaming services these days, along with netflix and youtube. The fact that it would be missing just never occured to me. I figured it was in that cluster of app icons somewhere. But I didn't go through every app in that grid. I was more interested in checking out some of the unknown apps I don't have on my tv or blu-ray player. Along with AirPlay.

TallManNY said:
Hmm, there is also a review of shaved [_____]. Quiet a far reaching blog considering just a handful of posts. I might have to revisit it at a later date.

There are more than a handful. This is my personal blog that dates back to 2004. But yeah you're right. I write about whatever is on my mind. It's therapeutic.

someoneoutthere · Mar 18, 2015

roxics said:
But yes I do own one. Just bought it on Sunday. I just hadn't spent a ton of time with it by the time I wrote the blog post. Which is why it's more about my first impressions. The fact that amazon is missing shocked me. I just assumed it was there. The fact that it would be missing just never occured to me. I figured it was in that cluster of app icons somewhere. I was more interested in checking out some of the unknown apps I don't have on my tv or blu-ray player. Along with AirPlay.

Here is the link to Apple TV.
Here is the link to the ENTIRE LIST of the apps on the Apple TV.
Here is the link to the explanation of Airplay.
They have been on there for years. ATV3 has been out there with the same technical specs for a long time, and they have been simply adding features (apps, etc.) via updates. It's nothing like, "Oh, let me get an Apple TV tomorrow; maybe it'll have x,y,z apps and some cool features that no one else has"; everything you need to know have been up and readily available for a long time now - UNLESS, you just happened to buy one with absolutely no research - which sounds like the case here.
Anyways, hope you enjoy your ATV and take advantage of the info/tweaks/tips shared on many platforms including this one.

Abazigal · Mar 18, 2015

roxics said:
Just bought an ATV3 a couple days ago and decided to write a little first impression review.

It's a little long so I put it on my personal blog. No ads or anything crazy like that.

http://www.roxics.com/apple-tv-review-3rd-generation-2015/

I personally think that fewer words and more photos would improve the readability of the article.

Airplay is one of those things that I understood from your description only because I own an Apple TV myself and am intimately familiar with its various functions. To someone who has never seen or used one before, I doubt they will grasp the concept as easily. This would be the sort of scenario where a picture speaks a thousand words. Post a few screen caps of yourself mirroring your iPad home screen to your TV wirelessly, or air playing content from your iPhone. I think it will help make your point more easily.

Also, the Apple TV now supports peer-to-peer airplay, which basically does away with the need for a wifi signal (your Mac or iOS device connects directly via bluetooth and its own wifi chip). The end result is that mirroring is often smoother because there is one less "intermediary" to work around. It's not really an issue at home when your Apple TV is likely connected to wifi anyways, but I have found it to be useful in workplaces as a means of mirroring your Apple devices to a larger screen.

I don't see the point of the specs either. It's meaningless in that it doesn't really tell the consumer what the performance of the Apple TV will be (there's no equivalent reference point). Is 512mb of ram supposed to be sufficient for the ATV to run properly or not? So what if it uses (or doesn't use) a modified A5X processor? That it runs iOS isn't very meaningful since it doesn't share apps with my iPhone or anything.

One interesting thing you may want to point out - you can't mirror the youtube app from your iPhone to the ATV, but the Protube app works. So it seems the problem is with google's implementation.

Overall, I find your article a tad bland. The ATV is 3 years old. People have had ample opportunities to read about it and experiment with it. You are not reviewing the latest Apple tech. I think more personal opinions (like how you find it, how it has fit in with your daily life) would add some much-needed personality into it and differentiate it from tech reviews that already exist. I mean, what's stopping me from dredging up an old Anandtech review if I want to revisit it?

JuryDuty · Mar 19, 2015

roxics said:
Yes I have used but holy crap you're right. I skated through most of the channels because I was more interested in the new stuff. I just assumed it did and I didn't get into it yet. That's crazy, why is there no Amazon app?

Same reason there's no Vudu app. Apple wants your business instead. I hate that, too, because if they'd give me Vudu and Amazon, I'd ditch my Roku. But that's only hopeful thinking.

roxics · Mar 20, 2015

someoneoutthere said:
UNLESS, you just happened to buy one with absolutely no research - which sounds like the case here.

That's exactly what happened. I was aware of them before and considered buying one several times in the past, but never really did any serious research. Only knew what I had heard or remembered from keynotes.

Abazigal said:
I personally think that fewer words and more photos would improve the readability of the article.

Airplay is one of those things that I understood from your description only because I own an Apple TV myself and am intimately familiar with its various functions. To someone who has never seen or used one before, I doubt they will grasp the concept as easily. This would be the sort of scenario where a picture speaks a thousand words. Post a few screen caps of yourself mirroring your iPad home screen to your TV wirelessly, or air playing content from your iPhone. I think it will help make your point more easily.

Also, the Apple TV now supports peer-to-peer airplay, which basically does away with the need for a wifi signal (your Mac or iOS device connects directly via bluetooth and its own wifi chip). The end result is that mirroring is often smoother because there is one less "intermediary" to work around. It's not really an issue at home when your Apple TV is likely connected to wifi anyways, but I have found it to be useful in workplaces as a means of mirroring your Apple devices to a larger screen.

I don't see the point of the specs either. It's meaningless in that it doesn't really tell the consumer what the performance of the Apple TV will be (there's no equivalent reference point). Is 512mb of ram supposed to be sufficient for the ATV to run properly or not? So what if it uses (or doesn't use) a modified A5X processor? That it runs iOS isn't very meaningful since it doesn't share apps with my iPhone or anything.

One interesting thing you may want to point out - you can't mirror the youtube app from your iPhone to the ATV, but the Protube app works. So it seems the problem is with google's implementation.

Overall, I find your article a tad bland. The ATV is 3 years old. People have had ample opportunities to read about it and experiment with it. You are not reviewing the latest Apple tech. I think more personal opinions (like how you find it, how it has fit in with your daily life) would add some much-needed personality into it and differentiate it from tech reviews that already exist. I mean, what's stopping me from dredging up an old Anandtech review if I want to revisit it?

Thanks for the tips. Perhaps I will spruce it up. A lot of the tech specs are for my own reference. Being that it's a personal blog, sometmes I go back and read my old stuff. Being a bit of a gadget geek, it's nice to have those specs there then have to go look them up. I do the same thing with cameras and stuff, so I know how many megapixles they had and so on.

As far as the review in general, it's really not meant to compete with a more in-depth review. It's supposed to be a little more of my own personal feelings on it, but I guess I didn't cover my own personal take enough from what you're saying.

----------

Thank you to all of you for reading. Honestly I really didn't expect anyone to read it or reply here. Figured it would be one of those threads that would just die on the vine. I posted it to my facebook for my friends to read and just figured, what the hell I'll post it here too. So it's cool you did read it and reply. Thanks

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