Has the UK Apple TV (2nd gen.) situation improved since launch?

King Mustard said:

I was reading the CNET UK review and spotted some issues. However, the article was written around the time of the product's launch, so things are likely to have changed since then.

Can someone let me know if the following three points have improved?:





Also, anything else you wish to add regarding chances since launch?

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Nowt has changed on pricing apple:TV2 is now £101 thanks to VAT increase!) and we still can't rent TV shows - again, thanks to good old copyright

However, I do still like using it for AirPlay and streaming. Having moved to VirginMedia for internet, streaming films in HD is also a breeze. If you like video podcasts - they stream well too.

All in all, I think it's vaguely worth it's money in the hope that some future update will make better use of the local storage and services available.

it outputs at the wrong refresh rate, so is usless if your wanna player most pal content

heliocentric said:

it outputs at the wrong refresh rate, so is usless if your wanna player most pal content

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Playing PAL content with no problem here.

The only real way to improve the tv here in the UK is to jailbreak the thing and load up XBMC (or similar).

Indeed i would not have bought it if the jailbreak wasn't available. Apple movie rentals are way over priced !

I use it for streaming to and renting movies and it works just fine.....well....apart from I keep getting issues when renting movies that won't play and display an error message. I have to email Apple support to get them to refund my money and remove the movies. That's not quite so sexy and very un-Apple-like in that it doesn't just work. Anyone else experience this issue?

-SD- said:

The only real way to improve the tv here in the UK is to jailbreak the thing and load up XBMC (or similar).

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+1. I bought it and jailbroke it straight out of the box. Love my XBMC streaming from an external drive attached to my imac. Never used iTunes with it.

bpaluzzi said:

Playing PAL content with no problem here.

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yeah it plays it...at 60hz! not 50hz...

google it

I'm selling mine, it's a cracking device with so much potential but it's just not there for UK users.

No BBC iPlayer - something that even the Nintendo Wii can do is a major fail.
I've jailbroken it, to run XBMC and even have a BBC iPlayer plugin but it's all to clunky, plagued by Apple Update avoidance issues and too much hassle for what should be a simple tv media adapter.

Perhaps I'll revisit the device when and if they sort themselves out. For now I've just bagged a MacMini and will make this my HTPC.

Mine gets used every single day. It's absolutely the best Apple device I own, no question. Streams my digital collection perfectly, and is great for the occasional movie rental on a whim. I also use LoveFilm though; I imagine that only renting films from Apple could get pretty expensive.

A software update to include BBC iPlayer and LoveFilm digital streaming would be fantastic though.

heliocentric said:

it outputs at the wrong refresh rate, so is usless if your wanna player most pal content

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Just a clarification here as I've spent a lot of time looking at this.

The ATV2 queries your TV's EDID for its preferred framerate and outputs at that. For most TVs in PAL countries, this will result in 720p output at 50Hz. But for some TVs, it will result in 720p at 60Hz. I have a Panasonic TV that prefers 50Hz and a Samsung monitor that prefers 60Hz.

I have a lot more 24/60fps material than 25/50fps so for me the problem with the Apple TV in the UK is that it outputs at 50Hz and not 60Hz. But either problem can be fixed by interposing something in the HDMI chain that overrides the TV's preference (eg an HDMI Detective, a video processor, or perhaps certain AVRs).

MacRy said:

I use it for streaming to and renting movies and it works just fine.....well....apart from I keep getting issues when renting movies that won't play and display an error message. I have to email Apple support to get them to refund my money and remove the movies. That's not quite so sexy and very un-Apple-like in that it doesn't just work. Anyone else experience this issue?

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yes, i have had issues renting movies. 2 out of 4 failed to begin with. I did get refunds - in fact second time I got 2 credits as well. But like you say, i didnt "just work". I also had friends round as well, so not a good advert.

Also have had problems with home sharing, although things have worked well recently with both issues.

Would love to see iPlayer etc available, but seems unlikely to get it on the AppleTV itself - I don't see why we can't get it via airplay.

It gets plenty of use, renting films - playing eyetv recordings, watching podcasts, using airplay for music....