Do I need an Apple TV?

[Nik73]

Good evening all,

I've always fancied an Apple TV, but always talked myself out of it. Since I've got rid of satellite tv and all my viewing is now streaming, I'm thinking about it again. Here's what I watch and how at the minute:

1) Netflix - Use the app on my Panasonic tv and get 1080p and 5.1
2) Baseball - Use the mlb.tv app on my tv
3) American Football - Plug my MacBook Pro into the tv via HDMI and use Gamepass and ESPN3
4) Basketball - As for the American Football, but using Leaguepass and ESPN3

I don't have many films on hard drives and my very large music collection is played through my HT amp by plugging my ipod in.

Looking at Apple TV it looks like the only benefit I'll get is to not have to connect the laptop to the tv as League pass is on Apple TV and I can use AirPlay to watch the NFL and ESPN3 from my iMac (MBP is too old).
Another factor is that I don't have any free HDMI slots on the amp, though that's not a big issue and I can get round it if I need to (HMDI to tv and optical to the amp).

Seems like £85 (plus £14 for Mountain Lion) for a bit more convenience isn't really worth it, unless I'm missing something? If I didn't have a smart tv it would be a no brainer.
How's the picture on Apple TV? Any different from smart tv's? Also, is there some nice feature that I'm missing that might swing me? Thanks in advance. :smashin:

[marc11]

Nope Apple TV doesn't offer you anything more so long as you are happy connecting your laptop or iPod over airplay and if you do not have a large iTunes movie or TV show collection that you'd prefer to stream over connecting your laptop to the TV.

[chumawumba]

I have 4 and i love them

[colinspoelstra]

try a jynxbox android hd. i got one at http://www.androidhdbox.com and love mine. the remote is better and it comes installed with xbmc.

[Grubster]

Originally Posted by Nik73

Good evening all,

I've always fancied an Apple TV, but always talked myself out of it. Since I've got rid of satellite tv and all my viewing is now streaming, I'm thinking about it again. Here's what I watch and how at the minute:

1) Netflix - Use the app on my Panasonic tv and get 1080p and 5.1
2) Baseball - Use the mlb.tv app on my tv
3) American Football - Plug my MacBook Pro into the tv via HDMI and use Gamepass and ESPN3
4) Basketball - As for the American Football, but using Leaguepass and ESPN3

I don't have many films on hard drives and my very large music collection is played through my HT amp by plugging my ipod in.

Looking at Apple TV it looks like the only benefit I'll get is to not have to connect the laptop to the tv as League pass is on Apple TV and I can use AirPlay to watch the NFL and ESPN3 from my iMac (MBP is too old).
Another factor is that I don't have any free HDMI slots on the amp, though that's not a big issue and I can get round it if I need to (HMDI to tv and optical to the amp).

Seems like £85 (plus £14 for Mountain Lion) for a bit more convenience isn't really worth it, unless I'm missing something? If I didn't have a smart tv it would be a no brainer.
How's the picture on Apple TV? Any different from smart tv's? Also, is there some nice feature that I'm missing that might swing me? Thanks in advance. :smashin:

One feature that I love my Apple TV for. I have a 3 Zone setup on My receiver, Living Room, Kitchen and Patio. I can control my music that plays using my iPhone or iPad from anywhere in the house, or in the backyard because it works over WiFi and I don't have a RF remote. So when I entertain, I can easily manage the music.

2nd feature I love, is picture\slideshows. Any iPhoto Library I activate home sharing for, is instantly available on my Apple TV which is great for showing family.

3rd feature, PhotoStream pictures taken on your iPhone are instantly shared to all your devices, including Apple TV, again great for sharing photos.

4th Feature, iPad mirroring, if you frequently watch videos or something on your iPad, just mirror to your TV and watch on the Apple TV. I also did this for a Skype Chat by mirroring my iPad, our family holiday was shared cross country. Everyone could see everyone on the TV and the sound was playing on the speakers.

[Rocco83]

Originally Posted by colinspoelstra

try a jynxbox android hd. i got one at http://www.androidhdbox.com and love mine. the remote is better and it comes installed with xbmc.

He is wondering if a $100 TV is worth it, so you point him at a $150 box to do roughly the same thing he wants to do? Nice.

To the OP I have 3 TVs and absolutely love them. But, I have 50 TV shows with over 250 seasons of said shows, 2,000 movies, and an audio library of over 10,000 songs. Somewhere around 12TB of media with a dedicated media server. For situations like mine I think they are perfect. For all that you are viewing I really do not think it is worth the money for you.

It offers nothing more than a small convenience of not having to hook your laptop to the television, but then you have to work with the remote supplied with the TV that I try to avoid at all costs. I use iPads and an iPhone as a remote for them as it is much easier. Although for the most part with what you are doing you could use your laptop and airplay directly to the TV to play most of what you do.

I'm all for convenience and have been lucky enough to pick up refurbished models off Apple's website in the past for $70 a pop and have yet to have an issue with any of them.

[throAU]

You need air, food, water and shelter.

No you do not need an apple tv.

[nilk]

AirPlay Mirroring is great when it works, and I love using it, but it's is buggy (more so with OS X, but also occasionally have issues with my iPhone). The Netflix client for the Apple TV is very buggy, constantly have buffering issues, and last time I tried to use it search refused to work (I've switched back to using my PS3 for Netflix which is much much better). I haven't been able to update the OS on my Apple TV with the last update -- admittedly I haven't had a chance to troubleshoot the issue, but it should have just worked (I rebooted and tried again several times). Movie/TV rentals fail all the time and I end up using iTunes instead and then connect the Apple TV to iTunes -- which works but is inconvenient.

Overall my experience with the Apple TV 3 has been so lousy that I'm wondering if I have a faulty unit. I haven't heard anyone else complain so it could just be my unit. AirPlay Mirroring alone would totally be worth $100 if it actually worked reliably.

This is the only Apple product I've ever had problems with

Edit: Found out there is an issue with Apple TV updating with wired connections, and you have to update over wifi. Giving that a try. BTW, I have a very good wifi network (Airport Express as an access point 16 feet away wired to the same hub as my Apple TV), and I don't think my issues with AirPlay Mirroring are the wifi, they are more like glitches rather than it completely failing. I hope the latest OS somehow manages to fix my issues, but I doubt it.