Is this a good time to buy Apple TV?

Learning to Mac · May 16, 2010, 04:13 PM

This is a dilemna i have been in for the past half a year or so... When is it a good time to buy an apple tv.. For the past 6 months i have been thinking it is due for an upgrade and have been holding off on a purchase.. Don't know whether i should keep waiting or go in for it.... Can anybody guide me on this ?

brentsg · May 16, 2010, 04:35 PM

Using what information?

Unfortunately nobody knows what's up with the future of the product and when they do it will be front page new here.

AWDBat · May 18, 2010, 11:19 AM

The longer you wait the more irrelevant ATV becomes. Get a Mac Mini instead and you'll have access to not only your movies, the iTunes store, but also all the other websites out there that have TV shows on them (Hulu, ABC, Fox, Cartoon Network, etc). I love my ATV, but I am frustrated with the slow performance compared to the newer tech in our new Mini.

themanfromvlad · May 18, 2010, 01:08 PM

TV is a waste of money. Get a PS3 or even a Mac Mini.

steviem · May 18, 2010, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by themanfromvlad

TV is a waste of money. Get a PS3 or even a Mac Mini.

What if you want to make sure all of your devices sync with playcounts or have bought Apple season passes, or maybe you already have a PS3?

espndeportes · May 18, 2010, 01:21 PM

If you're not planning on doing any streaming video (ie trying to set up boxee on it) its probably fine, but otherwise its worth the $ to get a mac mini to run plex, hulu desktop, and front row

trip1ex · May 18, 2010, 01:27 PM

If you're going to use it then it's as good of time as any to purchase. If a new model comes out you can always resell the old and buy the new.

Dan-- · May 18, 2010, 02:48 PM

The 2 most important questions are "does it currently do what you want it to?" and "when do you need it?".

That said, I kind of doubt there will be any updates before September.

brentsg · May 18, 2010, 03:02 PM

I agree that it's more about what you want it to do. I have both a Mac Mini and an AppleTV. The latter gets way more usage in my household. Sure the Mini can do more, but it's less family friendly.

If you just want to play iTunes content on your TV then you can't go wrong with the ATV, even without updates.

dynaflash · May 18, 2010, 03:08 PM

Um, afaik the op is asking if its a good time to buy an atv, not if they should buy an atv or something else.

To the question: If it does what you want, and to you is worth your hard earned money then its a good time to buy. If not then no. As far as trying to read the apple tea leaves as to when a new one will come out that is a fools game. If it does what you want at a price you feel is worth it then ... its up to you. Why ask a bunch of strangers ? These posts always amaze me. No offense intended.

BPD-FLA · May 18, 2010, 03:16 PM

We use 3 in our house - den, playroom and master bedroom. With nearly 500 movies on a separate HD, we just drag and drop whatever movie we want to watch and can play it through the shared movie set-up.

I bought the lower end - 40 gig - to save money. We don't store any movies on the drive, we stream them from our MacBook Pro.

May 16, 2010, 04:13 PM	#1
Learning to Mac macrumors newbie Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Brandon, FL	Is this a good time to buy Apple TV? This is a dilemna i have been in for the past half a year or so... When is it a good time to buy an apple tv.. For the past 6 months i have been thinking it is due for an upgrade and have been holding off on a purchase.. Don't know whether i should keep waiting or go in for it.... Can anybody guide me on this ? __________________ 13" MBP (2009) 4GB RAM, iPad 64GB 3G+Wifi, iPhone 3GS 32 GB
	0

May 18, 2010, 11:19 AM	#3
AWDBat macrumors newbie Join Date: Dec 2008	The longer you wait the more irrelevant ATV becomes. Get a Mac Mini instead and you'll have access to not only your movies, the iTunes store, but also all the other websites out there that have TV shows on them (Hulu, ABC, Fox, Cartoon Network, etc). I love my ATV, but I am frustrated with the slow performance compared to the newer tech in our new Mini. __________________ 15" Black MB, 12" Powerbook G4, 24" iMac, Mac Mini PPC Media Center, Apple TV 3.1 hacked, 32GB iPhone 3GS, 8GB iPod Nano Black, 120GB iPod for ICE
	0

May 18, 2010, 03:16 PM	#11
BPD-FLA macrumors newbie Join Date: May 2010 Location: Jacksonville	We use 3 in our house - den, playroom and master bedroom. With nearly 500 movies on a separate HD, we just drag and drop whatever movie we want to watch and can play it through the shared movie set-up. I bought the lower end - 40 gig - to save money. We don't store any movies on the drive, we stream them from our MacBook Pro. __________________ 13" MacBook Pro / AppleTV x 2 / iPod x 3 / iPad / iMac G5
	0

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May 16, 2010, 04:35 PM	#2
brentsg macrumors 68020 Join Date: Oct 2008	Using what information? Unfortunately nobody knows what's up with the future of the product and when they do it will be front page new here.
	0

May 18, 2010, 01:08 PM	#4
themanfromvlad macrumors 6502 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Montreal	TV is a waste of money. Get a PS3 or even a Mac Mini.
	0

May 18, 2010, 01:21 PM	#6
espndeportes macrumors newbie Join Date: Jun 2007	If you're not planning on doing any streaming video (ie trying to set up boxee on it) its probably fine, but otherwise its worth the $ to get a mac mini to run plex, hulu desktop, and front row
	0

May 18, 2010, 01:27 PM	#7
trip1ex macrumors 68000 Join Date: Jan 2008	If you're going to use it then it's as good of time as any to purchase. If a new model comes out you can always resell the old and buy the new.
	0

May 18, 2010, 02:48 PM	#8
Dan-- macrumors regular Join Date: Jul 2008	The 2 most important questions are "does it currently do what you want it to?" and "when do you need it?". That said, I kind of doubt there will be any updates before September.
	0

May 18, 2010, 03:02 PM	#9
brentsg macrumors 68020 Join Date: Oct 2008	I agree that it's more about what you want it to do. I have both a Mac Mini and an AppleTV. The latter gets way more usage in my household. Sure the Mini can do more, but it's less family friendly. If you just want to play iTunes content on your TV then you can't go wrong with the ATV, even without updates.
	0

May 18, 2010, 03:08 PM	#10
dynaflash macrumors 68000 Join Date: Mar 2003	Um, afaik the op is asking if its a good time to buy an atv, not if they should buy an atv or something else. To the question: If it does what you want, and to you is worth your hard earned money then its a good time to buy. If not then no. As far as trying to read the apple tea leaves as to when a new one will come out that is a fools game. If it does what you want at a price you feel is worth it then ... its up to you. Why ask a bunch of strangers ? These posts always amaze me. No offense intended.
	0


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