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Annual Bonus Time: Sell me on the Apple TV!
- Thread starter eyeseeyou
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Probably best to read through the past few months of product reviews for the ATV4 and any other streaming boxes you might be thinking of. More than commenters posting opinions in user forums, it more involves you deciding which features and capabilities best suit your needs -- good luck!
1. Ever growing really cool Apple TV store apps!
2. AirPlay!
3. Plays even home 4K movies!
Nothing is contained an app. What it does if a program codes their app correctly is when you search for movie through Siri is will show the movie with the installed apps that can play that movie beside the iTunes Store link.
It all really depends what you would use it for. When I got mine (as a gift) I was a bit underwhelmed, until I came across the Infuse app which is great for streaming movies from a external HD etc and then suddenly the ATV had a very valid reason to stay.
Siri is pretty rubbish right now, but the next update (in beta now) apparently improves things hugely.
Catch Up TV (in the UK) is pretty much non existent at the moment and it doesn't have a Amazon Prime app
sooo yeah, totally buy one, because having pointed out a few niggles, I still really like it now
Siri is pretty rubbish right now, but the next update (in beta now) apparently improves things hugely.
Catch Up TV (in the UK) is pretty much non existent at the moment and it doesn't have a Amazon Prime app
sooo yeah, totally buy one, because having pointed out a few niggles, I still really like it now
Steps/questions to picking a streaming box...
1) What do you watch now? This is most important, as the box is just the delivery mechanism, you still need content to view.
2) What do you want to watch in the future? (i.e. - Netflix, Hulu, YouTube are on all streaming boxes, Amazon Prime is not and likely won't be available on AppleTV for a while if ever, aside from via AirPlay.)
3) What is your budget? Will you want more than 1 device, and if so, keep the cost in mind as it can rise to a significant difference (i.e. - 3 $40 FireTV Sticks vs 3 $150 AppleTV 4s is $120 vs $450).
4) Do you have your own content already? Where's it stored physically (i.e. - on a PC, NAS, external USB drive, etc.) and how is it maintained (i.e. - iTunes, Plex, etc.)?
5) What other hardware do you use? The use of iPhone, Android, OS X, Windows 10, etc. could help dictate whether functionality like AirPlay is even worthwhile to you.
6) Do you have solid wifi in your home? Or would you want to run ethernet cabling to the streaming device(s)? Ethernet is generally going to give you a more stable connection, but some streaming devices do not offer an ethernet port.
7) Other potential investments/considerations:
a) If you don't have a quality router, are you leaving room in your budget to upgrade that component?
b) Likewise, do you have a reasonable Internet service or do you need to upgrade that as well?
Hope this helps.
TL/DR: If you only really need a box for streaming Netflix/Hulu/YouTube, pretty much any streaming device will do. If you are an Apple-centric user, an AppleTV might be best. But don't forget other considerations like your router and existing content.
1) What do you watch now? This is most important, as the box is just the delivery mechanism, you still need content to view.
2) What do you want to watch in the future? (i.e. - Netflix, Hulu, YouTube are on all streaming boxes, Amazon Prime is not and likely won't be available on AppleTV for a while if ever, aside from via AirPlay.)
3) What is your budget? Will you want more than 1 device, and if so, keep the cost in mind as it can rise to a significant difference (i.e. - 3 $40 FireTV Sticks vs 3 $150 AppleTV 4s is $120 vs $450).
4) Do you have your own content already? Where's it stored physically (i.e. - on a PC, NAS, external USB drive, etc.) and how is it maintained (i.e. - iTunes, Plex, etc.)?
5) What other hardware do you use? The use of iPhone, Android, OS X, Windows 10, etc. could help dictate whether functionality like AirPlay is even worthwhile to you.
6) Do you have solid wifi in your home? Or would you want to run ethernet cabling to the streaming device(s)? Ethernet is generally going to give you a more stable connection, but some streaming devices do not offer an ethernet port.
7) Other potential investments/considerations:
a) If you don't have a quality router, are you leaving room in your budget to upgrade that component?
b) Likewise, do you have a reasonable Internet service or do you need to upgrade that as well?
Hope this helps.
TL/DR: If you only really need a box for streaming Netflix/Hulu/YouTube, pretty much any streaming device will do. If you are an Apple-centric user, an AppleTV might be best. But don't forget other considerations like your router and existing content.
Follow your media content.... AppleTV 4 used less then my FireTV because more of what I watch is on that device. May change as apps get developed. For me, I like both and they work as advertised with each having a few issues. End of the day, how and what are you going to use the streaming device should drive your choice. Me I got both, problem solved.
I have the same usage mostly due to the fact that I have kodi installed on my Firestick plus I like the ability to cue up YouTube videos although I saw that you can side load kodi onto the atv4.
If you need us to sell it to you, you don't want it nor do you need it. It's not worth it unless you actively use iTunes Season Passes or stream Netflix et al and don't have a device currently capable.
NAS + Infuse = excellent movie / tv watching solution for me.
I haven't found one yet. ATV3 does everything I want it to except Apple Music and Amazon Instant Video. Yes I have other devices and yes I can use AirPlay. I like the idea of being able to search across apps, but not enough to pull the trigger yet. When an Amazon video app comes out, I'll upgrade - until then, ATV3 is just fine.
So, what does the ATV3 lack that YOU really want?
So far the ability to get search results from all apps seems like the main selling point.
Does anyone actually buy an Apple Product because of Siri? If I anything, I'd be more inclined not to buy an iPhone in the future because of how much it sucks and literally does not work.