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marlman

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 10, 2012
387
305
I am lucky enough to own an Apple TV 4 and an Xbox One and I love them both. they are both great pieces of kit.

I love the Apple TV for its ease of use and its my goto machine for Netflix, BBC iPlayer, playing music via iTunes Match and watching my own stuff off my NAS via Infuse because its all so quick and easy.

But I was thinking to my self if I had to get rid of one of them it would have to be the Apple TV.

With the XBox I can do all the above albeit a lot slower and not so easy to use as the Apple TV, But and its a big but the Xbox has Amazon Prime and a very good Blue Ray Player.

So i would reluctantly let the Apple TV go

What would you do?
 
It would depend on your needs. If you are a hardcore gamer and/or have a large DVD/blu-ray collection, the Xbox One would be the best for you. However, if you're casual gamer and don't buy physical discs and do mainly streaming, the Apple TV would be the best for you. To further complicate the decision, according to rumors, Microsoft will introduce some kind of "Xbox TV" device at E3.
 
It would depend on your needs. If you are a hardcore gamer and/or have a large DVD/blu-ray collection, the Xbox One would be the best for you. However, if you're casual gamer and don't buy physical discs and do mainly streaming, the Apple TV would be the best for you. To further complicate the decision, according to rumors, Microsoft will introduce some kind of "Xbox TV" device at E3.

This is an odd comparison.

- Xbox One is a gaming system that happens to also have apps for streaming movies and tv shows.
- Apple TV 4 is streaming box that happens to have some game apps.

It's like asking, which would you get rid of? A clothes washing machine, or a dishwasher? In theory, I can wash some clothes in a dishwasher, and sometimes I do wash baseball caps in it. In theory, I can wash some softer dishes like tupaware in a washing machine, but I'm not sure why anyone would do that. But in reality, they're specialized for different types of washing. Likewise, the Xbox One and Apple TV are specialized for different types of entertainment.
 
For entertainment exclusively, there's no question, keep the Apple TV.
For gaming mostly, there's no question, keep the Xbox One.
 
For me I use the devices for totally different purposes so I can't really make a clear decision.

If I HAD to choose (and completely ignore cost of each device) I would probably choose the ATV4. I seem to just spend more time on it than I do my PS4. However if it weren't for the proprietary nature of iTunes where I keep all my music and movies I would go with the PS4.

EDIT : I have a PS4 but Xbox in your case.
 
I am lucky enough to own an Apple TV 4 and an Xbox One and I love them both. they are both great pieces of kit.

I love the Apple TV for its ease of use and its my goto machine for Netflix, BBC iPlayer, playing music via iTunes Match and watching my own stuff off my NAS via Infuse because its all so quick and easy.

But I was thinking to my self if I had to get rid of one of them it would have to be the Apple TV.

With the XBox I can do all the above albeit a lot slower and not so easy to use as the Apple TV, But and its a big but the Xbox has Amazon Prime and a very good Blue Ray Player.

So i would reluctantly let the Apple TV go

What would you do?

Get an Alienware steam machine and dump the steam software. Buy PC games going forward and load up Vudu, iTunes and Amazon. Done.
 
I'd keep the xbox. It has most of the streaming channels I use. Then a cheap chromecast covers the rest. But then I have a lot of streaming devices here.
 
Why do people still believe there should "only one" mentality to streamin devices? Why not have multiple streaming boxes because they almost have different strengths and weaknesses! You do have more than one HDMI ports on your TV and/or Receivers?
 
Why do people still believe there should "only one" mentality to streamin devices? Why not have multiple streaming boxes because they almost have different strengths and weaknesses! You do have more than one HDMI ports on your TV and/or Receivers?

For the same reason people don't have some of their blu-ray/DVD collection in one room and the rest in another.
 
I'd toss the Xbox before I would my Apple TV but I have reasons for that:
  1. My Windows PC is better than my Xbox with a 2 year old graphics card in it.
  2. All of my music is through Apple Music
  3. All of my movies are from the iTunes Store
  4. I have an iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Bluetooth game controller all which compliment the ATV4.
 
For the same reason people don't have some of their blu-ray/DVD collection in one room and the rest in another.

That's not a great comeback! Streaming devices and this obsession with only having one (especially with cord cutters) is a short sighted fanboy nerds! Like I said all streaming devices have their strengths and weaknesses!
 
That's not a great comeback! Streaming devices and this obsession with only having one (especially with cord cutters) is a short sighted fanboy nerds! Like I said all streaming devices have their strengths and weaknesses!

It's the precisely correct analogy. You don't want to have to try and remember which movies are where. The whole concept of getting away from physical media is to consolidate. You don't have some music in iTunes and others in Zune do you?
 
It's the precisely correct analogy. You don't want to have to try and remember which movies are where. The whole concept of getting away from physical media is to consolidate. You don't have some music in iTunes and others in Zune do you?

I don't agree, this has nothing to do with Blu-Rays/DVDs it has to with the mentality that you should only have ONE streaming device. IMHO that is shortsighted and multiple streaming devices is needed to cover all streaming bases!

You wife might be an Andriod girl anfpand you might be an Apple guy! So after cutting the cord, in a good marriage, you would get an Apple TV and a NVidia Shield to cover all bases!
 
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In my household if "I" were choosing between the two I would pick ATV to keep. If hubby were choosing, he'd choose the Xbox One.

I was the main one who wanted to get ATVs for all four of our TVs. It was a bit of a sell since we have 2 Xbox Ones and an Xbox 360. Plus, while we rarely use it for movies... we do have Amazon Prime.

I will say the thing that pushed him over the edge to agree to ATVs for all.... he didn't have to climb around in the attic fishing antenna wire after we cut the cord because I found about about the Channels App!

That being said: It's really a personal decision and what you like best and will suit you best.

We've ended up with an Xbox in three of the room along with an ATV in each..... that way, if we should decide to watch a movie on Amazon, we have that option.
 
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