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Apple TV 4 Reviews: Siri is Helpful and There's Loads of Potential

rustywilson said:
I'm happy with my 8GB Apple TV 3 and will not replace it as I see no reason from these reviews to do so but than I'm not a techie and have no idea of what "faster SoC" means.
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SoC means System-On-Chip, is a chip containing the CPU and GPU.
With the 4th generation Apple TV you have faster processor and graphics that are useful for games and some kind of apps.
The Apple TV 3 is perfectly fine for movies and photos, but even if it supported App Store it wouldn't have enough power to handle games.

If you're not interested in games Apple TV 3 is still good for you. Sure you miss the Siri search, but it isn't a compelling reason to upgrade
 
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DrKarl said:
My current Apple TV mostly collects dust - too many 'apps' that require a cable subscription to see useful content, and mostly because there is no Amazon video. Naturally, Apple doesn't want to support a competitor such as Amazon - but that'll keep me from buying a new model Apple TV as I prefer to use my Tivo OTA or Roku which DO support Amazon (and have global search).

Apple's logic is no doubt that they don't want us buying/renting from Amazon vs the iTunes store... but I left the iTunes store long ago (even with a big credit balance) because the terms are ridiculous compared to Amazon. For the same price, or less, I can rent from Amazon Instant Video for 3 days in most cases vs 24 hours from iTunes. Apple has no competitor to Amazon Prime (free stream and download) video. Apple's organization and search for video content stinks compared to Amazon... and has never been improved that I can tell.

Maybe the new Apple TV will eventually have an Amazon app... and allow in-app purchases (not allowed on IOS - so not holding my breath). If so, I might buy at that time.
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Pretty glad I read this. I recall, now that you mention it, hearing that Amazon isn't selling ATV and Apple isn't putting Amazon app on ATV 4 but I must have forgotten (in a drunken kool-aid stuper).

My daughter watches stuff on our Amazon Prime subscription. We watch stuff on Netflix. If we can only get 1 out of 2, no deal.

Will stick with native Samsung apps for now (shudder, hate the built-in stuff) and work on my audio setup.

Thanks for reminding me and sharing my gripe.
 
ke-iron said:
The whole point is to get you to use the Apple TV as your primary if not only device. It wouldn't be the opposite of what apple is trying to accomplish if they were to put channel up or down on it so you can switch channels.
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I know what they are trying to achieve, but there will be very few people that are able to survive on what the Apple TV offers for at least the coming 1-2 years. Most people will use the Apple TV as an add-on to the TV as opposed to the main content medium. Especially outside the US.
 
While I was shocked that it doesn't have 4K support, one of the fundamental problems I have with Apple TV is that it lacks an HDMI passthrough.

While this may sound like something minor, it's a huge problem for some technically challenged people who have trouble switching the HDMI input from their cable converter to another port. I bought the previous version for my parents and no matter how much I tried, they almost never used it because they couldn't switch their TV to use the second HDMI input. The only way to do it on their TV was with the original TV remote, which they never use.

If it had an HDMI passthrough, they could keep the TV on the same port, then just turn on the Apple TV. When they turn it off, it would return to regular TV. I ended up getting them a Google TV from Sony because it had the passthrough.

To make matters worse, some people don't have enough HDMI ports, so they need to unplug something, or get a cheesy switch box.
 
Siri cannot dictate into text boxes or search the App store? Seriously pathetic. Hopefully that gets fixed soon.

The real question I want answered in the reviews - is the remote worth $79?
 
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I so wanted to place an order for a new ATV to watch stuff in 4K, but since I couldn't I went and ordered a $70k Lexus instead. I feel pretty good. :)
 
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I am going to buy Apple TV because there are some video streams that I know will have apps for it and I have been wanted them on the TV for along time instead of the iPad. Also - someone will make an app that allows me to stream all my home videos from iPhoto and my hard drives in whatever format they are without screwing around putting them in iTunes. The rest is gravy. I watch Netflix and Prime on the PS3 and don't need an Apple TV for that. I know - there are other solutions for my problem but the video streams is the big one and they will have an app very soon I am sure.
 
sziehr said:
please link us to this adapter we all need.
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The optical out argument is almost as ridiculous as the 4k argument. "all of us" come on. Optical out audio for A/V is so old school. It cant handle what HDMI can. Look at McIntosh to Pioneer Elite to big box brands AV receivers or separates in the past 10 years they all have HDMI.

For those stuck in the past not willing to spend the money to experience the latest in AV sound tech, you can pick up an HDMI splitter that will give you an optical out and be satisfied with 1990s technology.
 
JAQ said:
You know what's even more convenient than asking "what did he say"? The button on my Roku remote that does the exact same thing with just a push.
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I think in the video it showed where the ATV also showed the text of what was said.
Does the Roku do that?
My Verizon Fios remote has a 10 second back button as well but no text.
I think I will like the text option included.
 
meegwell said:
The optical out argument is almost as ridiculous as the 4k argument. "all of us" come on. Optical out audio for A/V is so old school. It cant handle what HDMI can. Look at McIntosh to Pioneer Elite to big box brands AV receivers or separates in the past 10 years they all have HDMI.

For those stuck in the past not willing to spend the money to experience the latest in AV sound tech, you can pick up an HDMI splitter that will give you an optical out and be satisfied with 1990s technology.
Click to expand...

I don't want to sound short but this isn't necessarily the case for everyone.

I have a 2.1 surround sound receiver (Panasonic) that's around 2 - 3 years old and supports ARC. My TV is also Panasonic and around 2 - 3 years old, supporting ARC. However for the life of me I cannot get Dolby encoded movies to play through my HDMI arc source, I have to change to Digital In (optical) in order for the sound to play. Any non Dolby stuff plays fine through ARC. All of my movies are streamed from my phone using the Infuse Pro app.

I'm not using 1990s technology, but I'm dependent on optical and I'm not prepared to upgrade my AV. So my only option is to get a splitter like the one posted earlier (which I'm thankful for! haha)

Just my two cents.
 
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Jeremy1026 said:
Currently the remote app doesn't work, an update could come though. The on screen keyboard is complete **** on the new TV. It is 26 characters wide, A-Z alphabetically. Typing anything on it is a giant pain in the ass.
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Wow. For a company that should be top notch in UI, what a flub.

I'm not surprised by the lack of 4K support with this gen since the current 4K players are so expensive and they probably have no way to get 4K content from Sony who holds most of the rights, and YouTube doesn't have much quality content in 4K. I put the next ATV update in 2 to 4 years, which will be right around the time the large 4K OLED tvs will become very affordable. :)
 
I've already ordered one and it is still preparing for shipment. However the reviews look disappointing. That "keyboard" is awful. Thankfully I already have a bluetooth keyboard that will hopefully work with it.

Also the thing that I was really hoping Apple would improve is what Verge touched on is having to register all the apps separately and it doesn't save any "profiles". That is I should be able to log onto my DirecTV account once, link it to my iCloud account and then all the apps could reference that instead of having to register each app individually still. And if you had multiple AppleTV's you wouldn't have to do that on each one.

So that is really disappointing.
 
Jeremy1026 said:
Currently the remote app doesn't work, an update could come though. The on screen keyboard is complete **** on the new TV. It is 26 characters wide, A-Z alphabetically. Typing anything on it is a giant pain in the ass.
Click to expand...

How utterly embarrassing for a company with nearly $200B in the bank. Wow. Even an intern could fix that.
 
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