Apple TV Gen 3

[NiCk-]

So, I recently got an Apple TV Gen 3 from a friend of mine which had no need of it because he updated to the latest model and I have a few questions.

1) I'm kind of disappointed from the quality of the mirroring mode. I have a 13'' tbMBP and when I mirrored the display to my 1080p TV, the quality was atrocious (I know it only mirrors 720p) but also the it felt really sluggish when moving the cursor around. Is there anything I can do to improve the quality/responsiveness ??

2) The only way to play 1080p movies from what I understand is via iTunes (home sharing). Is there another way ?? I don't like the fact that iTunes movies don't have subtitles.

3) Since this is my first Apple TV what are the "most important" things/applications that I need to have on it to enjoy it fully ?? Would I benefit from some kind of modification ?? I'm not all that interested in the pre-loaded apps such as Netflix etc.

Thanks in advance !!

 

[Alrescha]

1) I'm kind of disappointed from the quality of the mirroring mode.

Mirroring is a lot of work for your Macbook. Whatever needs to be rendered on screen is rendered, then captured, then compressed, then sent to the Apple TV. So, CPU and network on the Macbook get hit pretty hard. About all you can do is try to make sure nothing else is competing for resources.

2) The only way to play 1080p movies from what I understand is via iTunes (home sharing). Is there another way ?? I don't like the fact that iTunes movies don't have subtitles.

Plenty of iTunes movies have subtitles. In addition, any of your own movies that you add to iTunes can have subtitles and these will all play properly on the Apple TV.

The most efficient way to play movies on your ATV3 is Home Sharing with a copy of iTunes as a host/server.

3) Since this is my first Apple TV what are the "most important" things/applications that I need to have on it to enjoy it fully?

No ideas, sorry. My Apple TVs are all just players for iTunes movies and music.

A.

 

[mallbritton]

3) Since this is my first Apple TV what are the "most important" things/applications that I need to have on it to enjoy it fully ?? Would I benefit from some kind of modification ?? I'm not all that interested in the pre-loaded apps such as Netflix etc.

@Alrescha has answered your first two questions. For this one, though, there is no App Store for the 3rd gen. What is on the device is all there is.

 

[NiCk-]

Thank you for your asnwers guys ! Appreciate it !

 

[Che Castro]

there is a way to run plex on the ATV3 if you search the web

 

[tibas92013]

I have two(2) Refurbished ATV3's and use them to access mainly YouTube which has loads of old movies and other very interesting topics and I can watch Youtube/Downloaded Movies comfortably from my living room and bedroom TVs.

I mirror from my Mac Mini's 2012 and 2014 through these ATV3's to my TVs in both the living room and bedroom with no problem. I also mirror downloaded Amazon Movies from my iPad Mini2 to both of these same TVs.

 

[CaptainDaG]

So, I recently got an Apple TV Gen 3 from a friend of mine which had no need of it because he updated to the latest model and I have a few questions.

1) I'm kind of disappointed from the quality of the mirroring mode. I have a 13'' tbMBP and when I mirrored the display to my 1080p TV, the quality was atrocious (I know it only mirrors 720p) but also the it felt really sluggish when moving the cursor around. Is there anything I can do to improve the quality/responsiveness ??

2) The only way to play 1080p movies from what I understand is via iTunes (home sharing). Is there another way ?? I don't like the fact that iTunes movies don't have subtitles.

3) Since this is my first Apple TV what are the "most important" things/applications that I need to have on it to enjoy it fully ?? Would I benefit from some kind of modification ?? I'm not all that interested in the pre-loaded apps such as Netflix etc.

Thanks in advance !!

For playing stuff from your macbook to the apple tv 3 i can recommend the app Beamer. I used it a lot on my previous apple tv 3. Of all the apps and ways to get material shown on ATV i found Beamer to be the best and most stable one.