Hello there.
My family owns 2 iPads (iPad Air 2 with Lightning Connector, and iPad 3rd Gen with the 30-pin connector), we also have a nice Samsung Smart TV in the living room.
My dad loves to use the iPad (he mostly uses the Air 2) to stream videos on a third party application (some Chinese app with no native casting as far as I know, like the Youtube app does).
I'd like to get him something that would allow him to pretty much mirror whatever the iPad shows, onto the HDTV so that he can watch on a bigger screen. As far as I know, there are two main options: using an Apple TV (about $75 for the Apple TV 3), or a Lightning to HDMI digital adapter (about $50).
I'm just wondering about the pros and cons of which one we should get. Here are some facts/needs about our home.
1. Will only be using the iPad screen mirroring function, no other extra functions will be used as we don't subscribe to Netflix, etc.
2. If Apple TV requires an internet connection to work, it would have to be wireless as we cannot get an ethernet cable up to the living room.
3. Must be very easy to use (parents don't read English)
As a side note: If I do get the Apple TV, will it matter if I pick up the older Apple TV 3 over the 4? I'm guessing the 4 will have more features; but I'm just worried if 3 would ever be phased out and flat out no longer work at all.
My family owns 2 iPads (iPad Air 2 with Lightning Connector, and iPad 3rd Gen with the 30-pin connector), we also have a nice Samsung Smart TV in the living room.
My dad loves to use the iPad (he mostly uses the Air 2) to stream videos on a third party application (some Chinese app with no native casting as far as I know, like the Youtube app does).
I'd like to get him something that would allow him to pretty much mirror whatever the iPad shows, onto the HDTV so that he can watch on a bigger screen. As far as I know, there are two main options: using an Apple TV (about $75 for the Apple TV 3), or a Lightning to HDMI digital adapter (about $50).
I'm just wondering about the pros and cons of which one we should get. Here are some facts/needs about our home.
1. Will only be using the iPad screen mirroring function, no other extra functions will be used as we don't subscribe to Netflix, etc.
2. If Apple TV requires an internet connection to work, it would have to be wireless as we cannot get an ethernet cable up to the living room.
3. Must be very easy to use (parents don't read English)
As a side note: If I do get the Apple TV, will it matter if I pick up the older Apple TV 3 over the 4? I'm guessing the 4 will have more features; but I'm just worried if 3 would ever be phased out and flat out no longer work at all.
