Apple TV Shipping Tuesday, March 20th?

[Jim Campbell]

Arrogance is the ugliest form of insecurity. If I really cared about the perfection of my [causual] postings on a Apple website, I might take the time to proof read.

You were the one who brought up the level of your education as if others were supposed to be impressed, and yet seemed unaware that MP3's, CD's, DVD's and even (in your context) "apple's" were all sporting completely erroneous apostrophes.

I'm unsure why you chose to put the word apostrophe in quotation marks, by the way. That's the correct name for one of these: '.

I would have hoped that describing myself as an "apostrophe fascist" might have clued you in to the fact that I wasn't entirely serious, but there you go. Would it help if I used smileys?

Cheers!

Jim

 

[3282872]

You were the one who brought up the level of your education as if others were supposed to be impressed, and yet seemed unaware that MP3's, CD's, DVD's and even (in your context) "apple's" were all sporting completely erroneous apostrophes.

I'm unsure why you chose to put the word apostrophe in quotation marks, by the way. That's the correct name for one of these: '.

I would have hoped that describing myself as an "apostrophe fascist" might have clued you in to the fact that I wasn't entirely serious, but there you go. Would it help if I used smileys?

Cheers!

Jim

It'd help if you kept a little perspective and realized that THIS IS A MESSAGE BOARD, and not submissions for Columbia'S Pulitzer Prize.

Keep one thing in mind, sarcasm does NOT carry well online between individuals who do not personally know one another. When dissecting the insignificant comments of individuals you do not personally know, it might make more sense in exercising a little caution and respect when addressing others...

and no, I will not be checking my quick comment for grammatic and punctuation errors.

Cheers!

 

[FleurDuMal]

Why does every AppleTV thread turn into a geek fight?!

 

[Jim Campbell]

It'd help if you kept a little perspective and realized that THIS IS A MESSAGE BOARD, and not submissions for Columbia'S Pulitzer Prize.

Sorry ... I genuinely am a language fascist on matters like this.

It's only a short hop and a step from "Lighten up, dude - it's only an apostrophe" to having all of our written communication being in this style:

GR8 C U 2mora B4 7 M8

I know this sort of thing doesn't upset everyone the way it upsets me, but there you go.

Off-topic by a mile, so I'll shut up now.

Cheers!

Jim

 

[skinnylegs]

Who really cares in the end?

I care.....I own stock.

CJD.....you have presented a compelling argument. Nice job and great read.

BTW.....for those of you who are screaming about the lack of a DVD drive in the TV; try watching a DVD on your widescreen LCD via your computer and *then* tell me you still want one. In short order, you will end up ditching your computer based DVD player for your trusty 'ol standalone DVD player. The quality of set top DVD players is *far* superior to software driven DVD players on computers.

 

[iDave]

The quality of set top DVD players is *far* superior to software driven DVD players on computers.

If they have the built-in HD upscaling feature, I agree. Many of the el-cheapo $40 DVD players don't.

 

[skinnylegs]

'Ya know, iDave (great name BTW), I've found that the *cheapest* DVD players provide better picture quality than software solutions with every codec known to man installed.

I was an early adopter in terms of media centers. A number of years ago I purchased an Alienware Media Center PC. I ended up using it solely for pictures and music because I couldn't live with having my pristine digital signal essentially degraded to craptastic analog quality. I also was not at all happy with software driven DVD players. So.....I used my standalone DVD player for watching DVD's, my Cox Cable DVR for PVR duties and the Alienware rig for music and pictures.

 

[3282872]

I care.....I own stock.

CJD.....you have presented a compelling argument. Nice job and great read.

BTW.....for those of you who are screaming about the lack of a DVD drive in the TV; try watching a DVD on your widescreen LCD via your computer and *then* tell me you still want one. In short order, you will end up ditching your computer based DVD player for your trusty 'ol standalone DVD player. The quality of set top DVD players is *far* superior to software driven DVD players on computers.

Certainly true, top set DVD units are currently far superior to computer internal drive DVD units. Yet that could always change, especially if TV incorporated streaming DVD capability, certainly internal drives would match. As Apple has proudly proclaimed 2006 to be "The Year of High Def", I wouldn't be surprised if Blu-ray drives and high definition units become standard fare in up-coming Apple systems. That being stated, perhaps DVD drives and software will become top set quality.

Oh, and thanks for the compliments , and I'm still kicking myself for not investing in Apple years ago *sigh*

 

[3282872]

Sorry ... I genuinely am a language fascist on matters like this.

It's only a short hop and a step from "Lighten up, dude - it's only an apostrophe" to having all of our written communication being in this style:

GR8 C U 2mora B4 7 M8

I know this sort of thing doesn't upset everyone the way it upsets me, but there you go.

Off-topic by a mile, so I'll shut up now.

Cheers!

Jim

Excellent point. What is even more alarming (and sadly humorous) are the recent trends for American High School students to submit final papers with "BTW", "ur", "imho", etc. as proper english. Makes me so proud of the current American educational state and the "No Child Left Behind" Bush political educational "strategy". *sigh*

 

[skinnylegs]

Certainly true, top set DVD units are currently far superior to computer internal drive DVD units. Yet that could always change, especially if TV incorporated streaming DVD capability, certainly internal drives would match. As Apple has proudly proclaimed 2006 to be "The Year of High Def", I wouldn't be surprised if Blu-ray drives and high definition units become standard fare in up-coming Apple systems. That being stated, perhaps DVD drives and software will become top set quality.

Oh, and thanks for the compliments , and I'm still kicking myself for not investing in Apple years ago *sigh*

I'll be interested to see how streaming DVD's panns out. Can this be accomplished without degrading visual quality?

BTW.....have you checked out HD DVD or Blu-Ray? It is most excellent! I went with HD DVD 'cause I already had an Xbox 360 and the add-o moudule was only $100 additional. I am sold on HD DVD and Netflix has a *huge* library of HD DVD films. If I'm not mistaken, they get them as they are released.

 

[Jim Campbell]

Certainly true, top set DVD units are currently far superior to computer internal drive DVD units.

Really? Maybe it's because our old DVD player was 1) old and 2) cheap, or maybe it's because our new TV isn't actually that big, but we've found picture quality much, much better through the Mac Mini than the dedicated box.

Quick question, though ... I've fiddled with the settings in DVD Player so that the playback is lovely. However, Front Row doesn't seem to pick up DVD Player's preferences (I've fiddled with the volume EQ, f'r instance). Am I doing something wrong, or this an oversight on the part of Apple?

Cheers!

Jim

 

[3282872]

Pioneer BDP-HD1 is a Blu-ray Player that syncs to PC's similar to the appleTV

Really? Maybe it's because our old DVD player was 1) old and 2) cheap, or maybe it's because our new TV isn't actually that big, but we've found picture quality much, much better through the Mac Mini than the dedicated box.

Quick question, though ... I've fiddled with the settings in DVD Player so that the playback is lovely. However, Front Row doesn't seem to pick up DVD Player's preferences (I've fiddled with the volume EQ, f'r instance). Am I doing something wrong, or this an oversight on the part of Apple?

Cheers!

Jim

Good question. Unfortunately I own a Mac Pro and Aluminum Cinema Display so I don't have Front Row capability (although I have tinkered with the software and got Front Row to work with keyboard commands).

As I have a Pioneer 50" Elite Pro 1080P plasma, I'm next going to purchase a top set Blu-ray DVD unit (although for $1,000+ I'm hesitant as prices will certainly tumble). I remember back in 1998 I purchased a Sony 5-Disc DVD/CD player for $899 (crazy eh) and now they can't give away units such as those. Sony does make an internal Blu-ray DVD drive for $699. I almost considered purchasing it but then realize it wouldn't be worth it as I hardly watch movies on my Mac, but would be worth it if I could watch Blu-ray DVD's from my Mac to my HDTV (and $699 is much less expensive than $1200 for a Sony Blu-ray top set). In the end, I would just hate to purchase a top set Blu-ray player AND an internal Blu-ray optical drive when just one unit would be perfect for my needs.

I completely forgot that Pioneer has a Blu-ray unit on the market for roughly $1500 that also incorporates wireless streaming and connectivity to Mac/PC systems JUST as the TV does LOL. Check this out:

Only Pioneer's Blu-ray Disc Player connects easily into your existing home network, allowing you to serve up movies, music and photos from your PC to your flat panel—at your TV's highest possible resolution.

So it seems Pioneer has a DVD unit that also syncs up to computer systems just as the TV

Here's the link:

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3/pg/top/product/0,,2076_310069741,00.html:apple: