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AppleTV or HD-DVD Drive for 360.

Markleshark

Markleshark

macrumors 603
Original poster
So, so now ive got a HDTV I'm looking into either the AppleTV or the HD-DVD drive for the 360, this is hard, so here we go,

AppleTV - Pros

* I have quite a lot of downloaded content I'd like to watch
* It's Apple, and looks nice.

AppleTV - Cons

* My downloaded content is in AVI format (Top Gear, which you can't buy 😛)
* It's expensive

-------

360 HD-DVD Drive - Pros

* Half the price (I get discount from GAME)
* Already have the 360

360 HD-DVD Drive - Cons

* I don't have any HD-DVDs.
* What if Blu-Ray wins
* It's a little restricted compared to AppleTV.

So basically, I don't know what to get. On one hand I could convert all my Top Gear from AVI to MPEG, still leave it on my server and be all happy and such. On the other I could convert it to WMV, still leave it on my server play them through my 360 and buy the HD-DVD player. So basically im getting both in one... What do you think I should get?
 
Markleshark said:
So basically, I don't know what to get. On one hand I could convert all my Top Gear from AVI to MPEG, still leave it on my server and be all happy and such. On the other I could convert it to WMV, still leave it on my server play them through my 360 and buy the HD-DVD player. So basically im getting both in one... What do you think I should get?
Click to expand...

There is no reason you have to convert it to wmv! I've had the 360 as an extender going on a year or so. vlc 360 🙂
 
Well if you are looking for content to show off your new HDTV - then the Apple TV will not yet fit the bill. Unless you have oodles of photos that are hi res that you want to show off - HD content from Apple TV is pretty non existant. Not that I personally think the Apple TV is a bad deal. However, if you only could get one right now - my pick would be for the HD DVD add on.

Some points you did not articulate....
* HD DVD will play regular DVD's as well and upconvert to 1080i/p depending upon whether you are using VGA or component. The upconversion darn near rivals a much more costly DVD player and provides longevity in the event HD DVD ends up not being the format of choice.

HD DVD's look spectacular and will really show off your new HDTV. You do not have to buy these as you can rent from both netflix and blockbuster. So in addition to having some great content to show off your new HDTV....you also end up with your regular DVD's looking darn good. Maybe not HD level but several steps above DVD level.

When HD content finally gets going for the Apple TV and it will I am sure...then might be the time to invest.

The flip side of this argument would be if you were really into photography and had tons of photos and wanted to have sort of an ongoing photo show as well as streaming tunes. In which case the Apple TV will do a stellar job and is easy and inexpensive compared to other solutions that offer some of the same functionality.

For pure enjoyment of your new HDTV - I would go HD DVD add on.

Just my .o2$
Therese
 
I'd wait for HD-DVD/Blue-Ray to finish their fight...HD-DVD might lose, Blue-Ray has been kicking some arse recently, but HD-DVD has porn(even if you don't want it , it carries a lots of weight), plus it looks like Apple will be support Blue-Ray, so having a computer using blue-ray, and a TV system use HD-DVD might not be a good idea.


I'd wait, buy an AppleTV, and see who wins the console war.


Of course if everyone weights for Blue-Ray vs HD-DVD to finish, noone is going to win, but the fact you don't have an HD-DVDs, and you computers don't look like they will be supporting HD-DVD, weight it out, and buy an AppleTV
 
Christ, buy a f-ing wire to get the picture from the Mac to the TV. Why is everyone enamored of this $300 silliness? Quite literally, the same wires that have to plug in the iTV to the TV and receiver can simply be used from the Mac, only with way more options. It's like the iTV is a bottleneck, stopping all the stuff from getting through.

If your choices are iTV and 360-HD-drive, get the drive and some actual HD content. And a wire or 2.
 
JAT said:
Christ, buy a f-ing wire to get the picture from the Mac to the TV.
Click to expand...

How much does it cost a person to buy DVI to HDMI cables and hook it up to their tv? I can tell you it cost less then a a HD Drive or Apple TV. Most mac do now come with S/PDIF so you can get that 5.1 sound.

Getting back to the OP question. An Apple TV would be good when apple starts getting 720p content out. Do you have Eyetv Hybird to record some HD content? If you do go HD DVD, you run the risk of losing to my Playstation 3.

2 cents, buy the Apple TV and wait a little bit to see how the war is going. Im not doing anything to help the war by owning all 3 systems.
 
Yeah I don't get the Apple TV. I have an HD TV and all of the content on the Apple store is a) expensive and b) not HD. I hadn't thought of upgrading to whatever HD DVD format Netflix carries, but that sounds like a great idea.
 
Wait for Leopard, hope for HD DVD support in the new DVD Player then buy the HD DVD drive and plug it into your computer 😀
 
I bought the HD-DVD drive because I already have a docking station for my 5.5G iPod which allows me to watch it on my TV. If you have an HDTV you should definitely do yourself a favour and get some real HD material to watch on it. HD-DVD is far far better than the best DVD can produce. Richer colour, clearer image. DVD looks washed out and soft by comparison even on my upscaling region free DVD player with HDMI output. Also, HD-DVD is region free which means I can buy discs from the US (I'm currently in the UK but moving to NZ in 6 weeks) whereas Blu-Ray isn't although region B does cover the UK and NZ. The price of BDs over here is just mad and the PS3 is too expensive. I will get a BD machine sooner or later no doubt (hopefully one that also plays HD-DVD) but for the moment there is plenty of available material at a good price.
 
I have the HD-DVD and I think it is great when you can get the movies you want in HD. I have been thinking really hard about getting an AppleTV but I just don't think it is ready yet. There isn't any HD content on the iTS so anything bought there will just look "ok" not great. Also, I buy most of my HD-DVD movies on amazon or something like that where they usually cost $15-$20, which is probably going to be the price of buying an HD movie on the iTS, and these will be in 1080p and digital surround sound and all the extras.

I think for the price of the AppleTV you can get the HD-DVD drive, a good collection of HD movies (Batman Begins, V for Vendetta, King Kong, a few others you like) and if you don't already have it, Connect360. While it doesn't play songs from the iTS, it does everything else the AppleTV, just not as pretty.

If Microsoft ever updates the 360 to play quicktime movies, then you could stream pretty much any movie you can rip. That's what I am hoping for.
 
Definately an Apple TV because i beleive HDDVD will lose and the Apple TV is made by Apple and will always be supported as long as iTunes is around.
 
It's a tough decision and I really don't know what to recommend...but...

Markleshark said:
* My downloaded content is in AVI format (Top Gear, which you can't buy 😛)
Click to expand...

Drag and drop into iSquint. It pretty much ALWAYS works. It's a free download that'll convert almost any format into MPEG-4 or H.264.
 
GFLPraxis said:
It's a tough decision and I really don't know what to recommend...but...



Drag and drop into iSquint. It pretty much ALWAYS works. It's a free download that'll convert almost any format into MPEG-4 or H.264.
Click to expand...

Yeah, as I say either way it's going to be convert. Be it either to MPEG/H.264 or *Spit* WMV (To play through 360).

As I said, I'll be waiting for now I thinks.
 
This may play into your desicion. Someone has hacked the :apple: TV to play divx and are working on xvid. Those are the two most common kinds of avi. Someone else has also managed to upgrade the harddrive in the :apple: TV. s of now, it appears that Apple has not locked down the :apple: TV t all. There should be a pretty big homebrew scene for it.

Maybe check at appletv.net every once in a while to help influence your decision.

The first thing I said could help you if you are comfortable with that kind of stuff.
 
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