I went into buying a pair of 3rd generation Apple TV units with open eyes. I had never owned a media streaming device before and figured Apple was about as safe as one could get in the reliability department.
My initial experience was good. I purchased during the product's initial release. I bought one directly off of Apple's website (pre-ordered) and one from the nearest Apple store. The wife and I enjoyed watching movie trailers on the plasma and HT projector, and I also enjoyed Vimeo greatly.
Since purchase, there have been a couple of updates. The first one reset the units to factory, but the second one retained the device configurations (network, et al). But since the second (last) update, both units have developed their own individual problems that greatly take away from the use-experience.
Unit #1 (U1) was originally attached to a Panasonic plasma TV (about 1.8 years old) and seemed to have grown an HDMI handshaking problem. I no longer can watch 10-15 minutes of Vimeo before the problem presents itself and it strongly persistent.
Both the display and the U1 ATV3 are in open air in a cool environment (~73ºF). I've swapped out cables, cycled through HDMI inputs on the plasma, and finally started testing with other displays in the home--all exhibit this handshaking problem with U1.
I've tested on Panasonic, Vizio and Samsung flat panels and JVC and Sony projectors. Its the ATV3.
Unit #2 (U2) is attached to the JVC HD projector down in the home theater. U2's problem is one in which while watching a movie trailer or Vimeo video the unit will spontaneously reboot itself. It may do this 1-3 times in 60-90 minutes of use.
I have tried swapping out cables, taking it off of condition power, etc., but something occurs and just causes the unit to panic into reboot submission. Unlike U1 this unit is using wireless network connectivity, but I have never experienced an issue with playability outside of the reboot condition.
I've purchased both of these using Amex, which tags 1-year onto the original meager warranty. Unless I can identify and resolve these issues I'll seek Amex's help--they'll probably just refund me my money. Anyone got any ideas on what to try?
My initial experience was good. I purchased during the product's initial release. I bought one directly off of Apple's website (pre-ordered) and one from the nearest Apple store. The wife and I enjoyed watching movie trailers on the plasma and HT projector, and I also enjoyed Vimeo greatly.
Since purchase, there have been a couple of updates. The first one reset the units to factory, but the second one retained the device configurations (network, et al). But since the second (last) update, both units have developed their own individual problems that greatly take away from the use-experience.
Unit #1 (U1) was originally attached to a Panasonic plasma TV (about 1.8 years old) and seemed to have grown an HDMI handshaking problem. I no longer can watch 10-15 minutes of Vimeo before the problem presents itself and it strongly persistent.
Both the display and the U1 ATV3 are in open air in a cool environment (~73ºF). I've swapped out cables, cycled through HDMI inputs on the plasma, and finally started testing with other displays in the home--all exhibit this handshaking problem with U1.
I've tested on Panasonic, Vizio and Samsung flat panels and JVC and Sony projectors. Its the ATV3.
Unit #2 (U2) is attached to the JVC HD projector down in the home theater. U2's problem is one in which while watching a movie trailer or Vimeo video the unit will spontaneously reboot itself. It may do this 1-3 times in 60-90 minutes of use.
I have tried swapping out cables, taking it off of condition power, etc., but something occurs and just causes the unit to panic into reboot submission. Unlike U1 this unit is using wireless network connectivity, but I have never experienced an issue with playability outside of the reboot condition.
I've purchased both of these using Amex, which tags 1-year onto the original meager warranty. Unless I can identify and resolve these issues I'll seek Amex's help--they'll probably just refund me my money. Anyone got any ideas on what to try?
