I'm looking into Apple TV and I'm not sure if it can serve my purposes. I've read lots of posts, but I thought it would be probably easier if I posted what I do now and what I would like it to do. Maybe it will do something that I've not thought of and you can let me know! 
I haven't owned a television since Seinfeld went off the air in 1998. Really. Since then, I have an older NEC (VT540) XGA LCD projector that I hook up to watch movies once in a while. All of the sound is channeled through an optical cable to my 5.1 receiver.
I haven't watched network television until last year when I got an introductory deal with a cable company for Internet + TV. I watched TV on a 23" monitor that has a HDMI hookup.
In the last year, I found I watched baseball games, tennis and golf (I managed to gain five pounds, but that's another story!). I watched some shows, but not many. Mainly Seinfeld reruns on CW and other older shows! I also watch some movies on demand - when I found one that I wanted to watch. I might watch more, but the selection wasn't the greatest. Most of the time I watched shows from the PVR because I could skip the commercials.
My cable deal ends in a November and I'm not going to continue at full price because it's not good value for the amount I watch.
This is when I thought about Apple TV or some of the other ones like from Amazon or Google.
My Questions:
1. Would Apple TV suit my needs based on what I wrote?
2. Is there regular network programming available on Apple TV?
3. Does apple have a PVR/DVR feature so I can watch live TV later?
4. I see different versions (1, 2, 3, etc.). How are they different?
5. I see Apple TV only has HDMI. How is HDMI to VGA quality - will I notice?
6. Is there a US or Canadian version? I'm thinking I'm going to buy a used one off eBay or CL. But $100 isn't a lot new either.
7. What are the advantages of the older versions? I see they can be hacked. Why would I want to do that?
8. What's the on demand selection on Apple TV like?
9. How does it compare to the other services like Chromecast, Fire TV and other services that I didn't mention?
Thanks in advance! Since I'm Canadian, I'll apologize in advance if I asked something that is blatantly obvious, eh?
I haven't owned a television since Seinfeld went off the air in 1998. Really. Since then, I have an older NEC (VT540) XGA LCD projector that I hook up to watch movies once in a while. All of the sound is channeled through an optical cable to my 5.1 receiver.
I haven't watched network television until last year when I got an introductory deal with a cable company for Internet + TV. I watched TV on a 23" monitor that has a HDMI hookup.
In the last year, I found I watched baseball games, tennis and golf (I managed to gain five pounds, but that's another story!). I watched some shows, but not many. Mainly Seinfeld reruns on CW and other older shows! I also watch some movies on demand - when I found one that I wanted to watch. I might watch more, but the selection wasn't the greatest. Most of the time I watched shows from the PVR because I could skip the commercials.
My cable deal ends in a November and I'm not going to continue at full price because it's not good value for the amount I watch.
This is when I thought about Apple TV or some of the other ones like from Amazon or Google.
My Questions:
1. Would Apple TV suit my needs based on what I wrote?
2. Is there regular network programming available on Apple TV?
3. Does apple have a PVR/DVR feature so I can watch live TV later?
4. I see different versions (1, 2, 3, etc.). How are they different?
5. I see Apple TV only has HDMI. How is HDMI to VGA quality - will I notice?
6. Is there a US or Canadian version? I'm thinking I'm going to buy a used one off eBay or CL. But $100 isn't a lot new either.
7. What are the advantages of the older versions? I see they can be hacked. Why would I want to do that?
8. What's the on demand selection on Apple TV like?
9. How does it compare to the other services like Chromecast, Fire TV and other services that I didn't mention?
Thanks in advance! Since I'm Canadian, I'll apologize in advance if I asked something that is blatantly obvious, eh?
Last edited: