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Love my new Apple TV 2
- Thread starter Eric8199
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And the OP should be. I have two of them myself. The most recent update appears to have solved the NetFlix buffering problem, and I like having access to my library from the living room.
My daughter can watch her movies from it at will, without further wear and tear to our DVDs.
At less than $100, what's not to like?
Glad you like it. Apple TV2 is indeed an amazing product.
Just a couple of general notes/observations/suggestions. Please ignore if you already know about/have done them.
1) Make sure you are running the latest version of iOS. Apple TV2 does a pretty good job of checking for and installing updates. But you'll get the most features and best performance if you stay up to date.
2) Home Sharing is amazing. Being able to stream your music, TV shows, and movies from your PC to the TV set is incredible.
3) You can use an iPad/iPod touch/iPhone as a graphical remote control for your Apple TV. The "Remote" app makes searching for YouTube and Netflix content much easier than using the on-screen text boxes.
4) To get awesome sound, use an optical cable to go from the Apple TV to your home theater receiver/amplifier. Playing your music collection through proper speakers is amazing.
5) Check out some of the lesser known capabilities. There are thousands of video podcasts available. If you have a Flickr account you can do an on-screen slideshow of your photos. And even if you don't subscribe to Major League Baseball of the NBA league pass, you can still get highlights and schedules via these "Apps."
6) The iTunes store offers quite a lot of "free" material. Check out the pilot episode of Miami Vice (for an '80s flashback) - as well as pilot episodes of current shows, which are offered to get you "hooked" on watching them.
Lastly, some notes about performance.
I've found AppleTV to be generally very reliable and trouble-free. That said, there are some caveats.
If you find you are getting an error message, it is worth while doing a power cycle (disconnecting and then reconnecting the pwoer cord.) This seems to solve most issues.
Sometimes you will find Netflix lags or stalls. In my experience this is a Netflix issue - older, more obscure content tends to run into problems when trying to stream during prime viewing hours. Newer, more mainstream stuff streams very well.
Just a couple of general notes/observations/suggestions. Please ignore if you already know about/have done them.
1) Make sure you are running the latest version of iOS. Apple TV2 does a pretty good job of checking for and installing updates. But you'll get the most features and best performance if you stay up to date.
2) Home Sharing is amazing. Being able to stream your music, TV shows, and movies from your PC to the TV set is incredible.
3) You can use an iPad/iPod touch/iPhone as a graphical remote control for your Apple TV. The "Remote" app makes searching for YouTube and Netflix content much easier than using the on-screen text boxes.
4) To get awesome sound, use an optical cable to go from the Apple TV to your home theater receiver/amplifier. Playing your music collection through proper speakers is amazing.
5) Check out some of the lesser known capabilities. There are thousands of video podcasts available. If you have a Flickr account you can do an on-screen slideshow of your photos. And even if you don't subscribe to Major League Baseball of the NBA league pass, you can still get highlights and schedules via these "Apps."
6) The iTunes store offers quite a lot of "free" material. Check out the pilot episode of Miami Vice (for an '80s flashback) - as well as pilot episodes of current shows, which are offered to get you "hooked" on watching them.
Lastly, some notes about performance.
I've found AppleTV to be generally very reliable and trouble-free. That said, there are some caveats.
If you find you are getting an error message, it is worth while doing a power cycle (disconnecting and then reconnecting the pwoer cord.) This seems to solve most issues.
Sometimes you will find Netflix lags or stalls. In my experience this is a Netflix issue - older, more obscure content tends to run into problems when trying to stream during prime viewing hours. Newer, more mainstream stuff streams very well.
I mainly bought mine so I could use XBMC on it and watch my movies from my PC server box. Used to have an 09 mini just for that. The ATV2 does that now very well.
Glad you like it! I think it's a fantastic product, though we're lacking some functionality in the UK (LoveFilm, BBC iPlayer, etc).
I predominantly use mine to watch iTunes-purchased TV shows in the cinema room or pump music out around the house. Remote app for iPhone and iPad makes controlling music a breeze, and AirPlay is a nice touch of course. Sound is routed over the HDMI on mine; I can't perceive any difference to using the optical out. Incredible.
I predominantly use mine to watch iTunes-purchased TV shows in the cinema room or pump music out around the house. Remote app for iPhone and iPad makes controlling music a breeze, and AirPlay is a nice touch of course. Sound is routed over the HDMI on mine; I can't perceive any difference to using the optical out. Incredible.
I have loaded over 600 DVD movies and 1,100 tv episodes into iTunes, this and Netflix have allowed us to cancel cable TV. This saved us about $60 a month.
Also check out YouTube, not for what you might think the wife has found hundreds and hundreds of educational videos.
Also check out YouTube, not for what you might think the wife has found hundreds and hundreds of educational videos.
Generally when you see ATV1 or ATV2 written, the poster is referring to the physical models (I.E. aluminium, and black), not the Take2 update for the original alu unit.
ATV1 - Larger with aluminium exterior. Has a built in hard drive.
ATV2 - Small with a black plastic exterior. No built in hard drive. Now runs iOS, and uses similar hardware to the iPod Touch.
Yes, I've been able to scale back my family's Dish Network package significantly with this device and a NetFlix account.
YouTube can indeed be both educational and entertaining. Its usual 10- to 12-minute limit is perfect for home repair projects or cooking recipes. It's also great for music videos. (However, there's one caveat: Vevo does not allow its many popular music videos to be streamed over
tv and makes YouTube eliminate those results from an tv search. My guess is that, as tv doesn't show the on-screen ads and annotations, Vevo cannot monetize the viewing).The recent iOS and iTunes update greatly expanded Home Sharing, so that iOS devices can retrieve media from local iTunes libraries without having to sync the media first. Your wife or roommate has the
tv tied up? Watch another movie from your library on your iPod touch or iPad-- no need to clear off space to sync it!I got a atv2 the other day just for xbmc also, and to be honest the apple side of it has impressed me as well (I didnt expect that in the slightest). Its just about perfect in every way. If the next rumoured atv with a5 chip etc is jailbreakable I will definitely buy it for xbmc at 1080p. That will be heaven.
Just a point of clarification here, if your receiver has HDMI (most do these days) and it supports audio over HDMI (again, most do) then no need to connect an optical cable. My ATV2 is plugged into my receiver via HDMI only and plays stereo and DD5.1 audio just fine. If your ATV is plugged into your TV directly via HDMI then you'll need to connect the Optical cable to your receiver if you want DD5.1 audio on your surround system. Cheers!
James
hdmi out on apple tv 2 supports audio out. all you need is hdmi and power cables connected.
i love mine. canada's netflix content is not that great and but it's improving. i found that i don't watch blurays or dvds more than 20 times, so even renting off the itunes store makes watching movies more than a few times cheaper than buying them.
i love mine. canada's netflix content is not that great and but it's improving. i found that i don't watch blurays or dvds more than 20 times, so even renting off the itunes store makes watching movies more than a few times cheaper than buying them.
i just bought one as well... wasn't convinced by one for the first couple years but played with a friend's ATV2 two weeks ago and went out and bought one last week... Absolutely love it. I have two computers so one I use to stream my movies and such and the other has my music on it and it its great. I used to always have to plug my computer or ipod into our home theatre to use the good speakers or watch a movie but this is so simple its ridiculous!
Homework is so much better when you're listening to your music through Bose speakers...
Homework is so much better when you're listening to your music through Bose speakers...
Yes, I've been able to scale back my family's Dish Network package significantly with this device and a NetFlix account.
YouTube can indeed be both educational and entertaining. Its usual 10- to 12-minute limit is perfect for home repair projects or cooking recipes. It's also great for music videos. (However, there's one caveat: Vevo does not allow its many popular music videos to be streamed over
I have been using the Vevo app on my iPad to AirPlay music videos to my ATV, that has been great
Interesting. Is the Vevo app supported by ads or other promotional material about the featured artists?
(If so, then this is how Vevo has decided to get some return on their investment.)
The Vevo app puts in short commercials every now and then. The app works very well with Airplay and the Apple TV. I own a lot of Apple products but I would have to say the new Apple TV is the best bang for the buck of them all. If you own an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch, it's a no brainer purchase as it adds a whole lot more value and enjoyment to any iOS device because of Home Sharing and Airplay.
What newagemac said, I really enjoy the vevo app quickly becoming my favorite. The airplAy part is still a little wonky for me, but the most I have had to do is restart the app a few times to get it working.
Also trying to find a good app for classic 80's videos.
I can't agree more with the OP. The Apple TV2 is purely magical!
I downloaded Air Video from the App store on my iPad and I am able to stream all the movies I have archived on my Apple Time Capsule effortlessly to my Apple TV2 without having to do any conversion etc.
Also I have AirFlick on my Macbook Pro and any movie I can link to or drag into the app plays on my Apple TV as well. It's nothing short of a media Utopia.
SO happy.
I downloaded Air Video from the App store on my iPad and I am able to stream all the movies I have archived on my Apple Time Capsule effortlessly to my Apple TV2 without having to do any conversion etc.
Also I have AirFlick on my Macbook Pro and any movie I can link to or drag into the app plays on my Apple TV as well. It's nothing short of a media Utopia.
SO happy.
Could not agree more. I was fortunate to win one at work and proceeded to purchase another one. Started all of the kid's movies in to itunes and now have immediate flawless access. Also the netflix account is great. I was doing essentially the same thing off of a PC through my PS3 but always had issues and problems. The PC (main computer) has now been buried and the imac has taken its place. I also use airvideo and absolutely love that app. I look forward to the next ATV and what it may bring - My apple experience all started with an ipod touch that I also won at work years ago - and have slowly been converting because things appear to just "work" with little hassle. This forum has been a great resource. Thanks, Mike
I got mine last week too! It's the best thing since they invented gravy! I spent all day sunday laying in bed and using this sucker, streaming HD movies from my iMac and Neflix... my only regret was that I didn't buy one last year... though Airplay wasn't around then... but yeah... killer product... can't wait for more Airplay hardware too.