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Most new players and TVs can do just that. This feature is so 2009.
And they can play FullHD and MKV material, which the Apple TV STILL does not play.
How do I stream video from my computer (using my computer to control things) to a TV? I am not interested in a device reading my harddrive, I am interested in controlling the TV output from my computer, like I can do with AirTunes. Why would I ever want to play music through an interface other than iTunes (or iPhone, iPad)?
 
How do I stream video from my computer (using my computer to control things) to a TV? I am not interested in a device reading my harddrive, I am interested in controlling the TV output from my computer, like I can do with AirTunes. Why would I ever want to play music through an interface other than iTunes (or iPhone, iPad)?

Why the heck would anyone sit in front of their computer when watching a movie on their TV? You fanboys really puzzle me.

However, I have to admit, if you DO want to sit in front of your computer when watching something on your TV, you might not find a BluRay player or TV that will give you that. If that makes you happy.
 
Until Apple releases a version of the ATV that has a DVD player built in (and c'mon... how much more expensive would that make it?) I'm not interested. I'm betting lots of others out there feel the same. I wonder how many more of these Apple could have sold if they had positioned it as a DVD player replacement.

Entertainment hardware has to have a certain degree of backward-compatibility, and Apple never seems interested in that. In most cases, I understand how holding on to old standards and approaches holds technology back, but that's no excuse in this case. I have too many DVDs to make something like this worth buying. I could see picking up one of these to replace my current DVD player but beyond that, the functionality it provides is simply not worth $99.


My prediction is that iOS 4.2 update will include Airplay into the DVD player on the mac. Viola!

My ATV2 is great and I'm very excited about the possibilities! I just hope they are revealed quickly.
 
If you want your Apple TV to be amazing....

get the following items -

1. 2 TB External Hard Drive - to put all your iTunes content on (get one with Firewire 800 if you have a Mac)
2. A wireless N router - for speed and good wireless coverage.

I have bought 20+ movies with this setup and it works great. I own both an original Apple TV and also the new version. Try this and you will be set for a long time :)
 
My guess it will be replaced eventually by an iPod/iPhone dock. Why bother with an extra device if your existing i device can already do everything and only lacks a convenient connection to the TV. And you'll have up to 64GB of space. And apps.

Other possiblity: it will be made obsolete by TVs that have the features properly integrated. I guess Google, licensing their OS to TV makers, is in a better position here, since Apple will never start making TVs.

Uhh, never say never. Apple already has made TVs. Only 10,000 were made, but Apple's been there, done that.
 

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I'm not surprised they're selling well. The price point for the feature set is pretty good. I was looking for a simple device, something to stream music from my desktop to my home theater setup. I was probably going to end up with something about a hundred bucks anyway (heck, maybe even slightly more -- I almost picked up an Airport Express since it would fit my needs just fine), so when Apple TV was announced at $99, it was a slam dunk.

My only complaint about the setup is that the menus are just a little laggy, and the design of the remote is such that it's easy to push the wrong button when you're navigating. Not a deal killer, and I'm pretty happy with what I got for $99. Plus it has a newer Netflix design than the firmware on my Blu-Ray player, so now I can search for movies that aren't in my instant queue, where I used to have to go add them via a web browser first.
 
My new Apple TV won't recognize a adhoc network. Before I pre-ordered it I went to the Apple Store to ask if adhoc will work with the new one. They said yes, now that I've had it I notice that an adhoc network wont even show up in the list of networks. Anyone know how to get this adhoc things to work with the new Apple TV.
 
I love my 2nd generation apple tv! I got it a week ago, though I would have gotten it sooner if my apple store weren't sold out the first three times I went there to buy it.
 
do we still think this will get apps?

Only after Apple takes long look at Google TV and decides what is "crap" and could be done better. Apple may not do official focus groups but they definitely let other vendors go out and take the initial arrows in the back and then sashay in after numerous lessons learned are on the table.

Do not see what hurry will be to put non touch screen applications on an iOS device is . There is no keyboard and basically can only more a simple cursor around.


Besides is there a fancy wear leveling flash controller on this thing. Sinking gobs of space into statically holding app code will force more wear onto the remaining empty space. Moving lots of large video files on/off drive every day means there isn't lots of empty practical space there.
 
Why the heck would anyone sit in front of their computer when watching a movie on their TV? You fanboys really puzzle me.

However, I have to admit, if you DO want to sit in front of your computer when watching something on your TV, you might not find a BluRay player or TV that will give you that. If that makes you happy.

To be honest, I cannot really answer your question as I have never lived in a household which had a TV. When I want to watch a movie in my living room, I have to drag my 24" monitor AND my computer over to it. Would be nice if I only had to drag my monitor and could leave my computer in place.

So, I DO want to sit in front of my computer when watching something on 'my' TV since I simply have to as I do not have a TV.
 
Just received mine on Friday and spent most of the weekend watching movies and shows on it as well as streaming my iTunes and iPhoto libraries on my iMac and MBP to the HDTV/Bose audio system. I don't watch regular TV, so I canceled my Verizon FiOS TV account and am going ATV all the way with the Netflix account. I just want to watch several movies and a some documentary shows per week, so this is all fine with me.

I really don't watch "live" TV at all, including most sports, so this makes perfect sense for me. I did want to catch some of the MLB playoffs, so I went to MLB.com to sign up for a $9.95 package to watch any of the postseason games but I'd only be able to watch that on the computer. That's fine for now. I think Apple needs to sign on NFL, MLB, and NBA for live streaming eventually if it's going to become the main centerpiece of most people's living rooms. For a guy like me, the ATV is all I need. The last thing on TV I watched before I got the ATV was a bit of the Winter Olympics back in February.

I just got mine. What I'm wondering is at what point do you reach the upper limit of your provider's band width? I have Comcast with a 250 Gig limit ... do I need to worry about reaching this limit if I use it like the guy quoted?
 
You know they have a $500 remote control available for it right? Called an iPad.

You are forgetting the $229 remote. iPod Touch. But still a remote that costs 231% more expensive is an issue about as much as one that is 505% more .
 
I don't own the old or as of yet the newest ATV mainly because I'm not interested in paying $4.99 to rent what I can get for either $1.50 via Redbox or even less on Netflix depending how many movies I watch a month. Until $1.99, or even $2.99 become the nor for renting iTunes movies the ATV will remain a low volume device. Streaming and on demand are great but movie rentals have only gotten cheaper from everyone but iTunes. I'll wait and see how the Airplay feature works out, so far I just don't see the benefit of the ATV. I have a lot of music in iTunes, most of which was ripped from my own CD's and the few movies I actually own are there but I'm not much into watching movies over and over. I'm more of a one and done on 95% of the movies I watch.

I use a PS3 for BD from Netflix, and today the PS3 now has a nicely updated Netflix, watch instant software, I'm going to have to watch the ATV's ongoing development and see what it can offer. The price is a no brainer, I've blown that out drinking on a Friday night, but can't seem to pull the trigger just yet. I guess I like my vodka more than an ATV lol.

Maybe Airplay will tip the scale?
 
Until Apple releases a version of the ATV that has a DVD player built in (and c'mon... how much more expensive would that make it?) I'm not interested. I'm betting lots of others out there feel the same. I wonder how many more of these Apple could have sold if they had positioned it as a DVD player replacement.

Entertainment hardware has to have a certain degree of backward-compatibility, and Apple never seems interested in that. In most cases, I understand how holding on to old standards and approaches holds technology back, but that's no excuse in this case. I have too many DVDs to make something like this worth buying. I could see picking up one of these to replace my current DVD player but beyond that, the functionality it provides is simply not worth $99.

DVD player?How charmingly 20th century.Perhaps a VHS deck to so we can record!That would be far out!
But seriously,I already have two DVD-capable machines hooked up to my TV.If the aTV had one I might seriously have passed on it.And of course that would break the magical $99 price point.
And anyway if you need a new player they are $29.Blu-rays are $98.
 
Once iOS 4.2 is out and airplay becomes mainstream, i am guessing Apple will sell more of these devices.

You can consider iPhone/Pod Touch/iPad as a remote to ATV or ATV as an accessory to these iOS devices. Either way, the benefit of ATV is the whole iOS echo system.

Google tv does the opposite way, they present the UI right on tv as an overlay, with Apple TV, you use your iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad to do these activity, once you find something interesting, you send it to TV or your audio system. I think I can live with that approach.
 
Too bad they didn't put RCA out on it... it would have been 5$ extra to implement and would allow everyone with a good amp to stream to home wifi from ipod/iphone/ipad/computer. This would be perfect for less audiophile listenings and to listen to movies in a stereo setup.

As it is, one has to buy a DAC and use the spdif out which is ok but not worth the investment for me.

As it is, I look forward to an airplay-capable clone w/ RCA outs. Isn't it a standard?

I have no problem.My audio system takes it's output from the tv.
:apple:TV/Bluray/cable box>TV>audio system.

Works flawlessly,only HDMI needed.
 
Which is why I won't buy one. I need a DVD player, but I don't need what AppleTV provides. I'm just saying that Apple could have sold more AppleTV units to people like me who would consider replacing their DVD player with one.

Seems like a silly, dogmatic attitude for Apple to have. They need to cater to the customers, not dictate what format is dying and isn't. There are aisles and aisles of DVD for sale in stores that prove Jobs wrong on that. I'm not saying DVDs won't someday go away, but we're likely many years away from that. Why make a product that doesn't fit the reality of the market? Even the iPod and iTunes offered an easy route for CDs to be used. AppleTV offers no such concession.

I don't understand why Apple wouldn't offer 2 models, one without DVD player and one with. Charge me another $30 for it. I'd buy one at $129, no question.

Rip your DVDs to your computer, stream them to the AppleTV? Your entire library on-demand just a click away. No fumbling with physical media anymore.
 
Why the heck would anyone sit in front of their computer when watching a movie on their TV? You fanboys really puzzle me.

However, I have to admit, if you DO want to sit in front of your computer when watching something on your TV, you might not find a BluRay player or TV that will give you that. If that makes you happy.

LOL!
You obviously have no idea how the :apple:TV works.My computer is upstairs,TV downstairs.Yet,miraculously I can watch movies(and control/select them)without"sitting in front of my computer."Maybe you should read up on it before telling people what stupid fanboys we are,and making yourself look stupid in the process.
 
That's not going to happen. Steve Jobs has said many times physical media is dying and Apple will not put a DVD or Blu-Ray player on ATV.

And I agree with him. I have an ATV precisely so that I don't have to have a DVD player. Bought a Blu Ray last Christmas. Mainly for Netflix and Vudu streaming. Then WalMart bought Vudu. There goes that. First DVD player that had been hooked up to my TV in 4 years. It's sitting in the closet now, collecting dust. All of my legacy DVD movies and TV shows are now on my hard drive, and can be streamed to my television via ATV.
 
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