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benhollberg

macrumors 68020
Mar 8, 2010
2,170
7
What's the advantage of apple tv over just plugging in a MacBook to your tv via hdmi? This is a serious question I want to know. Anyone replace cable tv with it? Can you get channels etc?


The fact that you don't have to plug anything in and you can have it access different computers on the same network. I used to plug my MacBook Pro into my TV with DVI and it worked good but using the new Apple TV is so much easier and more convenient.
 

derektom

macrumors newbie
Sep 16, 2010
6
0
Netflix only available in US and Canada?

What I want to know is if the Netflix online video rentals will only available in US and Canada.

If so the market for Apple TV is really only the US and Canada unless people are willing to live without such a big feature.

I currently use my old black MacBook hooked up to my plasma/projector and run Plex Media Center for similar features. Actually it's way more flexible with the types of video files it can play and it can build a very nice library with all the DVD video covers and movie summaries.
 

unreal77

macrumors newbie
Jun 23, 2010
3
0
My guess is that Apple tv + iphone or touch (as controller) will become a gaming console on its own. Developers will get to do games for 720 or 1080 and you will get to play them in your living room in a big screen.

my 2 cents.
 

paradox00

macrumors 65816
Sep 29, 2009
1,405
819
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.

Change the name from "apps" to "channels" and I think you'll figure it out. Apps for Apple TV would be new channels to access more media through. It is the single greatest need for Apple TV to be a huge hit. AirPlay is kind of a work around to address this need.
 

aduteau

macrumors 6502a
Oct 14, 2007
553
46
How do we know for sure that apple TV will get apps or channels ...

Ok so they did put iOS with the same chipset as in iphone, ipad and ipod ...

But lets say that apple TV2 doesn't sell that much... do you think devs would really take the time and money to develop for an platform that doesn't give them that much revenue ?

Its easy to say that iphone, ipad apps will sell and make money ... with over 120 million iOS devices out there that can download their apps ...

If Apple TV2 doesn't take off in numbers ... i wonder if an app store will follow, and if so ... I don't see it coming until iOS 5,

I guess Apple will play the waiting game to see if Google TV's app really do enhance the TV experience ... for the first time I see Apple copying Google
:O
 

RJBeckett

macrumors newbie
Nov 28, 2009
5
0
I wanted to add my 2 cents to this forum for what it's worth. I purchased the ATV2 the day it came to the store. I had long had the original ATV and loved it. Since purchasing the ATV2 I have had nothing but headaches dealing with it and I am finding there are several others out there with similar issues. I have experienced great difficulty staying connected to iTunes via Home Sharing in addition to my original ATV now having to be reset regularly because it attempts to share the IP address with my Mac. Sounds like a network issue but I never had any of these problems before... not to mention people with the same problems have spent hours on the phone with Apple support and they have no clue. I love my Apple gear and when my ATV2 works it's truly wonderful but to be honest it's causing more headaches than it is worth.

Here's the thread if any of you care to read...
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2600949&start=0&tstart=0

Sincerely,
Disappointed
 

alent1234

macrumors 603
Jun 19, 2009
5,688
170
I wanted to add my 2 cents to this forum for what it's worth. I purchased the ATV2 the day it came to the store. I had long had the original ATV and loved it. Since purchasing the ATV2 I have had nothing but headaches dealing with it and I am finding there are several others out there with similar issues. I have experienced great difficulty staying connected to iTunes via Home Sharing in addition to my original ATV now having to be reset regularly because it attempts to share the IP address with my Mac. Sounds like a network issue but I never had any of these problems before... not to mention people with the same problems have spent hours on the phone with Apple support and they have no clue. I love my Apple gear and when my ATV2 works it's truly wonderful but to be honest it's causing more headaches than it is worth.

Here's the thread if any of you care to read...
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2600949&start=0&tstart=0

Sincerely,
Disappointed

not really apple's fault but this is why i don't believe in all these fads like streaming from a central media library at home. last thing i want is a higher electric bill because my computers are on all the time
 

Speedy2

macrumors 65816
Nov 19, 2008
1,163
254
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.

I own an Apple TV (1st gen), and I use it frequently.
I never need my computer for watching anything on it. Just for syncing.
 

BC2009

macrumors 68020
Jul 1, 2009
2,236
1,372
Had mine for a few days now. It's all about the potential for the future with this for me (I bought while in US, 2/3 price than UK). App platform, airplay conduit, potential games machine....until then it's a pretty neat video on demand box.

i have to agree -- i'm waiting for AirPlay for this thing to become more useful. I just got mine and its only advantages over the older one are setup is easier with home-sharing AND it is faster and has NetFlix.

the new one (with current OS) does not even play the iTunes Extras I have with movies I downloaded -- that was disappointing.

overall -- I was a bit underwhelmed by the update except for the far-cheaper price and speed and potential/hope for the next upgrade.
 

Speedy2

macrumors 65816
Nov 19, 2008
1,163
254
A lot compared to any other comparable media center device like the WD TV Live or Roku. And likely a lot compared to what Logitech's Google TV device will sell although they aren't really comparable. The market for these things aren't the same as the market for iPods and iPhones.

You have sales numbers for HD TV Live, Roku etc? Please share.

The market isn't the same? Everyone on this planet has a TV and wants to watch stuff on it. The potential market is infinite.
 

benhollberg

macrumors 68020
Mar 8, 2010
2,170
7
not really apple's fault but this is why i don't believe in all these fads like streaming from a central media library at home. last thing i want is a higher electric bill because my computers are on all the time

Just turn on "Wake for Network Access" so that your computers will only be awake when the Apple TV is actually using them.
 

alent1234

macrumors 603
Jun 19, 2009
5,688
170
Just turn on "Wake for Network Access" so that your computers will only be awake when the Apple TV is actually using them.

judging from the posts on apple support forums, it doesn't seem to work very well. does it work for wifi cards?
 

RJBeckett

macrumors newbie
Nov 28, 2009
5
0
To the previous responses- I'd like to know how my ATV2 not connecting to my iTunes is not Apple's fault and to the other response, thank you for the suggestion however this is one of the many "fixes" discussed in the forums that does not work.

Additionally, as stated above, iTunes did not even need to be on for my original ATV to work. I often have to reset my network so that iTunes or the ATV2 (whichever) can re-find one another.
 

Speedy2

macrumors 65816
Nov 19, 2008
1,163
254
That is completely false. I do this all the time. You have to turn on "Wake for Network Access" in System Preferences.

It's not false, obviously. Your computer needs to be in standby, or else it won't work. And then it has to turn itself on in order to actually stream something. This will work nicely with recent Macs, but not with a lot of Windows PCs running iTunes (that have ~90% market share).

It's a fine example of misusing a tool (computer) for something it was never designed for (being an always available streaming server).
 

benhollberg

macrumors 68020
Mar 8, 2010
2,170
7
judging from the posts on apple support forums, it doesn't seem to work very well. does it work for wifi cards?

It works for me fine but there is one problem: I have a MacBook Pro so when it is closed it will wake up but immediately go back to sleep.

The only way for it to work correctly is to leave it open. Even though it is open the screen will turn off after a couple minutes. Or even if you are close you can turn the screen off by pressing Control+Shift+Eject.
 

tripjammer

macrumors 6502a
Apr 28, 2010
581
0
PROS:

very clean interface
best netflix gui (so far)
plays iTunes on my home theater env.


CONS:

flickr support is WEAK
no pandora(boxee has it)
no hulu
won't play anything outside of itunes/paid content


so basically i pretty much got it for iTunes.

my home theater uses all these pieces for media consumption:

windows 7 media center with hulu and boxee(good for pandora/flickr) running on it too

ps3 with ps3 media server streaming to it
apple tv for itunes and netflix
xbox 360 as a redundant step child

You got a good setup..
I got PS3 with PS3 media server and the AppleTv 2 tied to my itunes library.

If you have a Iphone\Ipad\Itouch...get the remote app...this gets around the keyboard issues with appleTV. Works perfect...especially with the Ipad.

Netflix is awesome on the PS3 after the update yesterday.

But netflix runs faster on the AppleTV.
 

newagemac

macrumors 68020
Mar 31, 2010
2,091
23
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8A306 Safari/6531.22.7)

What's the advantage of apple tv over just plugging in a MacBook to your tv via hdmi? This is a serious question I want to know. Anyone replace cable tv with it? Can you get channels etc?

So every time John Doe's family wants to watch something like they can do on the Apple TV he has to carry his 27" Quad Core iMac downstairs and plug it in? And then when he and his wife get sleepy and want to finish the movie upstairs in the bedroom they have to carry the iMac back upstairs and connect it to the TV in the bedroom, boot it back up, etc. etc.?

Or are you saying that whenever the family wants to watch stuff they get to take his wife's laptop from her? Teenagers get full access to the parent's computer at the TV whenever they want? Or maybe the wife gets to take the laptop back while they are in the middle of watching something if she needs it? Or maybe they should buy thousand dollar Macbooks for everyone in the house including their 4 year old toddler just for this function? But when your laptop is connected to the TV, how are you going to use your laptop at the same time you're watching or listening to stuff like you usually do? Maybe John Doe should buy two laptops for each person then???


I haven't even got into the whole user interface part and the 10 foot experience but you seriously can't see the benefit of inexpensive dedicated media extenders over your proposed solution? You must live alone in a small apartment. Broaden your perspectives a bit. Think a bit harder about the practicalities, cost, convenience, and user experience/user interface advantages for the mass consumer market.
 

newagemac

macrumors 68020
Mar 31, 2010
2,091
23
You have sales numbers for HD TV Live, Roku etc? Please share.

Yes actually I do. An article from January 27th of this year where Roku claims they have sold only 500,000 units to date:

http://newteevee.com/2010/01/27/roku-500000-units-sold-raising-capital-eyeing-ipo/

So while they have only sold 500,000 in the entire history of the Roku's existence, the new Apple TV has sold 250,000 units in just 18 days. There's a bit of a reality check for ya. They also apparently "expect" to sell about 500,000 units this year in total. I highly doubt that number based on their previous sales but even that number pales in comparison to the Apple TV which has reached half of their expected Roku unit sales figures in just 18 days.

I would look up WD too but I think it is commonly understood that Roku outsell them.

The market isn't the same? Everyone on this planet has a TV and wants to watch stuff on it. The potential market is infinite.


That's like saying everyone on this planet has a head and don't like sweat to get into their eyes, so the potential market for headbands is "infinite". Maybe many consumers have determined that wiping their forehead with their hands is enough. Or maybe many just don't participate in enough sweat inducing activity to see the value in a headband. Whatever the reason, the market isn't realistically "infinite". All a headband manufacturing company can do is compare how many headbands they sell against their competition. Measuring success or failure against the number of heads on the planet is pointless.

Similarly, the reality is consumers have determined so far that entertainment through their TVs is going to come from a cable box, not a media center device. Roku, Apple TV, and WD TV Live don't come close. Until that changes, the potential market isn't realistically "infinite" and Apple can only compare their success against the competition.
 

petvas

macrumors 603
Jul 20, 2006
5,479
1,805
Munich, Germany
I'd love to know how many of those were bought by people who have a 1st-gen ATV vs brand new ATV customers.

I had the first AppleTV but wasn't really happy with it. I prefer the new one. It is smaller, looks good, is faster and works well, even if it misses 1080p.
 

AnalyzeThis

macrumors 6502
Sep 8, 2007
443
1
Busted! Not again...:( Who would think it might happen?
At very least, it was priced right.

This leads to the question: How pathetic the sales of previous generation Apple TV really was? About ~5,000 Qt?
 

tripjammer

macrumors 6502a
Apr 28, 2010
581
0
i have to agree -- i'm waiting for AirPlay for this thing to become more useful. I just got mine and its only advantages over the older one are setup is easier with home-sharing AND it is faster and has NetFlix.

the new one (with current OS) does not even play the iTunes Extras I have with movies I downloaded -- that was disappointing.

overall -- I was a bit underwhelmed by the update except for the far-cheaper price and speed and potential/hope for the next upgrade.


Dude It is $99 and it is an IOS device....and it is $99...and it is quiet and fast and slick.

Apps will come and when that happens it is all over for everything else.

8GB space is enough...there will always be bigger capacity AppleTv in the near future...
 

paradox00

macrumors 65816
Sep 29, 2009
1,405
819
To the previous responses- I'd like to know how my ATV2 not connecting to my iTunes is not Apple's fault and to the other response, thank you for the suggestion however this is one of the many "fixes" discussed in the forums that does not work.

Additionally, as stated above, iTunes did not even need to be on for my original ATV to work. I often have to reset my network so that iTunes or the ATV2 (whichever) can re-find one another.

I bet you're running Windows 7.
 

tinman0

macrumors regular
Jun 5, 2008
181
3
Just like all of those CDs that you use every day right... Those dam iPods should have a CD player built in!

You know what's missing from my new car - an 8 track.

Seriously, they were popular 40 years ago, and it would only have cost Ford $30 to add one today. Probably less.
 

RJBeckett

macrumors newbie
Nov 28, 2009
5
0
Paradox00,

I am running whatever the latest version of MacOS is on my iMac. I'v never had any experience with Windows 7 but I am sure it is not pleasant, and I really wish that was the solution to my ATV2's issues.
 
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