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Should I purchase an ATV?

T

tate16t

macrumors member
Original poster
Hey guys,

I'm considering purchasing an ATV and would like the opinions/experiences from those of you who have used the device. Please let me know if my reasoning is correct.

Why am I considering an ATV;
1. I have multiple IOS devices, iPhones, iPads a MacAir and adding the ATV I believe would compliment my families overall user experience.
2. I have a personal library of movies hosted on a Netgear NAS I believe I can access.
3. I subscribe to Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime (for now)
4. I believe I can add Plex Connect to improve my catalog view of movies, photos, videos and TV shows. (Would like to hear other experiences here. Should I use Plex from a computer or my NAS?)

Please add anything else I may have left out or correct me where necessary.

Thanks in advance!
 
ATV is very good for those in the OS X/IOS environment. It's easy to stream content from your devices using AirPlay.

ATV is excellent for Netflix. It has been reported by reliable sources that the Netflix content is stored on Apple's servers, ensuring a good viewing experience. This means that you don't stream directly from Netflix, so you are not at the mercy of business squabbles between Netflix and ISPs or various network intermediaries.

Amazon Prime? Not available directly on ATV, so you will need to stream over AirPlay using the Amazon Prime app on one of your devices. Or you could get Roku - it's cheap enough.
 
I bought one more or less on a lark a little while back. My hardware and content sources are more or less the same as yours. It's been surprisingly satisfactory. 🙂 For the modest investment (I bought an unused "used" one for $80) it's easy to like.
 
Absolutely, go for it. It's such a low outlay for what it is and as soon as you get it you'll realise how much you've missed it not having one. As you have a multitude of Apple devices there's no reason not to.
 
you won't be able to access the files directly from the NAS, you will need a computer up and running. (might be possible be able to do this with an iOS app)
It sounds like you know this, but it's a common misunderstanding here on the boards.

You should use plex from your computer. Plex converts any non-compatible files as you watch them, which the NAS probably doesn't have the horsepower to handle. you could make sure the files were in a compatible format for all your players but...
Plexconnect has to run on a computer anyway. Also, once it's configured, the aTV will not connect to the internet without plexconnect running (even for netflix or hulu)

tate16t said:
atv3?
Click to expand...
I'm going to say yes. You're probably not going to find a 2 at retail unless it's buried in a deep deep dark corner on a shelf somewhere
 
Thanks all.

From what I read here on the forum Plex will also provide better search capabilities and allow me to categorize my content better? I don't like the fact that my MAC would need to be on with Plex running in order to use ATV.

Does Costco usually have the ATV in stores?
 
tate16t said:
Thanks all.

From what I read here on the forum Plex will also provide better search capabilities and allow me to categorize my content better? I don't like the fact that my MAC would need to be on with Plex running in order to use ATV.

Does Costco usually have the ATV in stores?
Click to expand...

buy a 2014 mac mini !!! it only uses up 6 watts idling, and 85 watts at full load

i never heard the fans ramping up full blast when doing plex

make sure you do not turn on file vault in Yosemite on headless ( no monitor mac minis ) or it won't boot up


i think the base model is all you need for plex server.

my plex server is a 2012 mac mini 2.4 c2d and its fine

maybe you would need a faster mac mini if you are serving a lot of computers.

i have problems with it stuttering and buffering when transcoding blu ray content or live HDTV from a HD HOME RUN

You can also get a intel atom based nas, like a netgear readynas to run plex server. it will consume more power as a mac mini, but because of cpu issues, you will want to encode everything to mpeg 4 or whatever, i forget, so it doesn't have to transcode and it can play the file directly

a arm based readynas 104 ( 4 bays ) would set you back $238, it would run plex, but not as well as a mac mini, and it would consume 45 watts of power. and it won't be as powerful as the x86 nas units, which are still less cpu power then the base mac mini

a x86 based readynas 314 (4 bays) would set you back $500 and its cpu would still be slower then a mac mini

a nas word keep your content safe and redundant
 
Last edited:
rigormortis said:
buy a 2014 mac mini !!! it only uses up 6 watts idling, and 85 watts at full load

i never heard the fans ramping up full blast when doing plex

make sure you do not turn on file vault in Yosemite on headless ( no monitor mac minis ) or it won't boot up


i think the base model is all you need for plex server.

my plex server is a 2012 mac mini 2.4 c2d and its fine

maybe you would need a faster mac mini if you are serving a lot of computers.

i have problems with it stuttering and buffering when transcoding blu ray content or live HDTV from a HD HOME RUN

You can also get a intel atom based nas, like a netgear readynas to run plex server. it will consume more power as a mac mini, but because of cpu issues, you will want to encode everything to mpeg 4 or whatever, i forget, so it doesn't have to transcode and it can play the file directly

a arm based readynas 104 ( 4 bays ) would set you back $238, it would run plex, but not as well as a mac mini, and it would consume 45 watts of power. and it won't be as powerful as the x86 nas units, which are still less cpu power then the base mac mini

a x86 based readynas 314 (4 bays) would set you back $500 and its cpu would still be slower then a mac mini

a nas word keep your content safe and redundant
Click to expand...

Thanks. I have an x86 based Netgear NAS now, an older Ultra 4. According to the Plex site it's not enough horse power. I will start with the basics first, without Plex for now.
 
tate16t said:
Hey guys,

I'm considering purchasing an ATV and would like the opinions/experiences from those of you who have used the device. Please let me know if my reasoning is correct.

Why am I considering an ATV;
1. I have multiple IOS devices, iPhones, iPads a MacAir and adding the ATV I believe would compliment my families overall user experience.
2. I have a personal library of movies hosted on a Netgear NAS I believe I can access.
3. I subscribe to Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime (for now)
4. I believe I can add Plex Connect to improve my catalog view of movies, photos, videos and TV shows. (Would like to hear other experiences here. Should I use Plex from a computer or my NAS?)

Please add anything else I may have left out or correct me where necessary.

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

We have one. I was about to get another because I love the fact that most of our digital copies are on it for the kids. When you want to quickly thumb through movies, AppleTV is killer. The problem, Ultraviolet (UVVU). Some digital copies give you an iTunes copy along with the UVVU copy, others don't. The best player for UVVU is Vudu due to its audio capabilities and the ability to convert your DVD/BD collection for a couple of bucks a copy. You can use your iPad to airdrop to the AppleTV but the picture quality and audio are limited with this.

We will not buy another AppleTV until they launch a VUDU player app on the AppleTV. It only needs to be a player app so I can access the movies we have there. Amazon streaming would be a nice addition, but not necessary. Cross platform search like Roku would be fantastic, but Apple wants to push us to the ecosystem so I'm not optimistic. The arrangement we have today is an AppleTV for the ecosystem and Roku3 for the rest of the world. It's like having to have a DVD player and Bluray player to watch all your movies and its a pain as roughly 10% of our digital copy collection (largely from digital copies from blurays) can't be viewed in iTunes and I'm not paying twice for the same movie.
 
AaronM5670 said:
I would also like to see Amazon streaming, however I doubt we'll ever see it due to Amazon competing with iTunes and especially after they launched their own TV box.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I think the best solution is to give AppleTV a store. It would be the killer app. Imagine being able to access literally everything.
 
tate16t said:
atv3?
Click to expand...

Yes. I got my ATV3 at costco using this deal a week before Christmas. $89 and comes with $15 iTunes card.

Planning on setting up plex soon. Not happy hearing that I have to keep my PC running anytime I need internet access from my ATV.
 
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