Taking Apple TV on the road

[DaveN]

Has anyone tried using AppleTV with the SanDisk Connect products? That seems like a sweet solution to take movies on the road with you. The instructions say you can watch iTunes purchased content but I was wondering if anyone tried using it for non-itunes videos? I was thinking something like this:

1: Store your non-itunes movies on the SanDisk Connect unit
2: Use a media browser app (I have 'Remote Files') to play the video on your iPad
3: Use Airplay to stream the video back through the SanDisk Connect to the AppleTV

Has anyone tried that? Can you stream back to the SanDisk product and then to the AppleTV?

Alternatively, I do have a rooted AppleTV and may be able to browse the SanDisk files directly.

Lastly, if you have a SanDisk Connect, what do you think of it? Which version did you go for (the little square or the stick?) and why?

TIA

 

[TJ61]

I recently did this with a SanDisk Media Player (the square one), and my own (non-itunes) movies. First, I connected the AppleTV to the SanDisk WiFi network. It takes a while to connect at first, because the AppleTV is looking to get on the internet. After a while it'll time out and ask if you want to continue, and then you're good to go.

Then, I used my iPad to view movies, and AirPlayed them to the AppleTV. (Some viewing apps AirPlay better than others; I recommend nPlayer.)

Alternatively, you could first download a movie to your iDevice, then use available WiFi to get it to the AppleTV.

On another occasion I was unsuccessful attempting this. I think it's because the TV where we were staying was programmed to work only with the installed DVD player. When I plugged in my AppleTV, I just got a "no signal" message. So be prepared (psychologically, anyway) for this possibility.

Oh, and it's easy to forget the remote at home. Then you're screwed. Let's just leave it at that.

Overall I've been happy with the SanDisk Media Player. I like that I can put my camera's SD card in it and transfer pics back and forth. We used it on the road to stream movies to 3 devices with not a single issue (2 iphones and one android).

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Which version did you go for (the little square or the stick?) and why?

(Forgot to quote you above -- if you're like me you might not notice the reply otherwise.)

I chose the "little square" mostly because it takes normal sized SD cards like my camera uses. Also, it can stream to more devices at once, and has twice the battery life.

 

[DaveN]

Thanks for the information TJ. I ordered the stick version yesterday from NewEgg as the 64 GB version was on sale for $79. Like you I would have liked the small square version for the same reasons you mention but figured I'd give the stick a try at that price.

I don't know if I mentioned it in my original post, but I have a jailbroken ATV2 so I should be able to browse movies directly with the Apple TV. I have used a dedicated network attached storage device on the road along with a router but all that gets a bit cluttered. Hopefully with the new setup, I only need 110v for the TV and Apple TV and the rest is small and simple setup. I'll post my findings a few days after I receive the Sandisk Connect stick.

Thanks again!