The very first impression is, this thing is horrible! It connects to iTunes and you tube but not my computer(MacBook Pro). After spending an hour or two on the support site I still could not get my computer to see the apple TV. I called apple care they directed me to change some settings and open ports on my router, which I tried, the first time it did not work the second it did not work the third time I tried it I got it to work intermitently and saw the apple tv for the first time in iTunes. So, I set up the sync and after 24 hours I only had about half of my stuff over on the apple tv, man this thing is slow!
So, today my roommate asks me why she can't get into her gmail account, hmm... I don't know maybe it's your computer no mine does not work either, so I look into it and a few more hours later I finally realize that one of the ports apple told me to open is causing problems with signing into secure servers including buying items on iTunes.
Long story short, the apple tv works well now, but required a lot more setup and reconfiguring than I though it would or think it should and apparently from their support site there are many who are having the same problems. So, I only recommend the apple TV if you are comfortable reconfiguring networking and like to troubleshoot.
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Disclaimer: I am a huge (but no longer kool-aid-drinking) Apple fan.
It's good enough, and the rest of the reviews here attest to that, but now having my own, I have to touch on a couple of things that nobody has mentioned yet.
1) There is no way to shut it off. It sucks 18-22 watts down at all times. 22 watts when playing a movie, 18 watts in "hibernate" mode (which is obviously not the laptop-style hibernate mode one would think... I think it merely turns off the video output). You literally have to unplug it to get it to stop. There is no "shutdown" option or power switch. This I find a little ridiculous. Especially because they bothered to put in a neat startup movie- Did they expect you to watch it only once?
2) It runs very hot (no fan), even when it is "hibernated", and thus cannot be covered by anything or you will affect heat dissipation.
3) It is laggy sometimes. The worst offense an interface can have is to be laggy. If it's busy syncing, fine... just prioritize the user interface, please. (Edit: Even after syncing, it gets laggy sometimes.) A few times I'd hit a few buttons, wait 20 seconds, and then the audio feedback kicks in and does what I had commanded a half minute ago. This is pretty unforgivable. (Perhaps it's because it only has a half gig of RAM.)
4) No 1080p. Just to let you know. 1080i, yes. 1080p, no.
5) If you intend to hook this up to any sort of computer display via a HDMI>DVI cable, be aware that you will be unable to watch rented movies because your computer display will not support HDCP and you will get an error. Why it is still quite feasible to rent the very same movie on a computer via the iTunes Store and watch it on a non-HDCP computer display is left as an exercise to the armchair IP lawyers out there.
If you can get past those things, it's a nice little device.
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UPDATE:
I love Apple products and I think they do a great job. However they have lost points on the Apple TV... $300+ for a piece of garbage. There is a problem with these devices when connected via Wireless N and HDMI....they FREEZE - I had to power cycle my unit atleast once a day during the week and once an hour over the weekend when it was used most.
I am RETURNING IT!!!!
Do your self a favor...save up and buy a Mac Mini to replace this.
Another item you dont want from apple is the overpriced 1tb Time Capsule...it is slow as molasis...sorry...had to throw this in.
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We have recently converted this family to everything apple...computers, router, etc. The results are fantastic due to the ease of use and build quality you can expect from a company like Apple.
The last item on the list was the Apple TV.... I got one and was up and running in about 5 minutes with an hdmi cable to my receiver. GREAT...
I paired it with my itunes library so it could sync...again...very easy. I got some hi-def podcasts and enjoyed them asap....again very easy.
Everything worked and then I noticed the thing froze up.....nothing..nada...zip....5 minutes later it asked me if I wanted to reboot. It started again.... I have had it freeze on me about 4 times thus far and that is why I am giving it 4 stars.
The only other gripe I have with this is that the mp3 songs from my itunes library dont sound that great through the HDMI connection. However, I am attributing that to my receiver for the time being and will hope that it gets better.
Another tiny quirk....if you have a mac laptop and use the apple tv remote...make sure you point the remote to the apple tv..otherwise you will notice that remote is controlling your laptop and the apple tv....it can get annoying. :-)
Enjoy!
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Let's be honest - most of us were excited at the idea of Apple TV since we have been making legitimate backup copies of our DVD movies for playback on Video iPods for about 2 years. I have multiple terabytes of my own DVDs converted for my iPod, so the Apple TV was the next step.
When i got mine, I started reconverting my old DVDs into an Apple TV preset, using Handbrake 0.9.2. The quality of the DVD backup compared to the original is close, with better color and sharpness favoring the DVD. But hey, I never have to look for a DVD again now.
Some downsides to the Apple TV
- I did wish it played DVDs in a pinch, but thats what a Mac Mini is for
- Doesnt appear to support de-interlacing. This seems like a big oversight since I may want to keep some format interlaced, and count on the Apple TV to convert it before sending it our progressive. Instead I have to deinterlace in Handbrake, which lowers the quality.
- Can't stream photos from your PC, they must be manually copied over. This seems really dumb since I can stream movies and music. What was Apple thinking?
Overall 4 stars. Great product, just wish it did some more.
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