Apple TV - Yes or No?

[MikeL]

A fairly loose question, but would value opinions or altenatives.

A couple of points, I like the Apple TV interface plus the bonus that it works with iTunes. Need to wirelessly interface (mainly) music to my amp, but also video - with the benefit of remote control and inerface on the main tv.

My amp can accept any of the current interface cables. The wireless is already set up and strong signal in the lounge - needs to ultimately be Mac compatible.

Ta

Mike

(hunting for yet another gadget!)

 

[smartbrabus]

If I had an HDMI input I'd be tempted.

Just noticed you can get a certified refurb unit for £159 from Apple with free shipping. Not bad value, and their refurb stuff is good as new IME.

 

[A-AvantGarde]

I've been looking at these for quite a while. Haven't seen one in action yet, only seen screenshots.

I want to wirelessly link to iTunes and also pictures on my PC / Network. I've now got a home NAS (network attached storage) unit, just need the link betwen that and the TV / stereo.

Looked into the following:

Apple TV
D Link MediaLounge DSM320
Linksys KISS 1600 Mediaplayer
Home brew solution using a wireless streaming device

As I have the NAS, the size of the storage on the device isn't critical to me. The interface just needs to be neat & simple.

 

[robert.saunders]

Apple TV is great - if you don't mind the lack of ability to play non-iTunes supported files. It will not play AVI, xVid, DivX, WMV etc.

Saying that, I love it, and the image/picture slideshow set to iTunes playlists is a beaut'. It's HDMI too, and wireless or Ethernet network connex

 

[MikeL]

Apple TV is great - if you don't mind the lack of ability to play non-iTunes supported files. It will not play AVI, xVid, DivX, WMV etc.

Saying that, I love it, and the image/picture slideshow set to iTunes playlists is a beaut'. It's HDMI too, and wireless or Ethernet network connex

Robert,

Will it play AVI, etc if itunes/quicktime has the correct codec (which I do have) to allow such playpack?

Mike

 

[robert.saunders]

Robert,

Will it play AVI, etc if itunes/quicktime has the correct codec (which I do have) to allow such playpack?

Mike

Nope

You have to 'fiddle' with the box itself cough, cough (google such things ) or you need to convert your vid files to an Apple format such as quicktime, mov etc etc.

Not a lot of people know that

 

[bolide]

QuickTime will play AVI files if you install Flip4Mac from Microsoft's website. Does this mean that Apple TV will play AVI?

Nick Froome
www.pvision.co.uk

 

[robert.saunders]

QuickTime will play AVI files if you install Flip4Mac from Microsoft's website. Does this mean that Apple TV will play AVI?

Nick Froome
www.pvision.co.uk

Possibly.... Not sure, for sure

 

[MikeL]

Hmmm, think I might go with Apple - probably after having a study of a few hacks etc.

AND

If I can get a damn Wii first - i.e. family want a Wii, only me want AppleTV.

Thanks for the thoughts

Mike

 

[scotth_uk]

I got one for my parents last weekend and set it up for them - a great unit. Keep in mind that it can be hacked to achieve just about anything, but out of the box it's quite powerful. I got it to extend their iTunes library into the lounge. My mother can barely use a phone, but can now browse her music collection with ease. I've also subscribed her to a bunch of audio and video podcasts and she can navigate her way through them with ease.

I was surprised to see how well the Youtube stuff works. Also handy to see that you can point it at any of the iTunes stores and can browse their top ten singles and albums. Also able to watch movie trailers from the US.

 

[NiallerS320]

You have to *cough* hack it *cough* to play divx, avi, xvid etc, these hacks are easily downloaded. No full HD playback yet (then again wirelessly streaming full HD would be a nightmare without .n).

 

[chriswt]

I've never been a fan of Apple TV. It's a little childish if you ask me.

 

[robert.saunders]

Sold my 160GB unit on eBay this week

 

[Spinal]

Not being a fan of the Apple tv (too many warranty-defying hacks to get it to do what you want) I ended up buying an Xbox (original, not 360) and a Belkin Ethernet-over-mains adapter.

Total cost? £60... (+XBMC as the operating system which is free) - does all that an Apple TV can do and more... and you don't have any of those finnicky apple files to tweak...

 

[NiallerS320]

Is saying all of that Spinal the original black brick was HUUUUUUGEEEEEEE and weighed a ton, the apple TV is the size of an ashtray and easily stuck to the back of your LCD.

 

[Spinal]

Is saying all of that Spinal the original black brick was HUUUUUUGEEEEEEE and weighed a ton, the apple TV is the size of an ashtray and easily stuck to the back of your LCD.

True - but its almost as useful as an ashtray stuck to the back of an LCD as well

For marketing purposes, we need to dislay a fairly large LCD near admissions streaming all sorts of stuff - as a mac-only company, we ended up buying a Mac mini and used that... Running full OsX is a godsend compared to the limitations of a Apple TV...

 

[NiallerS320]

Yeah most of my clients I've installed a mini in the boardroom hooked to a 40" lcd, very handy and even more fun with salling clicker installed, sometimes you'll need displayconfigX to get the correct rez on the older G4 models but works a treat.

 

[scotth_uk]

Running full OsX is a godsend compared to the limitations of a Apple TV...

Agreed, and the frontrow interface is identical to the aTV. If you know what you are doing and need the extra functionality, it's the logical choice.