Apple TV

[DAB]

Hey, do any of you have Apple TV? I was just wondering as they now have so much HD content, I was sort of interested.

I would think the 40gb model would be sufficient since you could continue to use use your computer hard drive and transfer the movies and or music you want to the device when needed.

If any of you have any knowledge and/or experience with one of these please give us some info.

Thanks,

 

[KTMCDO]

Hey, do any of you have Apple TV? I was just wondering as they now have so much HD content, I was sort of interested.

I would think the 40gb model would be sufficient since you could continue to use use your computer hard drive and transfer the movies and or music you want to the device when needed.

If any of you have any knowledge and/or experience with one of these please give us some info.

Thanks,

this i wouldnt mind having i just need more info as well

 

[Tristan]

Hey Guys,

I picked up the AppleTV about two weeks ago and I love the thing. I picked up a refurbished 160GB for $269 I believe. The HD content on it is great I have rented a few movies and find it easier and nicer to use for that then the XBOX 360 or the Playstation 3 I used to use for such things.

The coolest part about the device is loading Boxee or the XBMC (Xbox Media Center) on the device then you can literally play almost any file on there. I had some issues with 720p or 1080p MKV files. But content encoded in H.264 in .MOV works great at 720p. I haven't had time to tinker with a 1080p file yet.

The process is great if you are already an iPod or iTunes user the process is great and nice getting that content on the TV. I loaded 25GB of music and about 12,000 of my girlfriends photos with no issues. You can also setup the device to go grab flickr accounts and your YouTube favorites.

I have found that Boxee is probably the bread and butter of the device once you get it installed on there.

boxee blog boxee on Apple TV 2.3

Since they are adding all the TV network streams on there you can watch them on your AppleTV been very handy for watching Arrested Development. My girlfriend has been wanting me to watch it and have been able to with ease on the TV in good quality for free.

I have it hooked up to my stereo and use the Apple Remote Application on my iPhone and it makes a killer jukebox at that point. I must say the device is awesome and been a great asset for my entertainment needs.

The Cons.

There is no way to turn it off other then unplugging it. You can put it in a standby mode but it is still running and drawing power.

Other then that I can't really think of any bad things to say about the device. If you have any further questions let me know. I would be happy to answer. If you need a boxee invite send me an e-mail and I will shoot one of those off as well.

Cheers!

 

[DAB]

Hey Tristian, long time no see bro. Good to see you around!

So, let me make sure I understand this thing. You actually buy a movie and it downloads to your hard drive on your Mac or PC, then what happens from there? You copy it to the device or does it actually just download to the device? I guess I am trying to decide is a 40gb model enough or should I opt for the 160gb model. I don't mind transferring the files from the computer to the device when I want to watch certain things. But just don't get the over concept of how this thing works.

Thanks for your input!

 

[KTMCDO]

Hey Tristian, long time no see bro. Good to see you around!

So, let me make sure I understand this thing. You actually buy a movie and it downloads to your hard drive on your Mac or PC, then what happens from there? You copy it to the device or does it actually just download to the device? I guess I am trying to decide is a 40gb model enough or should I opt for the 160gb model. I don't mind transferring the files from the computer to the device when I want to watch certain things. But just don't get the over concept of how this thing works.

Thanks for your input!

The way i understand it based on a video demo
you access your itunes account from the appletv and it searches for videos and streams them from your mac/pc
opps i was wrong you sync from your pc/mac to ATV

DEMO

 

[Tristan]

The way i understand it based on a video demo
you access your itunes account from the appletv and it searches for videos and streams them from your mac/pc
opps i was wrong you sync from your pc/mac to ATV

DEMO

You can download and do everything from the AppleTV. I haven't tried downloading a movie from iTunes on a Mac/PC and putting it on the AppleTV. You can download and play from the AppleTV so you could run the device without using a computer almost.

The problems with AppleTV software 1.0 was that you had do to most of the media management and renting and so forth from a Mac/PC. With the new 2.x software you can rent/purchase from the AppleTV and download it to the AppleTV without using a Mac/PC.

I hope that clears things up.

 

[KTMCDO]

You can download and do everything from the AppleTV. I haven't tried downloading a movie from iTunes on a Mac/PC and putting it on the AppleTV. You can download and play from the AppleTV so you could run the device without using a computer almost.

The problems with AppleTV software 1.0 was that you had do to most of the media management and renting and so forth from a Mac/PC. With the new 2.x software you can rent/purchase from the AppleTV and download it to the AppleTV without using a Mac/PC.

I hope that clears things up.

yes it sure does man i am going to be broke with
all of these gadgets maybe i will hold off on apple tv
for now and get it in the spring/summer

 

[DAB]

Thanks guys for all the info. Boy I am itching for one of these bad boys now! Seems you can stream from your computer and or transfer the files over, so I don't see the bigger hard drive as really necessary, though I guess it is nice to have.

Would you guys go with the 40gb or the 160gb? Just curious to see what you think?

 

[KTMCDO]

Thanks guys for all the info. Boy I am itching for one of these bad boys now! Seems you can stream from your computer and or transfer the files over, so I don't see the bigger hard drive as really necessary, though I guess it is nice to have.

Would you guys go with the 40gb or the 160gb? Just curious to see what you think?

since HD is a bigger file i would go with the 160 gb but if your
going to watch it and not save the movie i would go with the 40
one more question can you burn the movie to a dvd-r dvd-rw

 

[DAB]

since HD is a bigger file i would go with the 160 gb but if your
going to watch it and not save the movie i would go with the 40
one more question can you burn the movie to a dvd-r dvd-rw

Yeah I thought of the fact that HD files would be bigger. But if I could manage them from my computer which has 1 terbyte of hard drive space it really wouldn't matter. I could either stream them from my PC or copy them over as needed.

I see myself more as being a movie renter than buying them.

 

[Tristan]

That is a negative on the DVD-R/RW burning of movies downloaded from iTunes. You play them on Apple devices and through iTunes only. I am sure DRM will be broken eventually but doesn't really seem to be practical at that point. If you are going to buy probably cheaper and easier to just go pick up the DVD online or through your retailer of choice.

I would go with the 160GB since the movies get moved to the AppleTV in order to play them. You can download them to your PC and then push them over to the AppleTV but if you rent it from the AppleTV interface you can't push it to your PC.

You get 30 days to start watching it after your rental and can watch it as many times as you want after you start it for the next 24hrs.