Apple TV experiences anyone?

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compost

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Ultimate Geek
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#13926 5-Jun-2007 20:55

I know Apple TV is far too wimpy and ungeeky for most here, but it has serious "missus appeal" especially with the recently announced youtube integration. Has anyone tried it out? What do you think?

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sbiddle

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#73525 5-Jun-2007 20:56

GB-PVR has had youtube support for several releases now.

Regs

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Snowflake

#73536 5-Jun-2007 21:23

compost: I know Apple TV is far too wimpy and ungeeky for most here, but it has serious "missus appeal" especially with the recently announced youtube integration. Has anyone tried it out? What do you think?

In my opinion the biggest thing missing from "Apple TV" is the "TV". There are no tuner cards built in to it and it cannot record programs from the TV or SKY - only replay bought ones from iTunes etc. That makes it a whole lot less integrated than virtually all of the PVR options around like MCE, MythTV, GBPVR, etc..

Windows MCE has had YouTube integrations build by third parties, but even though i installed one of them i've never really used it.... i tend to view links emailed to me rather than browse for content myself.

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BigFella

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#73538 5-Jun-2007 21:35

I picked one up a couple of weeks ago - the best out of box experience I've ever had! I got an Airport Extreme at the same time, and had both of them set up and syncing/streaming in about 15 minutes.

It just works - I've never had any issues with streaming video or music over 802.11g/n, interface is very easy to use, and it is silent.

Some quirks though:
- I had an issue with some MP3s not streaming correctly (they played fine when synced to the ATV box). I never found the root cause, but updating the MP3s to use ID3 v2.4 tags fixed it.
- it takes a minute or two to get your head around the sync Vs stream interface. I've got mine set up to stream rather than sync for most things, and it works very well.
- you can't change the order of what is synced - eg I'd always like to have all of my photos on the ATV, but they are assigned the lowest priority.
- format support - most content available on the net isn't mp4/h.264, so be prepared for a bit of conversion - Visualhub (for OSX) does the job nicely for me.
- no volume control - aggghhh, understandable but still a pain.

The missus (and the kids) approves of mine - get one!

Comments are my own, don't blame my employer...

freitasm

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#73549 5-Jun-2007 22:47

As Regs commented before, BigFella... Any "TV" on "Apple TV"?

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lduncan

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Master Geek

#73550 5-Jun-2007 22:57

Regs:
compost: I know Apple TV is far too wimpy and ungeeky for most here, but it has serious "missus appeal" especially with the recently announced youtube integration. Has anyone tried it out? What do you think?

In my opinion the biggest thing missing from "Apple TV" is the "TV". There are no tuner cards built in to it and it cannot record programs from the TV or SKY - only replay bought ones from iTunes etc. That makes it a whole lot less integrated than virtually all of the PVR options around like MCE, MythTV, GBPVR, etc..

... that's because it's not a PVR, nor pretending to be one. It's clearly focused towards the future (IP TV), not the past. Coincidentally at&t are gearing up a large scale IPTV service.

Also, from a geek perspective it's a nice, relatively inexpensive unit for hacking. There are numerous hacks for it (the usual suspects, linux, asterisk server, mythtv, retail version of OS X...).

http://www.polarbearfarm.com

BigFella

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Master Geek
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#73557 6-Jun-2007 07:35

freitasm: As Regs commented before, BigFella... Any "TV" on "Apple TV"?

Depends what you're after - it's not a PVR, and it wasn't designed to be. I've had some shows coming in automatically via bittorrent (eg Lost) onto the iMac which works well. As lduncan says, this is a step on a journey to IPTV - once Apple realises pay-to-download TV probably isn't a viable long-term product, who knows what they will come up with, something Joost-like perhaps?

Peronally, I have MySky, so I don't really have a need for another box with PVR functionality. Sure, it'd be nice to have it all in one box, but I haven't seen a non-MySky PVR that I'd give to the missus. It's all about the EPG - I don't think too many "normal" users would tolerate XMLTV.

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grant_k

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#73576 6-Jun-2007 09:29

BigFella: Peronally, I have MySky, so I don't really have a need for another box with PVR functionality. Sure, it'd be nice to have it all in one box, but I haven't seen a non-MySky PVR that I'd give to the missus.

Yep, I couldn't agree more with you there...

Mine gets upset when the Series Link loses its marbles occasionally, let alone the vagaries of XMLTV.

pinkpod

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#73751 7-Jun-2007 09:29

Wow - I didn't know they had come out with a TV but I took a look at Youtube (which I love) and now I want the TV...it was good to hear everyone's opinion on it... it is def. a girl tv!!!

freitasm

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#73769 7-Jun-2007 10:27

It is not a "TV". It's a device that streams content (music, videos, YouTube) from your PC (Windows or Mac based) through your network at home. You plug a TV to this box...

That's why "Apple TV" is a strange name. It is not a TV, and it does not receive signal from broadcast TV like other media centre solutions...

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TomAckroyd

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#73809 7-Jun-2007 13:05

I'm thinking it might be nice. Would have to buy an Airport. It would mean:
1. I can control and play iTunes on the hi-fi.
2. Can do the normal ATV thing.
3. Could also potentially hook up my old 1999 iMac to cable modem via the wireless network ... Does anyone here know if that's feasible? And what other gear I would need?
Ta,
Tom
UPDATE
Don't need airport. Is built-in to iMac.
UPDATE 2
If you're in Wellington, get down to Harvey Norman's in Tory St. for a cool Apple TV demo. I nearly bought one on the spot.
Apple TVs will also play back your hi-res iPhotos down the HDMI. (Or so I was told.) This would currently be the only way of viewing hi-res pictures on your Apple TV.
The demo had the output of the Apple TV set to 720P, as their Apple sales guy told me the Pansonic display's up-rezzing is better than the Apple TV's.

kevthesparky

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#73883 7-Jun-2007 19:34

If you have a modded xbox by any chance. You could douwnload a hacked spinoff of itv it's called xtv and it is a skin for xbmc and is fantastic fun.

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BigFella

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#73884 7-Jun-2007 19:54

TomAckroyd: Apple TVs will also play back your hi-res iPhotos down the HDMI. (Or so I was told.) This would currently be the only way of viewing hi-res pictures on your Apple TV.

The demo had the output of the Apple TV set to 720P, as their Apple sales guy told me the Pansonic display's up-rezzing is better than the Apple TV's.

Nice sales drone you got there...

I view my "hi-res" photos just fine via component cables. Also, the ATV also tops out at 720 - 1080 isn't possible from the ATV itself.

Comments are my own, don't blame my employer...

TomAckroyd

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Master Geek
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#73891 7-Jun-2007 20:36

BigFella:Nice sales drone you got there...

I view my "hi-res" photos just fine via component cables. Also, the ATV also tops out at 720 - 1080 isn't possible from the ATV itself.

What is playing your photos down component cables?

BigFella

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Master Geek
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#73912 7-Jun-2007 22:34

TomAckroyd:

What is playing your photos down component cables?

ATV has component & HDMI out - picture viewing isn't restricted to the HDMI out.

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pinkpod

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#73927 8-Jun-2007 05:32

freitasm: It is not a "TV". It's a device that streams content (music, videos, YouTube) from your PC (Windows or Mac based) through your network at home. You plug a TV to this box...

That's why "Apple TV" is a strange name. It is not a TV, and it does not receive signal from broadcast TV like other media centre solutions...

here I am being a dumb blonde again

... I just assumed the flat screen tv they were demo-ing the apple box with (on youtube) was the apple tv... it was silver so it tricked me lol