New happy owner of an Apple TV:)

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I managed to pick up a 40gb Apple TV off of ebay for 70 shipped. This thing is in pristine condition!! I'm so happy with it, especially since I had to cancel my apple order with the new ATV. I can't believe how simple it is to hook up/sync for the first time's use!!

Side note, if my oven-top does malfunction some day, I know what will be a perfect alternative!

So happy!! :)
 

pigoo3

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Is this the newest addition to your Home Theater setup?

- Nick
 
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Why did you have to cancel your order for the new AppleTV?

I just got the new one and love it. The streaming works amazingly well, very fast to. Homesharing is amazing. Works great with my iPad/iPhone.
 

pigoo3

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I managed to pick up a 40gb Apple TV off of ebay for 70 shipped.

I've been thinking more & more about getting an "Apple TV"...but what confuses things a little bit is why the old version had the hard drive (more storage)...and the newer Apple TV doesn't.

So the confusion is what does Apple have up their sleeve since they removed the hard drive...and what sort of disadvantages does this mean (older version vs. newer version).

Also...a more expensive alternative is using a Mac-mini instead of an Apple TV.

Here's a decent comparison article:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/new-apple-tv-vs-old-apple-tv-whats-changed/

Decisions...decisions.;)

- Nick
 

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Nick, think about this. When it's ready to rain and you look up to the sky, what are those white things you see? Put Google Chrome OS with that name and you have your eventual answer! :D Grin

The old had a large hard drive to store movies on. The new does not need that as it gets them off the net.
 

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Nick, I wonder the same thing. I have a WDTV Live, which I use to stream my digital content from my NAS (music, movies, etc). It also does YouTube, amongst other things. I spent a lot of time deciding between it and AppleTV and eventually went with it after seeing a friend's in action (it was also a lot less expensive).

With the new, cheaper AppleTV, I find myself attracted to it, but I'm having a hard time justifying it in my own mind. I don't see myself ordering TV shows (WAY too expensive). I can rent HD movies right from Comcast cheaper than from Apple and I doubt I would ever buy a digital copy without a BR/DVD to accompany it.

Is there something I'm missing?
 

pigoo3

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The old had a large hard drive to store movies on. The new does not need that as it gets them off the net.

Yeah I get that the new Apple TV is purely designed to primarily be a "streaming" device...but since I'm sort of used to a DVR for saving things to watch later (like movies & shows on cable TV so I can zip thru commercials when watching)...I'm thinking I would not have this ability with the new Apple TV (I'm assuming the old Apple TV with the 40 or 160gig HD could do this).

- Nick
 

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Yeah I get that the new Apple TV is purely designed to primarily be a "streaming" device...but since I'm sort of used to a DVR for saving things to watch later (like movies & shows on cable TV so I can zip thru commercials when watching)...I'm thinking I would not have this ability with the new Apple TV (I'm assuming the old Apple TV with the 40 or 160gig HD could do this).

- Nick

That is my assumption also. That is also something I love doing. I have a Mac Mini plugged into my TV and it does what I need so I will skip the new ATV for now at least.
 
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There are 3 main things that had me canceling my order of the new atv and buying an older one,
1. The 50ft cable that I got(DVI-HDMI) turned out to not be that great at doing its job. I didn't want to fork over more than $100 dollars just for another cable.
2. I want media to be inside the atv, not playing off my computer. You can't use your atv(new one) if there is no computer to read files from(besides some small stuff).
3. I don't really care about everything that MIGHT be coming out on the future atv...apps for example. The one I got does everything I want out of it, and nothing is missing.

Also, the old atv does not need to have media on the HDD to play stuff, it can play off your computer just like the new one. So, I believe that the notion that the new atv is missing a harddrive because it can play media off wifi/computer is false...the old one did the same thing while having an hdd. I just watched parts of Dark Night from the atv via my computers itunes because I did not want to put a 1.5gb file on there when I don't watch it that much.

The only reason I can see as to why the new one is missing an hdd probably has something to do with its price.
 

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With the new, cheaper AppleTV, I find myself attracted to it, but I'm having a hard time justifying it in my own mind. I don't see myself ordering TV shows (WAY too expensive). I can rent HD movies right from Comcast cheaper than from Apple and I doubt I would ever buy a digital copy without a BR/DVD to accompany it.

Is there something I'm missing?

Maybe this is where my confusion is. I don't have anything at the moment with Apple TV's abilities...and the new Apple TV just seems to be another "bottomless pit" of buy buy buy stuff off the internet.

I want something that allows me to stream purchasable content like the Apple TV is supposed to do...and at the same time allow me to save stuff like cable TV shows/movies that I can currently do with a DVR.

Also...the $99 price of the new Apple TV is attractive...but not so much if every time I use the Apple TV for watching something it involves getting out my credit card (so to speak)!

- Nick
 

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Maybe this is where my confusion is. I don't have anything at the moment with Apple TV's abilities...and the new Apple TV just seems to be another "bottomless pit" of buy buy buy stuff off the internet.

I want something that allows me to stream purchasable content like the Apple TV is supposed to do...and at the same time allow me to save stuff like cable TV shows/movies that I can currently do with a DVR.

Also...the $99 price of the new Apple TV is attractive...but not so much if every time I use the Apple TV for watching something it involves getting out my credit card (so to speak)!

- Nick

I still think Apple is missing the boat with the AppleTV. It's not surprising seeing as how NO ONE has ever been able to crack this nut. The set top box just doesn't have a "killer app", although I think the DVR is pretty darned close.

Apple had the right idea with the "iPod for your TV" concept. They just needed to take a step further and ADD capabilities, rather than strip it down and lower the price.

Imagine an AppleTV that could play iOS games and run apps on a big screen. Maybe finally introduce a really killer DVR (Tivo is pretty good, most cable/satellite boxes are flakey, but no one has put the kind of polish on a DVR that Apple could) and integrate into the iTunes universe, and maybe provide CableCard and Satellite box integration.

I admit, that's a lot of "pie in the sky", but it's going to take that kind of an approach to really make the "ultimate set top box" that sells in the kind of volume that DVD players do.
 

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So, I believe that the notion that the new atv is missing a harddrive because it can play media off wifi/computer is false...the old one did the same thing while having an hdd. I just watched parts of Dark Night from the atv via my computers itunes because I did not want to put a 1.5gb file on there when I don't watch it that much.

The only reason I can see as to why the new one is missing an hdd probably has something to do with its price.

Just so I'm clear...what is the purpose of the 40gig or 160gig hard drive on the older ATV. I'm assuming it was to act like a traditional DVR..but if that's wrong...what's all of that storage for?

Thanks,

- Nick
 

cwa107


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Just so I'm clear...what is the purpose of the 40gig or 160gig hard drive on the older ATV. I'm assuming it was to act like a traditional DVR..but if that's wrong...what's all of that storage for?

Thanks,

- Nick

Same thing as an iPod. You can store your iTunes library there and sync it with your PC.
 
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Just so I'm clear...what is the purpose of the 40gig or 160gig hard drive on the older ATV. I'm assuming it was to act like a traditional DVR..but if that's wrong...what's all of that storage for?

Thanks,

- Nick

You can hard-store your media so that you won't need a computer to view them off of like with the new atv.

I will admit, the only reason I wanted the atv was because it is the most fluent device that communicates really well with your computer and iphone/touch/ipad as a controller. I'm 100% sure that there is something out there that does more, but I haven't tried something that is so easy to use. Even with the new atv, you don't even know that what you are accessing came from another computer. It just works!
 
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The new AppleTV is not all about buying content from the Apple store.

I have a bunch of movies and videos that I can stream to the AppleTV.
Video Podcast is great viewing on the TV and If I'm on the go I can watch them on my iPad/iPhone.

The old AppleTV you had to sync the content over to the device, then watch it. The new one you just stream the content over. It's very fast, i notice no delay when streaming from my iMac or MacBook Pro over my network.
 

pigoo3

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Same thing as an iPod. You can store your iTunes library there and sync it with your PC.

I see...that makes sense if it's supposed to be another storage/syncing method device. I wasn't sure if the hard drive in the ATV was or could be used like a DVR.

Thanks,

- Nick
 

pigoo3

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The new AppleTV is not all about buying content from the Apple store.

I have a bunch of movies and videos that I can stream to the AppleTV.
Video Podcast is great viewing on the TV and If I'm on the go I can watch them on my iPad/iPhone.

The old AppleTV you had to sync the content over to the device, then watch it. The new one you just stream the content over. It's very fast, i notice no delay when streaming from my iMac or MacBook Pro over my network.

Yes...I read this part how the Apple TV can do this (and seems pretty neat!)...how it acts as a wireless device to stream content from a computer wirelessly...eliminating the need for a DVI to HDMI cable, and an audio cable to a television.:)

- Nick
 
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Yes...I read this part how the Apple TV can do this (and seems pretty neat!)...how it acts as a wireless device to stream content from a computer wirelessly...eliminating the need for a DVI to HDMI cable, and an audio cable to a television.:)

- Nick
Or a hard drive in the AppleTV. haha.

I tell you what, the new remote app for the iPad/iPhone is amazing as well.
 

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So another question regarding Apple TV. Reading the formats that are "streamable"...the Apple TV is capable of streaming let's 720p HD content from say a computer...but it's not able to stream 1080p.

Is this a big deal or not?

For example...if you purchased the HD DVD version of the movie "Avatar"...and let's say you don't own a dedicated DVD player (just for example). Then played and streamed it from a Macbook or Macbook Pro to the Apple TV (which of course is plugged into your 65" flat panel TV).;)

Are you losing something (from a quality perspective) if the Apple TV cannot stream 1080p content. Or in this example...is the Avatar movie DVD in 720p format anyway...so no quality loss?

I did also notice that the Apple TV is capable of wireless "n"...so I assume it's best (when streaming HD video) to stream it from a computer that is also capable of wireless "n"...and I didn't even know if wireless "n" is even good enough/fast enough for streaming 1080p content.

Thanks for any replies,

- Nick
 

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