Is Apple TV right for me?

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Hi

Up until yesterday each night I would plug my Macbook into an external harddrive (with 1 TB of itunes purchases) and into a TV and watch movies and TV shows.

Yesterday I bought an iMac, plan was to put the harddrive on that and stream the content to my Macbook which would semi-retire to under the TV and be used like an Apple TV permanently.

First problem was that Front Row didn't have cover art, annoying but not essential, second problem was Front-Row froze after a minute of playing anything.

It all works perfectly through itunes home sharing but not through Front row, therefore it's not a network issue, it's just Front Row.

As iTunes isn't really a solution, as the Macbook needs to be open I am thinking about Apple TV, so need to know:

1: Will this work, Apple TV seems to use Front Row, is there a difference to the version on my Macbook?

2: Will it have cover art?

3: What are the connection issues i have heard about and how likely are they? Our connection is pretty good, had itunes on Macbook and on Windows 7 laptop both streaming perfectly from the iMac at the same time so the network is solid.

4: Amazon have it for £88 (Apple store it's £101), is this the best price?

Many thanks

Anthony
 
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1: Will this work, Apple TV seems to use Front Row, is there a difference to the version on my Macbook?

Yes, there is a difference. It's general interface is more refined and has links to the iTune store and other media sources like YouTube, MLB.TV, and more.

2: Will it have cover art?

Yes.

3: What are the connection issues i have heard about and how likely are they? Our connection is pretty good, had itunes on Macbook and on Windows 7 laptop both streaming perfectly from the iMac at the same time so the network is solid.

There are no connection issues. Apple's streaming tech is, hands down, the best that there is. Of course you should be on 802.11n wi-fi.

4: Amazon have it for £88 (Apple store it's £101), is this the best price?

Probably.

As a side note, you should review the other threads about the ATV2 to glean more info from others' experiences. I've had the ATV1 (patched to add XBMC and other enhancements), a Mac mini using Plex, and the ATV2. The ATV2 is, hands-down, the best experience.
 
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Thanks for the answers, I am certainly driven towards it, although still angry my orignal plan for the Macbook to do this won't work.

The connection issues I mentioned had come up on Amazon, in the reviews a lot of people were complaining about it just dropping out half way through a movie. Could be their connection though.

Thanks again

Anthony
 
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Thanks for the answers, I am certainly driven towards it, although still angry my orignal plan for the Macbook to do this won't work.

The connection issues I mentioned had come up on Amazon, in the reviews a lot of people were complaining about it just dropping out half way through a movie. Could be their connection though.

Thanks again

There may have been bugs in one version or another of the software. I personally have never experienced it.
 
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There has been an issue with the ATV 2 and the HDMI connection to older HD TVs. If your TV is new(ish) you should be ok. Search this forum, there is a thread about this here.

That being said my year old Panasonic 58 inch Plasma and 3 year old Samsung 26 inch LCD have not experienced any issues. I am on a G/N network and streaming is fine.
 

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