Apple TV worth it without iPad?

My husband and I are considering getting Apple TV. We are thinking of getting a Netflix subscription and I think having our iTunes library available on the tv to play through our surround sound stereo would be great. However, we don't have an iPad and aren't in a position to get one. We each have an iPod Touch, but they are 2nd generation so iCloud isn't possible on them. We have a Macbook Pro, purchased in 2010. i just upgraded to the Lion OS so I now have iCloud on that.

I'm wondering if it's worth it to buy the Apple TV or if we would be better off just getting a Moshi Mini DP to HDMI adapter to connect our Macbook to our TV. I know not having an iPad or newer iPod Touch limits what we can do with Apple TV.

Any advice would be appreciated. And please correct me if any of the above information is incorrect. Thanks.

Welcome to the forum

You don't need an iPad, or indeed iCloud, to do what you want to do.

Connect your AppleTV to your TV and your network.

You can watch Netflix straight away.
Turn on homesharing on iTunes on your Mac and you can watch/listen to anything in your iTunes library.

No further purchase necessary!

There are other things AppleTV can do if you have an iPad or if you have iCloud setup but neither are a necessity to do what you want to do.

Happy to answer an further questions. Just post back.

just be sure that you are in the US to subscribe to netflix. unless of course you have a US VPN, then it's ok.

Netflix is US domain only

I guess what I'm wondering is if it would make more sense in our case to buy the $35 cable we would need to connect our MacBook to the tv vs the $100 apple tv. I guess it would depend if we think we will eventually upgrade to newer iPods or buy an iPad at some point. Also if we want to surf the web while watching a Netflix movie we couldn't do that if we had the cable connecting the laptop to the tv. Decisions decisions!

I think you can put the iPad/iPod touch thoughts aside for now (i'm not quite sure what you're wanting to do with these in the future tbh).

You obviously CAN connect your MacBook but as you point out it will become dedicated to the purpose and using it can be a little 'clunky' unless you get some kind of remote etc.

The AppleTV solution, while $60 (ish) more than a cabled solution it gives you a convenient always connected box with a simple, effective interface designed to be used on a TV.

I used to connect my MacBook to the TV for playing movies etc. The Apple TV solution now is just so much more convenient.

Thanks. Perhaps we should stick with our plan to buy the apple tv for our family room but also consider buying the cable for our bedroom for those times when we want to watch something up there. I can appreciate that the computer is not the ideal way to connect the two. I was kind of wanting to mirror the MacBook onto the tv for games and such but from what I've read, that can't be done with apple tv unless you have the iPad or latest touch. Thanks for your input!

Having a wireless interface for 99 dollars is worth it.

If you want to mirror your Mac screen to the TV, you're going to have to connect it via cable.

A computer is still the "ideal" way to get all the content of a computer with the least amount of hassle onto a TV screen - although it's much more convenient if it's a 2nd computer, not your primary use machine.

You want to be able to stream/play Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Vudu, ABC, CBS, FOX, SYFY, HBOGO, your collection of DVDs, HD-DVDs, Blu-rays, games and any other web content and/or media that you can put on or play through a computer; a computer is the only way to go. And sorry to say, have to recommend a Win7 machine for that, not a Mac.

With every other device on the market, whether AppleTV, Roku, WDTV Live, those fancy new Blu-Ray players and TV sets that have web enabled content - you use it for what it will do and be satisfied with what it will do or you get a computer. However, I had to break down and buy one of those fancy new Blu-Ray players just so that I can get Vudu in HDX because the studios are only allowing SD content streamed via computer.

That's probably more than you wanted to know, but what you're doing is good - education on what a device is capable of so that you're prepared once you have it.

I've had a tuner card in my computer since around '98 and had a computer attached to a TV not long after and it's tough to go backwards.

I have tried out both the Roku and AppleTV. Both are excellent devices for what they do. If you have a lot of content tied up in iTunes - the AppleTV is the way to go starting out.

j0nb0y32 said:

just be sure that you are in the US to subscribe to netflix. unless of course you have a US VPN, then it's ok.

Netflix is US domain only

Click to expand...

Not true. There is Netflix in Canada as well...

bobtomay said:

You want to be able to stream/play Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Vudu, ABC, CBS, FOX, SYFY, HBOGO, your collection of DVDs, HD-DVDs, Blu-rays, games and any other web content and/or media that you can put on or play through a computer; a computer is the only way to go. And sorry to say, have to recommend a Win7 machine for that, not a Mac.
,

Click to expand...

Just curious to know why you'd recommend an Win machine for said tasks?

Doug

Here's a few:

Can't play HD-DVD in OS X.

Until a couple of months ago couldn't play commercial Blu-ray discs either.
And it's still a work in progress.
(Can't rip either one of them, but we won't go there.)

For the most part, OS X is still last to be compatible with any new streaming sites that come online. Admittedly the latest, HBO did it right and made their new service available to both OSs simultaneously.

Still can't download from Amazon to store in your offline library - only stream.

Still too many games not available for OS X if you're using it as a combo HTPC/gaming rig attached to a big screen. Re-booting the HTPC is inconvenient.

I really, really dislike the way OS X handles font rendering - I like the hammered into shape, sharp look of Windows - especially when it's on a low res monitor - and when you're talking about text, a 58-70+" screen at 1080p - that's low res. On a "monitor" with an appropriate resolution for it's size, I've gotten use to it and doesn't bother me there any longer. But, it took me a good year after my first Mac to get use to it. For straight media consumption, a Mac is much better today than it was say 3 years ago.

Most of our clients use a Mac Mini in their HTPC rig for that very reason using Bootcamp and running Windows 7 when the need arises.

Yeah, and I considered the Mac-mini pretty hard. Just couldn't go the route of the video card included since I wanted the ability for gaming and upgrading if I wanted.

Last time I looked at the mini about a year ago after realizing I really don't do that much gaming on it, I just had too many HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs sitting on my shelves and it's getting harder and harder to find both the software and hardware that will play a HD-DVD. I'm sort of stuck until I take card of those things - even though I have 2 HD-DVD and 3 Blu-Ray stand alone units.

If I ever get around to it, I probably would put a mini on the bedroom 42" instead of building a new Win box.

I think most are sold on price and footprint of the unit and now that Logitech makes a wireless keyboard with trackpad if i am not mistaken it makes it easier. http://www.logitech.com/en-us/keyboards/keyboard/devices/8276

I use their diNovo mini with my HTPC - small plus backlit keys and then have a spare keyboard and mouse if I'm gaming. If you're setting up for customers, can't beat that price point.

The main negative with the diNovo - you have to scroll several times to get all the way across the screen even with the fastest settings. Still haven't found anything to replace it though with a keyboard, trackpad and backlit keys.

I couldn't imagine running my ATV2 from an iPad. I've been running ATV from a Mac since the first iteration of the original ATV came out without any issues. I found the interface to be pretty convenient compared to running things via a mouse using iTunes and a TV connection. Now that Frontrow is basically dead, the ATV2 is pretty much all I use. That said, I don't have a dedicated television DVD player, so I do use my Mac connected to a TV and a wireless mouse for viewing of DVDs. I also use it for YouTube since using the Apple Remote to key in search terms on ATV is just pathetic.

ETA: I have dedicated Mac Mini with 1TB RAID hosting iTunes and a dedicated connection into my TV (the TV is it's monitor), so I'm not exactly running everything off of my MBA.

You don't need an iPad for an Apple TV, I got my Family a ATV 2ND I'm the son haha. My Family loves the Internet Radio, and Netflix that's all it's ever been used for. But they love it to death and none of us have any iPad's. I'd get one if you have Netflix or plan to get it. It's great little streaming device.

j0nb0y32 said:

just be sure that you are in the US to subscribe to netflix. unless of course you have a US VPN, then it's ok.

Netflix is US domain only

Click to expand...

This will come as a huge shock to Canadians, who have been enjoying a slightly lower-priced streaming Netflix (without VPN) for at least a year now.

There is a bunch of good questions and info on here so thanks to all!
I am also looking at getting the ATV2 but I have an older Fujitsu 54" plasma with only S-Video and a DVI connection. Most HDMI to DVI cables I have tried don't work with my TV. I've concidered getting an older Mac Mini to do the job as far as an entertainment center and keep it connected to the tv. The cable connection is the issue that's holding me back on purchasing either of these products.

You stated:

"You want to be able to stream/play Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Vudu, ABC, CBS, FOX, SYFY, HBOGO, your collection of DVDs, HD-DVDs, Blu-rays, games and any other web content and/or media that you can put on or play through a computer; a computer is the only way to go. And sorry to say, have to recommend a Win7 machine for that, not a Mac."

Would an iMac running VMWare Fusion (think Bootcamp) be a way to have the best of both worlds, or will the Apple TV not work that way if I'm streaming video from the web to the Apple TV interface?