After a near month-long delay, Apple has begun shipping their Apple TV units which provide a long-needed connection between the media on your computer and your high-definition TV. Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal took the Apple TV for a spin.
Apple TV is a pleasure to use. Setup was stunningly simple. We just plugged the unit in and hooked it up to the TV with a single cable (not included).
The Apple TV retails for $299 and features with a 40GB hard drive but unfortunately does not include the required component cable, as noted by Gizmodo in their Apple TV unboxing. You’ll want to avoid the Apple TV unless you have a 16:9 capable television set; Apple TV won’t look too appealing on your CRT.
Will you be picking up an Apple TV anytime soon, or will your cash be better spent on rent or an iPhone?
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ll be waiting for two things:
- Will I be able to add my own quicktime codecs? I have videos in any number of outlandish formats and want to make sure I can get my AppleTV playing them.
Once that is sorted, it really is the fact that in the UK we can’t get the iTunes Video Store, which is a bit of a downer, until we get that I will have to rip DVDs, and my iMac + Front Row is more then serviceable to cope with that at the moment.
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A Wii and an EyeTV Hybrid is where my money’s going. Sharing the family HDTV is too damn annoying.
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Once the Apple TV adds support for additional formats, I’ll consider it. Until then, I’m happy with my modded Xbox and Xbox Media Center.
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A month delay on this product, I wonder if there will be a delay on the iPhone as well?
Just a thought…..
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I would rather spend $600 on a Mac mini and have a full blown version of OS X where I can add all sorts of media players and quicktime codecs.
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I’ll be watching in the background to see what mods / hacks come out for Apple TV to support third party codecs / formats.
I’m also waiting for slingmedia’s slingcatcher (google it) as it looks like the answer for anyone who doesn’t live through itunes.
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i dont even have a tv. so getting it is out of the question. i rather save the 300 bucks for iphone even if i do own one. if you have a family or friends coming over frequently or roommates, the ability to watch 2gether videos streamed from your mac/windows to your tv via appletv is a buy, but i spend most of my time in front of my mac where i can watch video, listen to my music, browse photos, etc. i dont see the reason to get apple tv anytime soon.
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I don’t think I’ll be ordering one yet. I would like to see this thing do the DVR feature, and be able to stream media from ipods. It would also be a plus if this was true high-def quality. They have some work to do before this product is worthy to me. I love the concept, and I’m sure it will only get better in the near future.
What about you? Are you going to get one of these? They $300 is better spent on an upcoming mortgage payment.
I would love to buy an Apple TV, but iTunes in Canada doesn’t have any content to make owning an Apple TV worthwhile. I wrote about this recently on my site, because us Canadians are getting the shaft. Bottom line: as soon as the content is available, I’ll order an Apple TV.
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I will probably get an XBox360 before I ever get something like this. It’s main use will be for HTPC functions and playing XBOX Live Arcade, maybe I’ll have to try Gears of War too.
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I will probably get an XBox360 before I ever get something like this. It’s main use will be for HTPC functions and playing XBOX Live Arcade, maybe I’ll have to try Gears of War too. Let’s see the Apple TV do all that.
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After finding out more about this product, I’m amazed at how locked down it is. I think it is a complete waste of money, and you can consider youself an Apple fanboy of the worse magnitude if you think this product is even decent.
Apple TV has none of the features I want:
You have to buy EVERYTHING from iTunes to play on it
It is not Hi-definition, and neither is anything on the iTunes store
You can’t even use it buy anything from the iTunes store (you ‘ll have to use your computer instead)
It cannot be used as a DVR
Basically, if they fix those things it will be good. To state it plainly, here’s how they need to improve it for the next version:
Make it able to play any media file on your computer
Make it hi-def
Make it possible to browse iTunes, Youtube, download from BitTorrent, etc, etc, etc.
Make it function as a DVR as well
It’s really that simple.
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Andrew, it’s funny you say that. Apple TV has been hacked today and all it is, is a stripped down version of OS X. This allows easy codec installation and a plethora of upcoming hacks.
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Cool! A $299 MacMini then – now this will get interesting. I’ll have to look into it, is it still a 720p max resolution?
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