Is AppleTv worth...

Ramesh · 01-09-2009, 01:14 PM

I'm getting one for $120 - brand new, 40GB. Worth it?

jjvaldez · 01-09-2009, 08:01 PM

im not the expert, but i can tell you that i want one too, the thing is we browsing for me, if you get a mac mini you can do all of this, mac mini will have front row that can make it look like apple tv when you want to do the media thing and at the same time you can surff the web and do other things.

its a hard call....

oh and apple tv = 720p and mac mini = 1080p

Ramesh · 01-09-2009, 08:47 PM

Originally Posted by jjvaldez

im not the expert, but i can tell you that i want one too, the thing is we browsing for me, if you get a mac mini you can do all of this, mac mini will have front row that can make it look like apple tv when you want to do the media thing and at the same time you can surff the web and do other things.

its a hard call....

oh and apple tv = 720p and mac mini = 1080p

lmao on the 1080p thing. i don't really care about the web browsing. I keep all my media on my iMac. Plus for $120 is a LOT cheaper than a Mini.... I think the $120 is worth it to test it out...

chris · 01-09-2009, 09:15 PM

I'd jump on it for $120. At a bare minimum, it's a great Airport Express. I use it to channel my iTunes and Sirius to my main stereo. I thought I would rip more DVDs, but not so much. Still, that feature is there with Handbrake. Select the AppleTV setting, RIP and then stream it.

I wouldn't worry about the size either. I stream my movies and music. The only thing on my AppleTV are photos.

Plus, YouTube is convenient (but looks crappy).

Hmm...that's about it. Plenty worth it.

-Chris

Ramesh · 01-09-2009, 09:22 PM

Originally Posted by chris

I'd jump on it for $120. At a bare minimum, it's a great Airport Express. I use it to channel my iTunes and Sirius to my main stereo. I thought I would rip more DVDs, but not so much. Still, that feature is there with Handbrake. Select the AppleTV setting, RIP and then stream it.

I wouldn't worry about the size either. I stream my movies and music. The only thing on my AppleTV are photos.

Plus, YouTube is convenient (but looks crappy).

Hmm...that's about it. Plenty worth it.

-Chris

That's the main reason I'm getting it. I'm also getting an airport express (on order) but that's for networking my 360, blu ray, and dtv box to my wifi.

chris · 01-09-2009, 09:25 PM

Originally Posted by Ramesh

That's the main reason I'm getting it. I'm also getting an airport express (on order) but that's for networking my 360, blu ray, and dtv box to my wifi.

I use a switch that's wired to my router. I'm sending the 360, PS3, Vudu, AppleTV and TiVo to the switch. Allows me to be hard wired to the router.

Reminds me, I need a bigger switch if I stick with the Vudu. Think I pulled the ATV out temporarily for the Vudu.

acosmichippo · 01-10-2009, 12:09 AM

i just got one, and it is a much better experience for me than using a Mac w/ Frontrow. I'm streaming media from my time capsule, and frontrow just does NOT handle this well for some reason. The interface is slow and choppy even on my MacBook Pro... a mac mini would be even worse. On the AppleTV, it's very smooth. And appleTV does output in 1080p. Movies from the iTunes store won't be, but if you rip other videos that are equivalent to 1080p, it will do it.

the thing i'm excited about with the appleTV is that it'll hook up to a slingbox. Assuming sling releases a player soon, it will stream my whole itunes library to my iphone. Of course, there are other ways to accomplish the same thing.

The main problem with appleTV is that it is VERY picky with video formats. So if you have a lot of video ripped as anything besides .m4v, then you'll have to convert it for appleTV. A Mac with Frontrow will not have this issue.

So the +/-'s appear to be the following

AppleTV
+ ~$300 less than Mac mini
+ Streams very well from another source
+ Will hook up easily to a Slingbox for streaming.
- Picky about video formats

Mac w/ Frontrow
+ Will play any video with codecs installed.
+ Can do other stuff like web surfing (to stream pandora or netflix, for example)
+ DVD/CD drive
+ Expandable storage via USB
- If streaming from another source, the Frontrow UI is pretty sluggish.

jjvaldez · 01-10-2009, 09:56 AM

Originally Posted by Ramesh

lmao on the 1080p thing. i don't really care about the web browsing. I keep all my media on my iMac. Plus for $120 is a LOT cheaper than a Mini.... I think the $120 is worth it to test it out...

why is 1080p funny?

im all hook on the web browsing thing cus i think that should be included on the apple tv that is all, [the only thing that i can think of right now with the web browsing that i would use is for hulu.com so that i can watch my tv shows online... really other then that i rather surf the web on my laptop...

but yea 120 is a good deal for apple tv...

420greg · 01-10-2009, 10:55 AM

I have one but did not use it that much until I installed Boxee on it.

The stock Apple just has YouTube for Internet video. But Boxee gives you:

Hulu
CBS
CNN
Joost
MtvMusic
LastFM
Plus a dozen others. You can also add the feed to any video podcast vis rss.

I would go for it at that price. Then visit Boxee, their Alpha just went public.

Ramesh · 01-10-2009, 02:54 PM

Originally Posted by 420greg

I have one but did not use it that much until I installed Boxee on it.

The stock Apple just has YouTube for Internet video. But Boxee gives you:

Hulu
CBS
CNN
Joost
MtvMusic
LastFM
Plus a dozen others. You can also add the feed to any video podcast vis rss.

I would go for it at that price. Then visit Boxee, their Alpha just went public.

That's kinda where I am. I've been reading about Boxee, time to research some more. Thanks.