Yes, I think most people were a little surprised when Steve Jobs announced the Apple TV back in Feb 2007. Pretty much every man and his dog has an iPod and even some of us more enlightened use Apple computers. However, Apple TV?
Well, the premise is quite simple really. It's a very simple little box (more of that later) which you plug into your TV and allows you to watch and listen to the content you have on your computer.
What do you get? ----------------------- In the box, you get an Apple TV with power lead (no brick: It's contained with the device) and a remote control. On the back of the Apple TV are the following sockets: USB, LAN, Component, HDMI, Analogue and Digital Audio sockets and power socket.
Setup: --------
Well, firstly, you have to have a TV / LCD / Plasma, etc, that has either component (NOT RGB) or HDMI. I was lucky: My 4 year old Sony LCD did have component, but it's £100 for a converter that would allow you to connect it to a screen that had SCART, etc.
However, once you are all plugged in, the setup is typically Apple. Took seconds and within a minute or so, it had found my iTunes Library, authenticated and started to sync my music. A word of warning.... The first time you sync, don't do this over Wi-Fi. It will take forever. Use the LAN socket on the back and connect this to your router along with your PC / Laptop if you can.
The Apple TV will work with both Mac OS X and Windows XP (and should, as we speak, work now with Vista).
It will also allow you to steam from 5 other iTunes Libraries also, which isn't bad.
Use: ------
Once the Apple TV had finished syncing (my 20GB's of iTunes took around 2 hours), using it was a breeze. As mentioned, you get a little Apple remote, which has all of 6 buttons on, and is the same remote you get with current Apple PC's / laptops. You use this to navigate backwards and forwards through your music collection in an identical way you do on an iPod.
The device is very quick at responding to your selections and music / movies start playing almost instantly!
Whilst playing, the display shows you the album art, which flips across the screen occasionally, saving plasma's from the dreaded 'burn in'.
There is also a screen saver, which can be your photos or all your albums.
Every time you launch iTunes on your computer, it will sync seamlessly.
Apple Content: --------------------
The first failure of the device. Whilst you cannot fault Apple for their music, in the UK, the amount of video content available sucks more than a granny without her dentures. It's just not available. Not only that, you can't buy it from the Apple TV display itself. You have to buy it using your iTunes then sync the content. A real PITA.
What does it play: -----------------------
The Apple TV is quite constrained by what it plays. It prefers MPEG4 / H264 content, but there are a myriad of software apps out there which will rip DVD's into Apple TV format. It also plays MP3's and AAC.
Gripes: ---------
Hard disk size. The one I have has only a 40GB drive, of which 33GB is available. However, Apple have now launched a 160GB drive. The drive is easily replaceable though, although you'll void your warrenty
Lack of content: Already mentioned.
lack of off button: A minor gripe. I have to put it into sleep, then power off at the wall.
Overall: ----------
I'm glad I bought it. It saves me having to have my laptop turned on all the time, and the 40GB disk I have at the mo seems to cope quite well. There are lots of things you can do to it though, for example, installing codecs allowing you to play AVI's, etc, installing extra HD space, and potentially booting into normal Mac OS X. I think we are at an early stage with this thing, and it could be waking from it's sleep as we speak.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: watch your photos, home movies, youtube, rent videos, listen to itunes through your tv Disadvantages: It does get very hot - make sure it is ventilated
gillyflash1 24.09.2008 (24.09.2008)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Apple TV
Advantages: watch your photos, home movies, youtube, rent videos, listen to itunes through your tv Disadvantages: It does get very hot - make sure it is ventilated
gillyflash1 24.09.2008 (24.09.2008)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of Apple TV
very helpful by (98%):
helpful by (2%):
