Apple TV
Apple has continued to update and tweak Apple TV, which is why we recently bumped its rating up to four stars.
The good: The Apple TV lets you stream all of the movies and TV shows available in the iTunes Store to your HDTV on a pay-per-view basis, with purchases stored in the cloud for future on-demand access. It offers Netflix and a handful of other online video, audio, and photo services, and can stream content from any iOS device or computer running iTunes. Apple TV's user interface is the best of its kind.
The bad: The competing Roku 2 offers more streaming services, including Amazon Instant, Hulu Plus, HBO Go, and Pandora. The new AirPlay mirroring feature seems cool, but doesn't currently have much practical use. And the upcoming Roku LT will offer much of the same streaming functionality for half the price. Apple TV won't work with older, pre-HD TVs.
The bottom line: The Apple TV is an excellent streaming video box, especially for Apple fans who will use AirPlay and the upcoming iTunes Match service, but it's missing a few key apps like Hulu Plus and Pandora.
November 29, 2011 1:15 PM PST
Photo by: Apple
%20-%20CNET%20Reviews&srcUrl=http://reviews.cnet.com/2300-33338_7-10010389-4.html&x_breadcrumb=6011:7278:33336:33338&x_arw_bkts=MAD:first_impression){kind=small}