Apple TV (40GB)

Pros: Easy setup; Great interface; Wirelessly streams iTunes content from multiple PCs; Enjoy iTunes content and photos on your home entertainment system.

Cons: No HD content available on iTunes Music Store.

Summary: AppleTV has a lot going for itself. Apple's goal was to simply offer its millions of iTunes customers an opportunity to bring the iTunes content trapped in their iPods and PCs to their home entertainment systems. And for that I truly believe this product delivers.

Like the overall form factor, the onscreen menu is very slick and easy to navigate in typical Apple fashion. Setup was painless. I got up and running in minutes.

My biggest issue is the fact that video quality is poor, but that is an iTunes issue, not AppleTV. I'd have to expect Apple to address this issue by making HD video content available soon. In a way I feel almost misled because all of the press releases suggested video playback to be "upconverted" to 720P HD, which is probably true, but the video quality is unfortunately optimized for the little Video iPod screen. That being said, sync'd photos and album art look stunning, however.

If I could make any recommendations about the actual product itself, I would increase the harddrive capacity (I'd even pay extra for that) and/or allow for exandability with the USB port. Also, I'd like more custom menu/display options -- colors, screensavers, how photo/album art is diplayed, etc.

The price point I think is fair if you're looking at the overall package and not just the $/megabytes. I'm sure they'll make some improvements in future models, but this version is worth checking out. Especially when you can download HD content on iTunes.