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"Excellent for its purpose"
4.5 starson by turnermanPros: Great looks, quality design, decent price for features, HD output
Cons: Small Internal HD (not a decision maker) and GigE
Summary: I've been reading the reviews and I'm ashamed of PC and Mac users alike. 99.9% of the reviews of people who don't own or use the iTV. WHY ARE YOU REVIEWING??
A couple of TiVo comparisons were made by an ignorant jackass who doesn't know a DVR (TV program recorder) from a media extender type product that streams media from a computer system, just like the XBox 360, which is ALSO a media center extender and REQUIRES ZUNE to work - these are not media centers!
If a device takes direct television signals, it's a DVR - iTV only takes digital media from a computer or other storage device and displays it on a TV. Why is that so hard to understand??
Others have condemned the iTV due it's lack of Divx and support for other formats. Does Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition offer support for Divx or other formats? NO! Even PS3 owners aren't happy with the media experience, so nobody is a winner on this one. Every company seems to be sticking with their proprietary formats, so cry about all the products and review them as you will, but rate them equally.
Also, what's the big deal about the small internal hard drive? This is, as I've stated already, NOT a media center. You have to use a computer to stream the media to the iTV, so why would they put a 1TB drive in it and bump the price up to over $1,000? That's rediculous when you can attach 5 external hard disks to your computer system via USB and store the same amount of data for half the price. It's not a storage solution, people - it's a media extender that streams music, pictures and movies to your TV from your computer system(s) and attached storage devices.
I'm sick of reading reviews by people who are either against all Apple products or who are too ignorant to understand what a product does. This is why our country is a joke because the education levels are so low that people can't understand what products do and slam them without owning or using them or they're just too damn lazy to READ (maybe they can't) the tech specs.
This is a great product and for those who bought it after reading and learning about it, you will also be pleased with it's performance as I am. Have a great day.Updated
The Apple TV is still going strong. Even though it has ran hot (passive heatsink and non-vented internal fan) it still performs like a champ. The HDMI output is very clean - purchased a cable from the Apple online store for $20.
Syncing the Apple TV with 2GB+ movies from an iMac on wirless to the wireless ATV is simple and works great although slow sometimes (expected from wirless-to-wirless). I'd like to try it in a wired environment to test the transfer speeds.
The video quality of an encoded DVD is outstanding - truly don't notice a difference @ 2,500/3,000 bitrates. Being able to stream (or sync) my most watched movies directly to the drive make selecting films extremely easy.
A sort feature was added to the TV shows, but not available for Movies. I forsee this as an addition to upcoming software updates.
No problems with the remote control - my iMac is about 30 feet from the TV and I've paired the remote with the ATV. Very easy to use (like Front Row) event though some of the operations are a little different.
Picture streaming is great - resolution is outstanding, but again depends on the quality of your shots. It won't "magically" make your bad shot look good - it will just be very large.
The HD space is small, but I truly don't plan on using it until I upgrade to a much larger internal drive.
I'm exremely pleased with the purchase and highly recommend the Apple TV to anyone interested in streaming media to their HDTV.
- 19 replies to this review
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100% agree with you, I loved my Apple TV, however -- my husband did not. (For him it was the price he had a problem with not the device itself) So I had to take it back. But it was great, and SO easy to use. I would recommend AppleTV to anyone with kids or Video-files, because America is NOT READY.<br><br>After 20 - 25 years of recording this and that from cable, the over all concept of "downloading" TV shows from the internet, had several of my friends scratching their heads. No matter how many times we would explain what the ATV actually does -- people just didn't get it?<br><br>They all thought AppleTV was really cool, but didn't understand how I "magically" got videos and photos on to the device. All I did was mention "buying a larger external hard drive and using your computer as a media center", from that point on I got NOTHING but a bunch of blank stairs -- That was the end of that conversation. They don't get it. It's going to take time, just like the iPod. If you remember the first iPods weren't a hit. Now, 5 - 6 years later, they're walking out the door. Apple has another hit on there hands -- they just don't now it yet. <br><br>Sue happy Hollywood, the Cable Company, and Satellite Service, these 3 morons are handing costumers to Steve Jobs on a plate -- At this rate, I'll say another 2 years before Internet TV and Video downloads hit mainstream. And maybe another 5 for "mama and papa kettle" to jump-in, once the price is right.<br><br><br>Apple is charging too much -- $400, but that's to be expected -- it's Apple. You already know that going it. But that doesn't make the ATV any less cool, or the best on the block. (Go buy a Mivx 760-HD -- and you'll know what I'm talking about. I own one, and I hate it.)
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How do you get the music videos to play one after another? Right now, I have to click on each one to make it play, instead of just clicking once and having the whole lot play like the iPod does? Thanks for any advice...
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How do you get the music videos to play one after another? Right now, I have to click on each one to make it play, instead of just clicking once and having the whole lot play like the iPod does? Thanks for any advice...
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I would rather learn more about Apple TV than read a rant about people with whom you are utterly disgusted with.
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I love this product. With my Netflix account I now convert my movies to MP4 files and just save them in i-tunes to watch on apple-tv. Now I nolonger need a dvd player or a room to store hundereds of dvds.
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you're whole argument was that OTHER devices sucked, and that since this one sucked just as equally, every one should rate it a 10. <br><br>idiot.<br><br>quit hyping up products that are no good. IE products that force us to buy from the next micro$oft for the rest of our lives. The Ipod was a hit because it focused on hardware. You could come up with the software from pretty much any where you pleased, to include itunes if you were so inclined. Now your just being a sucker and allowing Apple to take over the entire process.<br><br>get real. get a helios.
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Yeah, I think where people like me are getting confused is that... while I am in love with everything Apple and am exicted to buy AppleTV, my intentions are to digitize my home. I live in a condo, I own thousands of CDs and DVDs, and frankly I'm tire of storing them on shelves when I could free up space and keep everything accessible on a TV screen.<br><br>That said, contrary to everyone's fears about "iTunes only" media, I've already found third party software that converts AVI to Quicktime, and from DVD to AppleTV. Assuming I will spend the time to rip all of my DVDs to the computer and install a bank of external drives to house them, the question still remains... will the AppleTV sync or will it have to stream everything on a delay? I'm under the impression that the 40 gig hardrive is meant to use for this synching process, but frankly, it's peanuts when I have twice that in music alone. THAT is why I'm concerned about the harddrive size.<br><br>Is that streaming buffer an acceptable price to pay for eliminating the clutter of DVDs? Or will everything be choppy because it's not synched very well? If that's the case, an AppleTV with the option to connect external drives to the box itself would be appreciated. Can someone with an AppleTV (who has MORE than 40 gigs of media) share their thoughts? This thing could revolutionize the industry if people understood it better before investing.
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i love the way you wrote that!!! RIGHT ON THE MONEY
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Here is an answer to some of your questions.<br>You wrote"I've been reading the reviews and I'm ashamed of PC and Mac users alike. 99.9% of the reviews of people who don't own or use the iTV. WHY ARE YOU REVIEWING??"<br>Maybe because CNET doesn't have a message board system for posting opinions. They call it "posting a review." This is CNET's use of the term, not the folks writing them. Have a problem with this, contact CNET (I already have.)<br><br>You wrote"A couple of TiVo comparisons were made by an ignorant jackass who doesn't know a DVR (TV program recorder) from a media extender type product that streams media from a computer system, just like the XBox 360, which is ALSO a media center extender and REQUIRES ZUNE to work - these are not media centers!"<br>If you wish to get technical your comparison is also wrong. An Xbox 360 is a GAMING console that can play various forms of media not a pure "media extender type product" or "media center extender" and an argument could be made that these two items are different. As I mentioned in the subject - understand your environment. People will make comparisons with items they can relate. Both a DVR/TiVo and the "iTV" do the same thing - play back previously recorded digital video. The source for "iTV" is iTunes. The source for a DVR is a cable box, anntenna or a tuner. Different sources but same function - playing back digital video. In one manner a DVR is superior because it not only plays back but also records. Of course an iTV can also play other non video media too.<br><br>You wrote: "If a device takes direct television signals, it's a DVR - iTV only takes digital media from a computer or other storage device and displays it on a TV. Why is that so hard to understand??" Actually, from the description listed, it also can take items directly from iTunes if hooked up to a network. I believe some of the confusion with the devise is the inappropriate name for the iTV. A television is an electronic device with some form of tuner that uses a monitor to display video images. The iTV has none of these things. It is a hard drive with an HD video breakout box that only works with iTunes. It is a Digital Media Player, not a TV. But I guess iDMP just isn't catchy enough.<br><br>Hopefully this helps answer some of these questions.
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Your repeated (bogus) claims of requiring a Zune in order to use an Xbox as a Media Extender is absurd.<br><br>Moreover, it really doesn't matter in an MCE/Xbox scenario that the PC is the DVR. The bottom line is with that combo the DVR interface is presented on the TV via the Xbox. Apple TV has no such equivalent and in some people's opinion, including mine, that's a drawback.<br><br>Finally, I personally stream all kinds of media to my Xbox--anything I can play in MCE. Much of this is NOT in the standard MCE dvr-ms format. The iTunes-only limitation of Apple TV is just that, a limitation.<br><br>Get your own facts straight before attacking others.
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The product is calle Apple TV, not iTV - and yes, I own one.
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The biggest complaint of this product as made in the CNET review is the poor quality of the video when displayed on a HD TV. My ITunes purchases don't even look that good on my laptop... I can only imagine how they look on a big screen TV. Instead of giving a good review yourself of the product you chose instead to go on a rant about the stupidity of others...
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Your review skips over a major issue here -- what good is an HD output without HD content? I'm a huge Apple fan, but this product is just plain ol' stupid. If they start to make available HD content that actually USES the TV that you must have to use this product, great! I'd be raving about it! But the inconsistency here is ridiculous.
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"I've been reading the reviews and I'm ashamed of PC and Mac users alike. 99.9% of the reviews of people who don't own or use the iTV. WHY ARE YOU REVIEWING??"
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"just like the XBox 360, which is ALSO a media center extender and REQUIRES ZUNE to work"<br><br><br>The Zune was released a year after the Xbox 360, genius.
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I have been streaming Divx to my 360 from day 1. GET THE FACTS
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The xbox 360 does NOT require a Zune to work. I am ashamed of you because you are just a Apple zealot you bashes other products without knowing didly about them. I have had the Xbox360 and it stream music, videos and photos and Zune is NOT required and it streams content that I DIDN'T have to purchase from Microsoft. At least Microsoft is tying you down to just their videos and service. Can't say that about the devil jobs.
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Don't review it if you don't have the product. Blog about it somewhere else.
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Again let me say it now. I do not own an Apple TV. I own a 360 used as a media extender and read the specs on the Apple TV to make a comparison.<br><br>1. I have to call you out on your statement regarding the 360 needing ZUNE to work. I don't have such a program on my PC and the 360 works fine as an extender. In fact the 360 will work even if you do not have MCE as your PC's OS. You won't get the UI like MC but it will stream content none the less.<br><br>2. I know the difference between a DVR and a media extender. As I stated in other comments, I use my 360 like a DVR. My PC records the shows and I stream it to the 360 in the living room. I circumvent having to buy the shows from XBOX Live or, in Apple TV's case iTunes. Each show is 2-3 dollars a pop on iTunes and about the same on Live. So here my comparison is in the specific DVR function of the 360/Apple TV and PC combo when compared to an actual DVR/TiVO.<br><br>3. I will have to get back with you on whether MCE/360 combo will stream DIVX. I have not attempted to do so.<br><br>4. We both agree as a media extender the Apple TV does not need a large HD. This is where Apple TV will one up the 360. The 360 can Download HD movies via Live but with the limitted HD space it can only holds 3 movies max (I think.) If you download the movies via the internet, then your HD space will be dependent on your PC.<br><br>5. No need for harsh language. I also don't think our country is in its state because people don't know how to write a review. A politician probably couldn't write a review on the Apple TV. Even if they did, it would probably be all lies anyway.<br><br>Regards.
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