AppleTV

[tallsteve]

Had an AppleTV unit given to us for Christmas. Wondering if anyone else out there has one and, if so, what you're doing with it. I've been a bit disappointed with the image quality while streaming videos so far. I had a buffering problem when I first tried streaming videos- even from youtube. I think I fixed that problem by buying a faster 'N' wireless router (I had an old G router) but the quality still isn't great. I'm bumping up my Digis plan from the 2Mbps to the 7Mpbs so maybe that will help? I signed up with Netfix for videos. Haven't tried renting from the itunes store yet. The person who gave it to us is big into photography and he uses it to access his PC's hard drive to view and organize photo's on his HDTV. I haven't got that far yet. I guess what I'm looking for is that 'Wow, this gadget is super keen' factor. Haven't found it yet. Anybody found that 'Wow'?

[accadacca]

I love mine. Only $99.00! What a bargain!

Top things I use it for:

Netflix - On demand TV and Movies, commercial free. I hated the idea of having to hook up a computer to my TV. The Apple TV is so easy and much more user friendly. I pay 8 bones a month I think for Netflix and I watch much less regular TV. I can't stand the loud obnoxious commercials! That goes for radio too...no more music via a local radio station. The commercials are at least 50% of the air time. Its Pandora, iPod or another service. Radio today = fail

Playing my movies from iTunes (via my computer) - I have converted (still working on it) my movies to .mp4. I can access them from my Apple TV and play them on my TV's without a DVD needed. They run wirelessly from iTunes. Its much quicker then loading a DVD and my kids like to scratch them. I can also play them from my computer (iTunes) to my iPhones or iPad in the same way. So I can wirelessly access any content on my computer with my TV, iPhones or IPad. Including: music, videos (TV shows, Movies (rented or that I own) photos, podcasts, etc.

Viewing my pictures from iPhoto (computer) on my TV's - No more crowding around a computer to check out pix. I can pull them up on a much larger screen and sit on the couch. I can also view the photos on my iPhone wirelessly through the Apple TV. Right from the phone. Love it!

Flickr - I have subscribed to several Bogley members feeds and I can pull them up in HD on a big screen.

YouTube - Occasionally... I generally view YT videos when they are embedded and referenced from a website like Bogley or other. I don't often browse YouTube.com and if I do it's from a computer.

I actually bought separate cables for it so I can easily move it to 3 different TV's by simply moving a 1" thick 4"x4" box.

[stefan]

got to finally check this thing out recently at a friend's place. i thought it was neat how easy it was for any of us with iphones to put stuff up from our own phones onto the tv.

[tanya]

Hmmm.... I am usually on the computer in my study, since my 3 teens have taken over the living room and that leaves me watching netflix on my laptop while I work. I am going to look into this thing.

[tallsteve]

Netflix movies work great. No buffering problems since I upgraded my wireless router. Renting HD movies from itunes however is a different story. Even with a faster router and upgrading to the fastest Digis plan, it took about 8 hours to download the new Wall Street movie and, while it's actively downloading, it totally takes up all the bandwidth so trying to surf the net is a bust. I guess the thing to do would be to download the HD movies overnight then you have 30 days to watch them.

[tanya]

That is not sounding so good. I know nothing about this Apple TV, but can't you just watch a show instantly like I do hulu and netflix on my laptop?

[accadacca]

That is not sounding so good. I know nothing about this Apple TV, but can't you just watch a show instantly like I do hulu and netflix on my laptop?

Yep. I primarily use Netflix on mine and it plays instantly just like their website. I have not rented anything from Apple via TV.

In the past I have rented via iTunes (which I believe is the same) and I had to wait for it to download. It didn't matter to me at the time because I was loading the movies on my iPhone to watch on a plane.

[tanya]

I have wireless Satellite. Do I need anything else?

[accadacca]

I have wireless Satellite. Do I need anything else?

You would just need an HDMI cable to plug the Apple TV to your TV. Then you connect the Apple TV up to your wireless network just like a laptop.