Apple TV with 160GB Hard Drive - MB189LL/A Reviews

• A great box for your old home-made movies.

  
  By A2QDPJRVXL7P4F on 2007-11-03
  What a joy it is to have all my home made movies, originally shot in Super 8 (remember that format?), on my Apple TV.
  
  I had tons of old Super 8 movies, some of them filmed by my dad some 60 years ago. Watching them now required setting up the old family projector, and pulling up the portable white screen. Some movies became dry, and tore in the projector, so watching one of the old movies became a process of stop, remove film, glue it back together, and continue watching.
  
  My brother eventually gave all the movies to a specialized company that converted them all into mpeg format. Once in mpeg, they were transferred to iTunes, and then to the Apple TV via the home network.
  
  What a pleasure it is now to watch my family's old home made movies on my TV screen. It is now a snap to switch between my movies, and by being so accessible, I can now show them to other family members and friends.
  
  The Apple TV is really like an iPod. It is controlled by a very simple remote control with one menu button, a play/pause button, surrounded in a circle by the forward and rewind buttons, and the volume control (`+ and -` buttons also used for navigation). You are going to wish all remote controls were that simple.
  
  Navigating the Apple TV is like navigating an iPod. You can store video, music, and photos. There is a slideshow feature for your pictures that will display your pictures on your TV with background music of your choice. The background music can be chosen at random from your music library.
  
  Though as simple as an iPod to operate, the Apple TV is itself a stripped-down Mac mini, running a version of Mac OS X. When you plug in the Apple TV to your TV, you will not need to do any configuration. It's basically plug-and-play. Audio and video cables (not included) connect it to your TV. There is an HDMI output.
  
  The Apple TV comes with a wireless feature allowing you to wirelessly connect to your home network. However, in order to sync your Apple TV with your iTunes, I would recommend you use an Ethernet cable to connect to your home network. The video, music, and photo transfer will be faster through an Ethernet cable. Once you sync your Apple TV for the first time, you may then disconnect the network cable and use the wireless feature in the Apple TV to update its content.
  
  I also recommend you first start syncing at night. In this way, the syncing process will go on while you are sleeping. My Apple TV is 160 Gigabyte strong, and to put that much information on it might take the better part of a day! In most cases, depending on your hardware, connecting through the network Ethernet cable will make the transfer much faster than connecting wirelessly, particularly over 802.ub, 802.ug, and 802.un networks.
  
  You can sync content from only one computer at a time, and you can't add content manually--for example, by dragging it from iTunes library to the Apple TV icon on iTunes' Source list, as you might do with an iPod. If you choose to sync with a different computer, all the data on the Apple TV will be replaced.
  
  Another nice feature of the Apple TV is its ability to connect to the iTunes store, through your computer (either a Mac or PC), where you can download music and videos. Like the iPod, the Apple TV will neatly categorize your media for you, and automatically download the covers of the music albums and films.
  
  One negative comment I have about the Apple TV is that you cannot transfer the media files on your Apple TV to your computer. It is only a one way process, with files moving from your iTunes to your Apple TV, and not vice versa. So if you want to send an Apple TV to a friend, loaded with your music and video library, your friend cannot connect it to his computer. If he does so, all the media on the Apple TV will be erased when it tries to sync with your friend's iTunes, replacing it with the media files on your friend's computer. This also applies to the iPod. There are software on the internet that claim to address this problem, but I have not tried any of them.
  
  Be careful about earlier versions of Apple TV. Earlier versions don't support streaming videos. Newer versions shipped give you the option of navigating YouTube, and streaming their videos. I think that older versions can be updated to support streaming videos.
  
  Apple TV also has limited support for video formats. This means that you will have to rely on tools like Techspanion's Visual-Hub to convert videos to Apple TV-ready formats. You can also use Apple QuickTime. You cannot directly burn a DVD into iTunes. DVDs also need to be converted in order to have them transferred to your Apple TV.
  
  You can stream movies, however, you can't stream photos. Instead, on the computer synced with the Apple TV, iTunes formats the pictures you select and copies them to the Apple TV's hard drive. Once they're on the Apple TV, you can view a selected album or your entire photo library as a slide show. You can choose from a variety of transitions, as well as determine the display time for each picture.
  
  Apple has chosen to say that generally, 5.1 audio is not supported.
  The Apple TV does not offer true HD quality.
  
  Apple Computer Inc. has changed its name to Apple Inc. With the name change, Apple is now promising us gadgetry other than computers. The iPhone is one example. There's more to come.
  
  

• Good, but I must ding it on a couple of important items

  
  By A3K4IFDEHTYRSU on 2008-05-08
  Disclaimer: I am a huge (but no longer kool-aid-drinking) Apple fan.
  It's good enough, and the rest of the reviews here attest to that, but now having my own, I have to touch on a couple of things that nobody has mentioned yet.
  1) There is no way to shut it off. It sucks 18-22 watts down at all times. 22 watts when playing a movie, 18 watts in "hibernate" mode (which is obviously not the laptop-style hibernate mode one would think... I think it merely turns off the video output). You literally have to unplug it to get it to stop. There is no "shutdown" option or power switch. This I find a little ridiculous. Especially because they bothered to put in a neat startup movie- Did they expect you to watch it only once?
  2) It runs very hot (no fan), even when it is "hibernated", and thus cannot be covered by anything or you will affect heat dissipation.
  3) It is laggy sometimes. The worst offense an interface can have is to be laggy. If it's busy syncing, fine... just prioritize the user interface, please. (Edit: Even after syncing, it gets laggy sometimes.) A few times I'd hit a few buttons, wait 20 seconds, and then the audio feedback kicks in and does what I had commanded a half minute ago. This is pretty unforgivable. (Perhaps it's because it only has a half gig of RAM.)
  4) No 1080p. Just to let you know. 1080i, yes. 1080p, no.
  5) If you intend to hook this up to any sort of computer display via a HDMI>DVI cable, be aware that you will be unable to watch rented movies because your computer display will not support HDCP and you will get an error. Why it is still quite feasible to rent the very same movie on a computer via the iTunes Store and watch it on a non-HDCP computer display is left as an exercise to the armchair IP lawyers out there.
  
  If you can get past those things, it's a nice little device.
  
  

• Wow, this is awesome

  
  By A2IMOP73PUUM3P on 2008-02-13
  They're calling it Apple TV Take 2. In other words, any review before February 12, 2008 is a review of the old model. A huge update--a complete revamp of the system was released as a free upgrade by Apple to make the Apple TV and entirely new device.
  
  You watch the TV shows you want, the movies you want, when you want. We had Tivo and loved it, but Tivo can only record what the networks feed you. With Apple TV, if you want to sit down and watch one of those first episodes from Season 1 of MythBusters, you can search or simply navigate to The Discovery Channel, select MythBusters, Season 1, pick your episode, and begin watching it within a minute or so. All on your big flat-screen TV from the comfort of your couch, using your Apple remote. No computer needs to be turned on. You just need wireless Internet access. You can buy television episodes, movies, or now you can rent movies for about $3.
  
  We cancelled our DirecTV when we bought the original Apple TV last year, but this new update makes live television obsolete. Add to that the ease of an Apple interface, and it's like having an iPod Touch for your TV. We're very, very impressed.
  
  Apple iPod touch 16 GB without Software Updates
  
  

• Now a viable option with latest software update

  
  By A3V10TJNFQM3ZG on 2008-02-26
  After Apple released the free "take 2" update for the Apple TV (applies to all models), the box became quite a bit more useful. I would now not hesitate to recommend it to people with flat panel TV's looking for a great way to watch Podcasts, TV Shows, Movies, and YouTube. The built in movie rentals are great - they literally start playing about 30 seconds after renting and are great quality (even the non-HD ones). I also enjoy instant streaming of any podcast available on the iTunes store - I find myself using the Apple TV instead of watching regular cable TV. However, why can't you rent TV shows yet? The only way to get TV shows is to BUY them for $2 each, whereas you can rent an entire movie for only $3.
  
  As a music hub, the product also shines - I can have all my music permanently hooked up to my stereo, and by using an aux input on the stereo, I don't even have to have the TV on to listen to music. This new version also allows you to stream *and control* the Apple TV from any other Mac (or PC?) via iTunes, so you can stream music wirelessly to your living room. The old version could kind of do this too, but you had to set it up via the Apple TV which required turning on your TV set. Now, I can just turn on my stereo and start streaming while I'm sitting at my computer.
  
  YouTube is also fun, and as a photo sharing box, the Apple TV really shines. Photos synced from iPhoto, Aperture, or just a folder on your computer look stunning. Built in Flickr and .Mac support is also nice, although the Flickr option only shows public albums which is kind of disappointing.
  
  

• Hamstrung by software limitations

  
  By A36ANO7H7IPQKI on 2008-03-02
  The Apple TV is an outstanding piece of hardware that is unfortunately married to less than impressive software. Technically, features like wireless N, integrated HDMI, a solid video card, an array of ports and a nicely compact form factor would make this little box the perfect companion to your TV... if only it actually did what it was capable of.
  
  The Apple TV software Take 2 is at best a hard to navigate, slightly overpriced video store. The catalog is limited and true new releases (movies that have just released to video) are mixed in with "new to iTunes" releases so you end up with a murky mix of lame films from the late 80's next to films that came out this year. The software itself offers very limited user customization (such as increasing the font size to make titles legible from across the room) and is picky as to what video formats it can play.
  
  Beyond that, the inability to utilize mass storage (external drives) via USB, the inability to use a keyboard via usb or wireless and the inability to integrate this product with complimentary devices like those from Elgato (Eye TV, Turbo.264, etc) make the Apple TV overall pretty limited, but not for any physical reason. Again - it is the way that Apple designed the software.
  
  The take away that I have from Take 2 is to hold onto your money and either buy a different device altogether or wait for Take 3.
  
  
• Don't buy to play music videos
  By A2VFXW8QZQAP2T on 2007-12-19
  I purchased a 160 GB Apple TV for the sole purpose of watching my extensive library of music videos that I have downloaded from itunes. After placing my music videos into a playlist, I was dismayed to learn that the apple tv cannot play one music video after another. After each video concludes the apple tv returns to a menu page where a new video has to be manually selected. Not good at parties or for my productivity. After visiting a nearby Apple store, an associate said they are aware of the problem and that an upgrade fix may become available at a later date. Until then, I would not recommend this item if your goal is to watch your music videos.
  
  
• It's Two Devices In One
  By A1G5REVTFF653A on 2008-03-08
  Apple really needs to advertise and explain this thing better. It's an awesome device that does many things, but it's easier to understand it if you think of it really having only two distinct functions:
  
  1) It's for renting HD movies. Give that new HD TV something to make it shine. Sure Blu-ray has won the format war, but what format war is next? Skip the wars and just stream the video. No clutter of DVDs and players to buy. Yes the selection is small now (it just started a month ago) but it will soon build up to include newer movies as they are released. Beware of old movies being released as HD. Renting "Blazing Saddles" in HD is not going to impress you. So, the only REAL new HD movies are the ones in theaters now and will soon be released for rental. We actually kept our Netflix account for renting the bulk of the older movies and TV shows we still like. Renting an HD movie for $5 is a cheap night of entertainment. I have a 6.0 Mbps internet connection and the HD movies are ready to play in about 1-2 minutes. You watch the movie as the rest of it downloads. I never had it stutter during playback.
  
  2) It's an iPod for your TV. If you use iTunes and have photos, music, and home movies, this makes it easy to view them on your TV. I made my last vacation video in HD by using Final Cut Express and exporting it in the Apple TV format. Just drop that movie into iTunes and it will sync with the Apple TV. Viewing the still shots in HD is really amazing. Being like an iPod, Apple TV only shows content that you already have in iTunes. Don't think of it as some kind of backup drive for your music or movies.
  
  Sure it does some other stuff like watching You Tube, but if the top two features are what you need, then this is for you. The simple "spouse friendly" remote is great too. My wife can now easily play our music collection without my computer being on.
  
  ps: I bought the "take one" version of Apple TV. All I had to do was run the firmware updater and mine is now the same as the Take Two version (5.1 sound and all). The old and new Apple TV's have the same hardware.
  
  One last thing - rentals are paid through the iTunes store so you can use iTunes gift cards to pay for movies!
  
  Enjoy!
  
  PS - one more reason - the $0.99 movie of the week. Apple has started offering a $0.99 movie rental each week. We've had Escape from Alcatraz, The ghost and the darkness, The Dead Zone and others. Not blockbusters, but certainly worth $0.99 and gets you used to the renting experience in an easy way.
  
  
• Great Device, Two Small Flaws; Would 40 Gb Be Enough For You?
  By A2S5OO4OMFBCVM on 2007-11-30
  The "ah ha" moment comes when you discover that this device is actually a big square iPod, optimized for use with a television. I bought it for displaying photos, and it works great in this capacity. Other features are top notch, with three caveats:
  
  1) Apparently this device was intended to be connected to power 24/7. I live in a lightening prone area, so I *always* disconnect electronics from the grid when not in use. The device gets very warm on top, and does not appear to go to sleep on its own. (You can turn it "off" with a special sequence on the remote, but there is no switch on the box.) All this would be fine, except it loses the password for my wireless network and I have to re-enter it each time I power back up. Minor pain and not as clean as it should be.
  
  2) Apple fortunately gave us an alternative to iPhoto for managing/syncing photos -- you can specify a sync folder. However, iTunes is apparently not able to follow aliases, so you have to move or copy your photos into the special sync folder. Aliases are clearly better than copies in this context, so I was disappointed they didn't work. I use aliases all the time elsewhere on the Mac, so I consider this a true bug.
  
  3) There is no Apple-sanctioned way to fill up the 160Gb HD with movies independent of iTunes (it *is* an iPod after all). This means you must have copies of all the media files on your computer. If you have a laptop, it is unlikely you'll ever use more than a third of that 160Gig, so the 40Gb version may be right for you. I would have saved $100 had I known this.
  
  Otherwise I'm completely satisfied!
  
  
• Apple's shelf warmer
  By AKTDEXAD4J9EW on 2008-02-18
  To state it clearly: I like Apple. But let's face it: They create products and their first thought seems to be: how can we make loads of money? After that they add a dash of design and try to sell it.
  Okay you think? No. They should sometimes ask what the user wants. Consequently this device has a cool design and is set up to earn loads of money whith it, because it is connected to iTunes and you can buy flicks and music.
  Has it ever come to their mind that I do not want an additional device in my stereo rack? I want less of them.
  So here are the devices they should have replaced:
  * CD-Player
  - mission accomplished. Throw your CDs in the computer. Get them ripped using iTunes. Sync and you're done.
  * tuner
  - failed. There is no way to listen to (internet) radio.
  One update on this (04/03/2008): You can stream internet radio from iTunes to AppleTV, but AppleTV needs to be idle and you need to trigger this from you Mac/PC. You cannot trigger this in AppleTV.
  There have been reports that internet radio appeared in playlists on Apple, but the discussions on Apple's formums imply that it only works occasionally.
  * VCR
  - failed. Sure, you can buy movies and even some TV shows on iTMS. But why pay for something that is on TV anyway. And what about the stuff that is not in their shop. So you will still need your VCR or HD recorder.
  * DVD
  - failed. There is no (legal and fast) way to view your DVDs on your appleTV. Actually a simple DVD Player would have done. But it seems that then it is too similar to the Mac mini. But the Mac mini is first of all a computer and not a media center. And apart from this: The Mac mini option is too expensive.
  
  From my point of view this is 1 out of 4, which is not enough to make this a successful product. And the competitors are quite active. If Apple does not act to meet the expectations of most customers this will end like their PDA and game console. You do not know these devices? See. That's what I mean.
  
  
• Now My Tunes Really Rock
  By A3RZU6MUEDCQYX on 2008-04-04
  Apple TV, the way to go, even if you don't have a Mac. I do have a Mac, but I just bought a Dell XPS at Office Supply running Microsoft Vista. It's a sleek black computer and very fast. Using iTunes on my PC just works fine. I can wirelessly play my tunes through my big screen TV and I also have the sound on the TV hooked into a three decade old Yamaha Amp which powers JBL Studio Monitors, so I get great sound when I'm listening to my music now.
  
  Plus, I've recently discovered hulu dot com, which is a new website that stream tons of movies and old videos on demand and they look just great on my TV thanks to ATV. I'm glad I bought it. I'm enjoying the heck out of it.
  
  Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne
  
  
• Low quality. Frequent crashes. Runs hot. Overpriced.
  By A2DG655MYOVC0L on 2008-06-03
  If you don't mind paying a ridiculous price (unfortunately typical of Apple products) for an antenna quality picture running on a device that will crash approximately once a week, and runs so hot you'll want to place it high enough so the kids can't reach it; then AppleTV is the product for you!
  
  Pros:
  1. Easy WI-FI integration.
  2. HDMI connection (for those of you who don't like lots of wires)
  3. Integrates very well with iTunes
  4. Easy to use, intuitive interface (typical of Apple products)
  
  Cons:
  1. Not nearly enough disk space for a multimedia device. For $40 more, Apple could have easily put an additional 360 GB!
  2. No HDMI Cable Included
  3. Runs very hot.
  4. Before the first few firmware updates, this device crashed daily requiring me to manually unplug it, then plug it back in to the wall. Following the firmware updates, crashes have been reduced to only about one per week!
  5. Don't be fooled by the new 'HD' content offered by Apple -- we're not exactly talking Blu-Ray quality here, folks.
  6. Extremely over-priced. If you're an Apple fan, you're either used to this or oblivious. Don't worry.
  7. Five button remote control is not only limited in function, but easily lost.
  
  
• Excellent product!!!!
  By A10SNKRHVEEE9P on 2007-12-04
  I did a thorough job or researching the Apple TV before I purchased the 160 GB model. I needed to get my music collection from my iTunes collection in our home office to our home theater on the lower level. The Apple TV did exactly what I needed it to do. The photos of our grandchildren and the ability to download the episodes of television shows we missed were a bonus. Admittedly the video is still a little soft but it has improved since Apple TV was introduced and I have faith in Apple to continue to improved on the video content from the iTunes store. I project onto a 123" screen and the PQ is about on par with std. definition broadcast quality albeit in widescreen format.
  
  The video will not replace DVD yet but if Apple gets it close to hi def quality this will be the content-on-demand platform we have all been waiting for.
  
  
• Great Idea if you know how to reconfigure your wireless networking.......
  By A2XOTHPU963SUK on 2008-05-13
  The very first impression is, this thing is horrible! It connects to iTunes and you tube but not my computer(MacBook Pro). After spending an hour or two on the support site I still could not get my computer to see the apple TV. I called apple care they directed me to change some settings and open ports on my router, which I tried, the first time it did not work the second it did not work the third time I tried it I got it to work intermitently and saw the apple tv for the first time in iTunes. So, I set up the sync and after 24 hours I only had about half of my stuff over on the apple tv, man this thing is slow!
  So, today my roommate asks me why she can't get into her gmail account, hmm... I don't know maybe it's your computer no mine does not work either, so I look into it and a few more hours later I finally realize that one of the ports apple told me to open is causing problems with signing into secure servers including buying items on iTunes.
  Long story short, the apple tv works well now, but required a lot more setup and reconfiguring than I though it would or think it should and apparently from their support site there are many who are having the same problems. So, I only recommend the apple TV if you are comfortable reconfiguring networking and like to troubleshoot.
  
  
• Slow, unreliable and not ready for prime time
  By A1SIGDF645HTNO on 2008-05-24
  I've had a 160 GB Apple TV for a year now and have a real love-hate relationship with it. Unfortunately, after a year, the hate is winning out. I've used macs for years and am savvy with OS X so you'd think this would be pretty easy for me to deal with the problems related to the Apple TV. Sometimes, yes. But even after a year with this product I am confounded by how itunes "loses" it, how I have to reconnect (and reload all the data onto it) and how much time this sucks away from my life. And I'm not even beginning to mention the fact that if things go as the RIAA and others would like them to, the only "legal" content you can put on one of these things is what you buy in digital format outright. Thus, no converting legally purchased movies to AppleTV (or ipod/iphone) formats lest you risk being labeled a criminal by corporate america.
  
  This machine is a waste of money and Apple needs to give everyone who bought it there money back.
  
  
• Nice piece of hardware, but no internet radio?
  By A2A4FWVK32APWR on 2007-12-22
  I'm a PC guy... (Amazingly, I haven't purchased an iPod yet!) This is the first Apple product I've bought and used in many years. For the most part, I like it. It does what it is advertised to do.
  
  Since I bought an Apple TV, I've been forced into using iTunes. iTunes is required to be running in order to sync or stream from Apple TV. iTunes is not a bad program, but due to Apple's desire to provide a simple interface, they fail to offer some of the more complex features available in other music players. The main feature I find myself missing is per-podcast settings. (For example, only download and keep the latest newscast, but keep all episodes of my favorite radio show until I delete them). Other than that, I'm pretty happy with iTunes.
  
  I have a library of over 9000 music files. Both Apple TV and iTunes handles my library quite well. It synced to the TV very quickly over my hardwired network... in just over an hour. So long as you have your music organized, you can find what you are looking for easily on the TV. Of course, it's not as easy as typing in an artist name in iTunes.
  
  After tinkering with iTunes, I discovered it allows you to create a playlist with internet radio stations in it. I have a few internet radio stations I love to listen to, so I place them in this Radio playlist. The playlist synced over to Apple TV, but showed no entries. In addition, there is no way to manually search iTunes radio directory. It wouldn't be hard for Apple to add these features, and hopefully they will in future software update. As far as I'm concerned, this is a glaring omission from the Apple TV feature set.
  
  Overall, I'm fairly happy with the box. And my concerns can be fixed with future iTunes/AppleTV software updates. I've got my fingers crossed. Then again, if I get impatient, I can always hack the box. (Of course, this would void my warranty.)
  
  
• Simple, Reliable, Beautifully Designed.
  By on 2008-02-22
  We purchased our Apple TV last year when they first hit the market and have always found it to be a great way to share photos, audio and videos between our computers and our home theater room. After the announcement at MacWorld I've been anxiously awaiting the "Take 2" software update and in typical Apple fashion I was not disappointed. The update took about 3 minutes to download and install, since doing so we've watched the 1st season of Dexter (nearly the greatest writing in television history), Michael Clayton, Mr. Brooks, Breakfast at Tiffany's and watching The Assassination of Jesse James tonight.
  
  The only downside I see to this product is that it's almost too easy to order movies, including Dexter we've spent almost $50 in less than two weeks, granted we no longer need our DirecTV at this point (mental note cancel dish service after writing this review and buy more Apple stock).
  
  The interface is a classic application of usability excellence, the fact that Apple can provide such a vast amount of features and functions with a 6 button remote is brilliant. Makes me wonder why all other manufacturers feel the need to produce remotes that require an advanced degree from Yale to operate.
  
  My feeling is that entertainment delivery has forever changed with the advent of Apple TV Take 2.
  
  
• Surprise -- Best new gadget of the year
  By A15OZQMNHGR3ZQ on 2008-03-08
  I only subscribe to regular cable (not hi def), but now that I have Apple TV, I don't need it. I can download hi-def movies from iTunes and see them in full hi def on my hi-def TV, thanks to this new Apple TV gadget. Downloading TV shows is cool because for $1.99 you get zero commercials -- really nice when you're watching great stuff like The Universe, History channel specials. All the itunes shows and music on my two computers feed into AppleTV, which brings its own hi-speed network to my hi-def TV. In fact, I got a second Hi-def TV so I can watch in the living room and bedroom. I didn't know what to expect with Apple TV, but it's much better than I imagined. You do need an ethernet or wireless computer network and a hi-def tv to use it. Hooks up in two steps, less than 10 minutes if you buy an HDMI cable and forget all those RCA-type wires. HDMI combines audio and video signal in the same wire. The only other thing to plug in is the power. You can also play all your itunes music on all your networked computers on Apple TV through your home theater system. Go try it out. The Interface is fantastic. PS - The automatic hookup to YouTUbe is really convenient -- if you don't have programming to watch, you can search YouTUbe directly on Apple TV.
  
  
• Amazing product
  By A1WYDVNQNXPNMX on 2008-04-01
  So far a great experience with my new Apple TV. Setup was a flash. I was able to connect it, connect to the internet, and connect to my Itunes in less than 10 minutes. I decided to sync all my music/movies/etc so that took all night but you really should only have to do that once. Image quality on HD rentals is amazing and watching shows on a big screen as opposed to my little IPOD is great.
  
  The only thing I would mention is that at no point did I realize no HDMI cable would be included. Fortunately I had bought an extra one but make sure you but an HDMI cable with the Apple TV.
  
  
• Apple TV Take 2
  By A3F5S0JYXVNXA9 on 2008-04-04
  Apple TV (Take 2 software) and iTunes Rentals are just fantastic. I live in China most of the year and can suddenly enjoy legal content more conveniently and just slightly more expensive than pirated DVDs. This is a big deal. Plus I love how it auto downloads the newest episodes of The Daily Show for just 9.99$ every 16 episodes. Now, if Apple wasn't restricting geographic access by requiring US credit cards, this would put a huge dent into piracy. But what's wrong with you MPAA? You want to sue your customers instead of finding a good solution to getting them what they want? Ridiculously stupid. Anyway, the Apple TV is fast, convenient, let's me have all my photos, music, videos, TV episodes, movies all in one simple place with great seamless integration with my computer. If you like watching TV and movies only on your own time this is your solution.
  
  
• A iPod for your HD TV - OK - UPDATED - USELESS
  By A2WLNSZ9U0T1S3 on 2008-05-08
  UPDATE:
  I love Apple products and I think they do a great job. However they have lost points on the Apple TV... $300+ for a piece of garbage. There is a problem with these devices when connected via Wireless N and HDMI....they FREEZE - I had to power cycle my unit atleast once a day during the week and once an hour over the weekend when it was used most.
  
  I am RETURNING IT!!!!
  
  Do your self a favor...save up and buy a Mac Mini to replace this.
  
  Another item you dont want from apple is the overpriced 1tb Time Capsule...it is slow as molasis...sorry...had to throw this in.
  
  ------------------------------------------------------
  We have recently converted this family to everything apple...computers, router, etc. The results are fantastic due to the ease of use and build quality you can expect from a company like Apple.
  
  The last item on the list was the Apple TV.... I got one and was up and running in about 5 minutes with an hdmi cable to my receiver. GREAT...
  
  I paired it with my itunes library so it could sync...again...very easy. I got some hi-def podcasts and enjoyed them asap....again very easy.
  
  Everything worked and then I noticed the thing froze up.....nothing..nada...zip....5 minutes later it asked me if I wanted to reboot. It started again.... I have had it freeze on me about 4 times thus far and that is why I am giving it 4 stars.
  
  The only other gripe I have with this is that the mp3 songs from my itunes library dont sound that great through the HDMI connection. However, I am attributing that to my receiver for the time being and will hope that it gets better.
  
  Another tiny quirk....if you have a mac laptop and use the apple tv remote...make sure you point the remote to the apple tv..otherwise you will notice that remote is controlling your laptop and the apple tv....it can get annoying. :-)
  
  Enjoy!
  
  
• An fancy looking hotplate for mom's casserole
  By A16ULWU1C21H36 on 2008-07-23
  Geez steve, wtf?! No looping function?! Choppy playback for large files?! Pain in the rear to update the playlist from Itunes. Might be great for people sitting at home that are boycotting cable pay per view or someone that wants to watch youtube all day. For any serious professional or corporate use, this thing is worthless. Like anything apple, wait for the third generation, maybe they'll get it all figured out by then.
  
  
  I still can't believe there is no looping function, my walkman back in the eighties had a looping function. Big dissapointment.
  
  
• Excellent
  By A1C60CJYX2B4UB on 2008-02-20
  This is the first time I am reviewing a product on Amazon but I am thrilled to write this one.
  
  I cannot stress how easy it is to set up. Connect the HDMI cable to your TV and then connect optical cable to the A/V Receiver and connect to your wireless router and then off you go. It took me under 10 minutes to do that.
  
  I love playing music, watching photos and youtube video on this. I did rent a movie (Pirates Of The Carribean)and it was better than on demand version but no where near my blue ray player. Economics of renting a movie from Apple also makes this feature not very attractive to me. I will keep using Blockbuster till the economics makes sense. I agree with the other reviewer about music videos. You have to play one at a time and its a pain.
  
  With all this said I love my Apple TV and would highly recommend it.
  
  
• Electronic library refresh
  By A1IN9R7N691QDX on 2008-04-01
  The ATV is a huge IPod interfaced with your TV and audio system. The ATV has a lot of untapped potential in the area of internet connectivity. Hopefully Apple can make this available to the user in future upgrades or updates. The ATV provides a great platform for taking your movies, photos and music otherwise appreciated by a single user on a computer to the entertainment environment of your home. Great entertainment is had as memories flash back watching the photo album screen saver. Also, for those large collectors of CD music the ATV un-taps the depth and breadth of your collection in a single location. Saving you the hassle of physically searching your CD racks for a particular piece of music. Don't worry about space on the ATV, you will be challenged to fill the 160Gb with music alone. Movie buffs will quickly fill the 160Gb and will be faced with choosing what to keep on the ATV.
  
  If you are new to the digital media world or haven't taken great care in the past to build you media library carefully, you will experience several long hours building or fixing your media library for the ATV. If un-hacked, the ATV conditionally requires the use of iTunes. For those Apple natives this is not a great deal when embracing the ATV. However, PC natives like myself will curse that they didn't record all their music in the universal MP3 format and will be required to convert all WMA files to the apple format (not MP3). Furthermore to make your library make any sense on the ATV, you will need to spend time fixing the structure of your library, like correcting genres, album names, artists names and the painful album artwork which doesn't exist for many of the non mainstream media (particularly classical) etc. From my experience it is best practice for the purposes of quality and consistency to rerip all of your CDs to the universal MP3 format using iTunes and let iTunes manage your media library applying the correct titles and album artwork automatically. Once up and running the ATV will show you the real potential of the digital media world in your home. Keep up the good work Apple!
  
  If you need any detailed info on the ATV, visit: http://wiki.awkwardtv.org you will find many interesting articles although aimed at Apple natives not PC.
  
  
  
• Worth the Investment
  By AIGR9OOC0454S on 2008-02-28
  Based on earlier reviews, I waited until Apple released the "take 2" update to purchase Apple TV. Setup is easy. Just connect it to the TV and plug it in. The unit had no trouble locating my wireless network and connecting with iTunes on my computer. Syncing the first time with iTunes and transferring movies and music to the hard drive on the Apple TV can take some time, but iTunes lets you pick what you want to sync. My only complaint so far is that I have not been able to get my learning ir remote to copy all of the buttons on the apple remote.
  
  Movie rentals are easy and HD titles start playing in a couple of minutes with my broadband connection (which isn't the fastest).
  
  I use the unit primarily as a music hub with my stereo receiver. My receiver has a built in ipod dock, but the graphic interface with the apple TV is much better. The menus are faster and the ablum artwork is displayed while the song is playing (similar to frontrow on the Mac). The album artwork even flips periodically so that you don't get a burn-in problem if you own a plasma.
  
  
  
• great gadget
  By A2F0PDMH9TRTM2 on 2008-05-22
  i am not sure why apple does not spend more money advertising this product. it is just that good. easy to use. great quality 1080p HD picture. very happy with this gadget.
  
  
• Excellent media server
  By A73ZWRJR6MNUS on 2008-06-10
  I wanted a device that serves up my computer media (for me, that's photos and music files). I don't surf the web, etc. on my TV...I watch the TV while using my laptop. Therefore, a media center PC provides too much functionality at too much cost for my uses. I also have a DVR for recording, so this device doesn't need that capability. I like the simplicity.
  
  1. Set up. This was very simple. The password interface is a bit awkward, as there is no keyboard, but so far that's the only time I'd need a keyboard. The Apple TV linked to my wireless network quickly and the connection is solid. I like that my media is on the device, as I'm not increasing my network traffic when I use it, only when I synch with my computer...which is done via iTunes. It's a very familiar process. 5 stars here.
  
  2. Performance. Music serving is very smooth. The iPod style interface is very familiar. I like it. If you don't like the iPod interface, you will not like the Apple TV. Photo serving is also very smooth. It's a nice touch that the screen saver for my plasma TV during music playing is my own photos. Movie downloading has gone well. Movies look great on my 720p plasma at a 10 foot viewing distance. At that distance, my eyes can't tell 720 from 1080. Maybe fighter pilot eyes could, but my old eyes can't. If you want 1080p, you need Blu ray. With DSL, an HD movie is an overnight download. That's a fact of life for me. I'd like a faster internet connection, but I can't get one....that is not a fault of the device. I give 5 stars here, too.
  
  caveats: If you want higher resolution, look elsewhere. HDMI cables are not included, but I got mine from monoprice for about $6. No DVR capability...it serves up media from your computer or iTunes (okay, or youtube, but that's not as good on an HD TV as it is on a computer in my humble opinion.
  
  
• Amazing little box.
  By A11SPSEM08VIXX on 2008-06-28
  First off go get yourself a flickr account for $25 a year and pump it full of every photo you have ever taken. No need to synch photos from your home computer when they can stream effortlessly from the web. .Mac is a bit more of a hassle i think. More $$$ too. Flickr is the best and cheapest site for packing thousands of high rez photos. You can even use flickr for the screensaver. I swear without Flickr this machine would be half as cool. So thats the skinny on the photo aspect of this.
  
  Once Apple partners with Netflix this will be the ultimate. It is nice to get the latest slop off this box for a few bucks but once I can get any film then i will be happy. I'm sure it's in the works. if I am conceptualizing it in my basement i am sure there are businessmen riding the idea like a donkey. Even though I can not rip my own DVDs to this i do not care. Wild workarounds are not for me either. Once we can rip a DVD like a CD in a few minutes then perhaps I will want that feature. Still if i can access anything in the future for a few bucks or a monthly fee then i will never buy a DVD again. only the short sighted will think of the loss of the DVD market. They have 2 choices the way I see it. Either allow us to rip our own store bought films, or make it all available to us online. Anything less will just create a bottleneck and keep many folk from coming to the market at all.
  
  So anyway... back to Apple TV. It should have a terabyte hard drive. 160 gigs today is peanuts. It will do me fine for a while. Hopefully they will allow a stackable USB drive to attach in the future. Hopefully.
  
  Films download nice and fast. Fast enough to begin watching right away anyway. Youtube is amazing. Fast & funny. The podcast was never my thing but I took a look and it's almost all free and very fast too. If you are into it you will be happy. the TV shows are more plentiful than the movies which is a bit backwards. Anyway, very nice. Could be a bit cheaper. TV shows should be no more than 99cents, especially old garbage.
  
  Short films are amazing and now have a new home on Apple TV. I can not wait to delve deep into that section.
  
  Music sync is nice and fast just like an ipod or iphone. I don't sync everything anyway. i'd fill it up in right away if I did. Hence the small hard drive. If I could get all my music on there I would, but until then i'll just put some of it on.
  
  A few more settings would be nice. Music playlists for specific photo albums would be cool.
  
  A pointer mouse like the Wii would be nice, or a wireless bluetooth keyboard?
  
  A DVD drive for ripping my own store bought films. If Apple thinks I'm going to shell out more money for films that I own they are smoking something.
  
  All in all, a great little product that can only get better.
  
  Once you all start commenting then I'll add more...
  
  
• Awesome
  By ABNBWEC4OMY78 on 2008-01-26
  Awesome. Had it from the beginning and the software update will make it even better. come on, HD rentals!
  
  
• Best Product of 2008
  By A9NRALALFYBCO on 2008-04-24
  After iTunes started renting out movies this is no doubt the best product of 2008.It has changed completely my HD experience. Now I rent movies a couple of times a week. Every family member enjoys watching the movies. GREAT PRODUCT!!!
  
  
• The Only Movie "Box" You Will Need
  By A27TOKOB8R35UX on 2008-04-25
  Let's be honest - most of us were excited at the idea of Apple TV since we have been making legitimate backup copies of our DVD movies for playback on Video iPods for about 2 years. I have multiple terabytes of my own DVDs converted for my iPod, so the Apple TV was the next step.
  
  When i got mine, I started reconverting my old DVDs into an Apple TV preset, using Handbrake 0.9.2. The quality of the DVD backup compared to the original is close, with better color and sharpness favoring the DVD. But hey, I never have to look for a DVD again now.
  
  Some downsides to the Apple TV
  - I did wish it played DVDs in a pinch, but thats what a Mac Mini is for
  - Doesnt appear to support de-interlacing. This seems like a big oversight since I may want to keep some format interlaced, and count on the Apple TV to convert it before sending it our progressive. Instead I have to deinterlace in Handbrake, which lowers the quality.
  - Can't stream photos from your PC, they must be manually copied over. This seems really dumb since I can stream movies and music. What was Apple thinking?
  
  Overall 4 stars. Great product, just wish it did some more.
  
  

• AppleCare Protection Plan for Apple TV

• Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station (Gigabit) MB053LL/A
• Apple Time Capsule MB277LL/A 802.11n 1TB Network Backup Hard Drive
• Apple Airport Express
• MONSTER AI ITV CV-2M ITV Link Component Video Cable for Apple TV
• Apple Mighty Mouse Wireless Kit