Apple TV, whos got it?

[Tomodachi]

Checkin' this thing out online they seem to be pretty cool. I like how you can rent HD movies and play it on the big screen at home and not have to worry about returning the video to the rental store.

Anyone got one and recommend buying it? The NEX here in Yoko sells the 160GB one for $240.

 

[mmx1]

There's a major refresh on the way. At the very least wait until Monday to see if they've announced it at WWDC.

 

[Seafort]

I just picked up a Mac Mini and have it hooked up to my HDTV.

The NEX in Yoko sells Apple stuff? I did not see that when last I was there...

 

[m26]

I looked into Apple TV a little while ago, but decided against it. With Netflix you get all sorts of movies streaming online on your TV (many in HD), and for things on my computer I got a $30 cable that allows me to watch YouTube, Hulu, iTunes, etc on my TV. I think you can even rent movies through iTunes, and then watch them through the PC->DVI->HDMI->TV connection.

Right now, ATV looks a little more convenient, but it wasn't worth the extra $200. We'll see if they update the thing.

 

[lowflier03]

We bought one when we were in Japan and we loved it. It was really convenient for renting/buying movies as well as entire seasons of TV shows. We absolutely hated the quality of TV on base so it was worth it for us. Also the amount and quality of streaming movies that Netflix offers was not that good. Very few of their movies are offered digitally and for the most part they were not movies that my wife or I wanted to watch.

A good alternative would be to set up a sling box. Assuming you had someone back in the states who could set it up for you.

Also some services will not let you download things like TV shows and movies on base. (It shows up as a Japanese IP address) iTunes will let you download on base.

 

[jus2mch]

I've used ATV for a little over 2 years, but only in the states. Overall I really like it a lot, but as someone else posted it's more out of convenience. I have my iTunes music and pictures streamed to it, in addition to renting movies and watching YouTube. When I change the input on my TV a collage of my pictures scrolls.

Now, the hiccups. As others have mentioned there is another update coming. I've updated my ATV since the first version. I loved the first version. I could rent and download movies in about 4 minutes over my wireless internet, and sync to my computer no problem. Then the new updates started rolling through, and I had syncing issues. Then the next update came through, and it would literally take like a day to rent and download 1 movie. Apple swore up and down that it was my service provider, but I have two other computers on my network that could download without any problems at all. However, this last update that I did seemed to correct all those issues, so I will keep my fingers crossed on the up and coming update.

Lastly, if you can afford to drop a couple hundred, and want a cool convenient toy do it. Otherwise, just get the cable, plug your laptop into the TV, and rent from iTunes that way.

 

[RotorHead04]

Great device to have -- just keep in mind Apple considers it a "hobby" vice a fully focused product. As a consumer, this means that newer functionality, software updates are not as frequent as you might like. Check out this link to understand more about the "hobby" status: http://d8.allthingsd.com/20100601/d8-video-steve-jobs-on-why-apple-tv-is-a-hobby/

The rumors abuzz right now are that they have a new form factor in the works that will be released in conjunction with their itunes.com cloud-based service. There is no known timeline for the cloud-based service or the new model, but I would definitely wait until Monday afternoon to see if it even gets mentioned. (My guess is no ... they usually just talk phones on a phone release day) We love our ATV and have enjoyed it for nearly three years with no major problems.

 

[RotorHead04]

Otherwise, just get the cable, plug your laptop into the TV, and rent from iTunes that way.

Won't always work -- many of their rentals are only available for viewing on ATV. Just a heads up.

 

[jus2mch]

Won't always work -- many of their rentals are only available for viewing on ATV. Just a heads up.

Woah, that sucks! I guess I never realized this, because I always rent from ATV. Although Red box has been giving my ATV a run for the money lately.

 

[ea6bflyr]

AppleTV's processor is SLOW. Buy a Mac Mini with a faster CPU, plus you can install BOXEE or other we sharing apps to watch streaming video for FREE.

-ea6bflyr

 

[PropStop]

Get a PS3. If you like to buy or pay for each rental, then ATV is good (I have both, BTW) but I really think the functionality as a media center you gain from a PS3 is far better than an ATV. I've got a bunch of media stored on my networked HD (connected to my router) and it's easy to see the data on there with the PS3 but getting the ATV to recognize it isn't nearly as easy. If you add Boxee to the ATV, it's much more useful. It also can't do true HD - at least not the one I have.

 

[Seafort]

Problem with the PS3 is, what if you don't play video games? Just going to buy it for media and blu-ray?

 

[PropStop]

The PS3 is a great media center and the blue ray player is about the best on the market. If you don't play games, I still think it's better than an ATV. But if you want, I'll sell you mine.

 

[eas7888]

The PS3 is a great media center and the blue ray player is about the best on the market. If you don't play games, I still think it's better than an ATV. But if you want, I'll sell you mine.

If you want a media center, it's hard to beat the Xbox360 and the Windows Media Center extender experience. This is how I watch cable in my house. Three tuner cards on my PC, two extenders and an Xbox. I have a DVR, I can watch all of my downloaded movies/TV shows, stream all of my music, watch cable with a TV guide. . .all in one interface. Best part of all, It saves me nearly $35/month with the cable company. That's more than enough savings to buy an Xbox360 and the tuner cards in a year.

 

[Tomodachi]

Unfortunately I cant watch NetFlix off-base in Yokosuka because I have a Japanese IP address. That also applies to things like HULU while trying to watch TV shows etc...

I have a PS3 and know how to hook it up with an extender to my PC, however I do not download movies/TV shows through torrents and the like due to viruses. Also, I am not a fan of watching a movie version of some guy in a movie theatre holding his handicam and then seeing people get up and walk around to take a head break. Not good quality lol.

I guess I will wait to see if something new is announced, if not i'll probably go ahead and buy the ATV. We make alot of money over here in Japan (COLA rocks!)