New Apple TV now out

[Aaron]

Wow, they were fast to announce an upgrade. Glad I held off.

[becomingwater]

So, is this basically a DVR or an iPod to download the movies from iTunes and play them on your HDTV?

[Aaron]

It's an iPod for your TV. You can stream stuff via WiFi. But, you can't use it as a TiVo.

[becomingwater]

Originally Posted by AaronDavies

It's an iPod for your TV. You can stream stuff via WiFi. But, you can't use it as a TiVo.

Oh ok, I am still trying to figure out the use of the TV out on my Video iPod.

[DavePS3]

There's a lot of speculation about movie downloading in the future and for the collector, it's just not an option. Renters of discs might be interested but generally, anyone spending the cash on the Apple TV, is probably not a movie renter. Renters are those who either don't want to spend the money on buying a disc or those who cannot watch a movie more than once and IF the downloading is seamless, without pauses and that God-awful pixelization that occurs from compression artifacting, those people might try (and stick with) that form of movie watching. For myself, I want the best picture possible. I didn't get an HDTV to watch crappy copies or freezing-up downloads.

My boss sees downloading as the future and hard copies going the way of the Dodo. I don't agree. As long as there are people like me who love to collect and want the best PQ and sound at their fingertips, anytime of the day, discs will be around for awhile.

[msm]

I had one of these, they are nice but for me, I had the 40GB version and filled it very quick which is why I returned it once the bigger version came out. I converted a lot of my dvd's that aren't out on blu-ray onto the AppleTV, it was nice not having to deal with discs of normal dvd's.

[DavePS3]

How's the playback M'? Pretty seamless? Can you access all the supplimental stuff from the discs original menu system without having the disc in the drive?

[msm]

Originally Posted by DavePS3

How's the playback M'? Pretty seamless? Can you access all the supplimental stuff from the discs original menu system without having the disc in the drive?

I used HandBreak to rip just the movie onto AppleTV format, you can't get the original menu system, you just get the movie or the selected bonus content. The playback is good, not as good as a blu-ray but for streaming wirelessly it isn't bad.

[DrinkMore]

Seems like a waste of money. I know what Apples intentions are with this, but again - this is just another "device" that is going to collect dust.

Here is the issue I see, what does it do and what does it not do? How many devices does one person need to do what they want?

Example - A cell phone now does what a PDA does. A cell phone now does what an mp3 player does. A pda does what a cell phone and an mp3 player does. A laptop does everything an mp3 player and a pda does but not a cell phone.

A ps3 can stream music, videos, and pics. It can not become a DVR. It can not play TV streams.

What I am getting at is - we have all these devices that do all these nifty things, yet ALL OF THEM fall short. They do everything BUT a certain item or they do everything BUT one item and in return you need another device and so on.

How about just one device? Maybe they do it this way because they see consumers as an endless money pit. I know Im not. Are you?

I want one device and one device only. Until that happens, I will save my cash Besides, the PS3 works fine for me.

[msm]

Also the PS3 can do everything the AppleTV can do without the ability to buy movies or tv shows from itunes.

[ps3andlovinit]

Originally Posted by msm

I used HandBreak to rip just the movie onto AppleTV format, you can't get the original menu system, you just get the movie or the selected bonus content. The playback is good, not as good as a blu-ray but for streaming wirelessly it isn't bad.

What about 5.1 sound with these ripping tools? Does Handbreak preserve that or does it get lost? When I looked some time ago that was what put me off spending the time ripping as it didn't seem to be supported.

[DavePS3]

Damn good point.

[TJandBLU-RAY]

Originally Posted by AaronDavies

Wow, they were fast to announce an upgrade. Glad I held off.

Wish I had. (insert sound of Fred Flintstone mumbling and grumbling here).

[TJandBLU-RAY]

Originally Posted by msm

I had one of these, they are nice but for me, I had the 40GB version and filled it very quick which is why I returned it once the bigger version came out. I converted a lot of my dvd's that aren't out on blu-ray onto the AppleTV, it was nice not having to deal with discs of normal dvd's.

You can return it? How does that happen...I mean, unless you JUST bought the thing...I bought mine when it came out. Lesson learned here: Wait for the iPhone for a while, until the bigger hard drive version comes out.

[Aaron]

Originally Posted by TJandBLU-RAY

Lesson learned here: Wait for the iPhone for a while, until the bigger hard drive version comes out.

That's exectly what i'm doing. :-)
(I'm to good to use the colorful smileys)lol

[msm]

Originally Posted by TJandBLU-RAY

You can return it? How does that happen...I mean, unless you JUST bought the thing...I bought mine when it came out. Lesson learned here: Wait for the iPhone for a while, until the bigger hard drive version comes out.

I did just buy it, I got it at circuit city about 3 weeks ago and the 160gb appletv came out on 5/30 so I returned it and I am now putting the money towards something else. I might pick one up later if it improves but I might as well wait for the new sony blu-ray player.

I am passing on the iPhone, I know there is going to be a better one and it will become the new razor in about a year. Same with the new MacPro, as much as I need that new processor, they didn’t update any of the graphic cards and didn’t even include a blu-ray superdrive...

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by AaronDavies

Wow, they were fast to announce an upgrade. Glad I held off.

At this point it is a second version, for $399. The original 40GB is still available for $299.

In Canada the pricing has been and continues to be rather attractive (CAD$349 and CAD$449)

But, the problem here is that the rights to the TV shows are held by Canadian interests and are not available on iTunes for us. So, it makes the whole point of Apple TV rather questionable, at this time.

I think music videos are the only thing available to Canadians. BFD.

Gary

[Shadowself]

the big disappointment, and what will keep me from purchasing, is it only supports up through 720p. If it had supported up through 1080p/24 & 60 then I'd be greatly tempted.

[miked924]

How does the video look? I'm curious since apple doesn't have anything bigger than 640x480 on itunes so I can't imagine it looking to good on a big monitor even just blowing it up to 720 resolution

[TJandBLU-RAY]

Originally Posted by Shadowself

the big disappointment, and what will keep me from purchasing, is it only supports up through 720p. If it had supported up through 1080p/24 & 60 then I'd be greatly tempted.

Not too sure about that. I think it goes up to 1080i. I will have to look later.