iLounge.com’s Editor-in-Chief Jeremy Horwitz reviews Apple’s new Apple TV and gives it the “Recommended by iLounge” rating with a grade of “B.”
“Pros: A cleanly-designed alternative to tethering your iPod or a computer to a widescreen television set, offering streaming or synchronized access to part of your iTunes video and audio library, as well as synchronized, slideshow-style access to your PC or Mac’s photo library. Supports not only high-resolution televisions but also the playback of high-definition video and photo content, using an intuitive interface and sophisticated wireless networking software to ease installation, navigation, and playback of your content. Works well with common 802.11g networks and offers 802.11n compatibility for superior performance. Runs quiet, consumes little space, and includes Apple Remote; works almost seamlessly with iTunes 7.1 (or later), even with multiple Apple TV units or computers networked together,” Jeremy Horwitz reports for iLounge.
“Cons: You’ll have to create, convert, or buy compatible content, as limited video format support and glitches in many previously iPod-converted video files will render even an existing iTunes video library in need of substantial updating; older iTunes Store videos look downright bad on larger HDTVs, and some videos don’t display properly on any TV. Does not include video or audio cables of any sort, and may not be compatible with certain TVs that it can physically connect to. Included hard disk is of even lower usable capacity than expected, takes a very long time to fill over standard wireless connection, and USB port does not allow connection of a second dedicated media drive. Music and photo features are acceptable but not mindblowing. Lack of any volume control will bother some users. Pricey given the actual value it adds,” Horwitz reports.
Full extensive review here.
Related articles:
CNET reviews Apple TV: ‘Very Good’ – 7.7 out of 10 – March 24, 2007
Video: Apple TV menu and interface walkthrough – March 23, 2007
Analyst: Apple TV will change the TV business – March 23, 2007
G4’s ‘Attack of the Show’ host Olivia Munn licks Apple TV – March 23, 2007
Xvid fully functional on Apple TV – March 23, 2007
Apple TV does not require Widescreen TV or HDTV, works with standard TVs – March 23, 2007
CBS looks at Apple TV on ‘The Early Show’ (with video) – March 23, 2007
Scoble: ‘Apple TV rocks’ – March 23, 2007
Apple TV hard drive upgrade works – March 23, 2007
Apple TV dissection photos – March 22, 2007
Apple posts Apple TV User’s Guide online – March 22, 2007
Enderle: ‘Apple’s attractive and well packaged Apple TV likely to set the pace’ – March 22, 2007
David Pogue demos Apple TV in humorous NY Times’ video – March 22, 2007
PC Magazine review gives Apple TV 4 out of 5 stars – March 22, 2007
NY Times’ Pogue: ‘Apple TV offers a gracious, elegant, effortless, delightful experience’ – March 21, 2007
Mossberg hands-on with Apple TV: ‘beautiful design, easy-to-use, classic Apple: simple and elegant’ – March 21, 2007
Apple TV projected to surpass TiVo, Netflix – March 20, 2007
Former Microsoft ‘Enthusiast Evangelist’ Gartenberg looks at impact of Apple TV – March 20, 2007
Apple TV ships – March 20, 2007
Apple shares rise on positive Apple TV analyst comments – March 19, 2007
Analysts: Apple to ride Apple TV + iTunes ‘Trojan horse’ into living room – March 19, 2007
Will Apple TV be even bigger than iPhone? – March 19, 2007
Apple adds 720p Apple TV high-definition export mode to QuickTime – March 19, 2007
Apple planning to buy Miglia to add DVR capabilities to iTunes and Apple TV? – March 17, 2007
Miglia debuts TVMAX+ Mac PVR, TV tuner, content provider for iPod, iPhone or Apple TV – March 16, 2007
Piper Jaffray expects 2 million Apple TV units to be sold in 2007 – March 16, 2007
Apple TV ships – March 15, 2007
Solution providers expect Apple TV to be hot seller – March 15, 2007
Apple TV could help kill traditional TV ads – March 14, 2007
Apple TV manufacturing ramp up to begin as early as today – March 12, 2007
Why Apple TV is more important than iPhone – March 12, 2007
Apple TV concept may eventually catch on with consumers – March 12, 2007
Apple CFO talks Apple TV, iPhone, Leopard and retail (link to full transcript) – March 07, 2007
PC Magazine: Why Apple TV matters – February 23, 2007
Bear Stearns: Apple TV and iPhone have changed the Apple story for the better – February 21, 2007
Deutsche Bank: Apple TV could take 30% of set-top box market within a few years – February 21, 2007
How do Apple TV and Elgato’s EyeTV work together? – February 16, 2007
Apple embraces casual gaming; iPhone, Apple TV to join iPod as gaming devices – February 09, 2007
Former GM of Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade: Apple TV to become video game console – February 08, 2007
ZDNet’s Graham: Apple TV hits a number of sweet spots, poised to make a big impact – January 25, 2007
Is Apple out to kill cable television? – January 25, 2007
RUMOR: Apple TV sales blowing away Apple’s internal expectations – January 25, 2007
Steve Jobs: Apple TV is the ‘DVD player for the 21st century’ – January 22, 2007
Apple TV beats out iPod, hits top spot on Apple Store sales chart – January 19, 2007
Report: first batch of 100,000 Apple TVs to ship this month – January 11, 2007
Steve Jobs moves to control the living room with Apple TV – January 10, 2007
Analyst Bajarin: Apple’s iPhone and Apple TV are industry game changers – January 09, 2007
Apple premieres Apple TV: movies, TV shows, music & photos on your big screen TV – January 09, 2007
RUMOR: Apple may enter video game market – December 05, 2006
Could Apple become king of game consoles? – September 26, 2006
This seems a pretty reasonable review to me. I’m thinking that version 2 of this product will be far more interesting, so I’ll likely wait til then to purchase it….
If you are willing to compromise and watch crap quality on your TV and be tied for a lonnnnnnng time to buying downloads from iTunes, then go for it!
I will be waiting for about version 3.
Yea, unfortunatly without HDCP the video quality will always be poor.
Perhaps HDCP is in the AppleTV, anyone check?
Apple TV device doesn’t use DRM
An anonymous friend at an MPAA member-company sez,
Now that my NDA issues are gone, a little tidbit for you.
The Apple TV device has HDMI and component outputs. As of the launch, it doesn’t have the HDCP anti-copying technology.
As you might imagine, this is an issue to media companies and they aren’t sure if they’ll supply HD content. They want money but they want ‘security’.
Consider that the Xbox 360 has video component HD out (no HDCP) and the Apple TV will have HDMI and component out (no HDCP).
Is the de facto standard now set by Apple & Microsoft?
Funny to hear that Apple is refusing to put DRM on its high-def TV offerings — expecially after Steve Jobs told the entertainment industry never to release HD material on DVD, unless tech companies promised not to make HD-capable DVD burners.
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/01/10/apple_tv_device_does.html
Here’s the link of what Steve Jobs told the Hollywood execs about DRM on HD type DVD’s.
http://www.macobserver.com/article/2004/06/15.13.shtml
Then again Steve Jobs mentions “DRM can’t work”.
Seems he is sure sending a mixed message.
wiseguy = macdude = andy = not-quite-right-in-the-head
I checked it out at the ocal Apple store yesterday. I was interested. I need to know whether I could play DVDs from my MacBook Pro through it to my TV. The answer was, of course, no.
I will wait til I can do that.
I think that Leopard will probably add that functionality. It won’t be long now.
At the apple store here in tucson this morning to check one out. The thing is definately built by Apple. Beautiful design and warm to the touch. The lack of volume control sucked. The menu is goergous, of course. It seemed pretty seemless, and the video quality was good. By the time I left, there were 6 shoppers outside the store watching the window display, all pointing and asking questions of each other.
@ cptnkirk
well you’ll be waiting for a long time. most everybody that will buy an apple tv will already have a dvd player hooked up in the same entertainment unit. the point of the apple tv is to play content already on your computer within iTunes…this will never be a wireless DVD player…this will replace the dvd player all together.
Tthis is so cool. I finally got my dirty mouse ball to work. Tried everything I had read, and still nothing.
Why I didn’t think to use contact cleaner a long time ago I don’t know. It’s not like I work on electronics and have cans of it sitting around…
Sorry, what were y’all talking about?
If you want to play your DVD’s then rip it using Handbrake and import it the DVD or Video_TS folder into iTunes. The quality is acceptable – not HD but acceptable. If your renting DVD’s it beats the problem of burning coasters while making copies most of the time.
@cptnkirk
You may as well wait for your Tricorder to add DVD playback. It’ll happen right around the same time.
I don’t know why no-one is mentioning this, but there’s one big reason I won’t be buying an TV any time soon; it places an arbitrary limit on how many computers I can stream content from whether there’s DRM or not.
One major reason I bought an Express/Airport was that there was no limit to non-DRM’d file sharing or streaming via Bonjour. As people come into my house they can simply log onto the network and we can share everything without restrictions because we don’t use DRM.
Apple has chosen to pre-emptively punish the consumer with the TV. If I make an original movie in iMovie and export it into iTunes, I should be allowed to share it freely with anyone’s TV without having to be “authorized” as one-of-five possible sources. This smacks of movie industry interference.
>Tthis is so cool. I finally got my dirty mouse ball to work. Tried everything I had read, and still nothing. >
Is your white keyboard grey?
ron
no, my 3.5 year old grandson isn’t big on using it. Yet.
I have thought about using a ‘puck’ mouse from an iMac G3 and putting the wireless Mighty away. They both work at the same time, which is cool.
There, it is done!
Oh come on. What does this guy want? For Apple to buy everyone everything they will need to plug it into your 20 year old Zenith? How the hell are they going to know what everyone has?
Guess what, not everyone has an HDTV and I bet if they took a poll, they would find that the HDTV folks are still in the minority. Let’s see, I have a older TV that has RCA and S-video and I’m not about to spend a lot of money on a TV until the prices come down and “everything” is being broadcasted in HD and that was suppose to happen years ago. Yes I know the Government is going to require it but all the ma and pa broadcasters can’t afford to buy the equipment upgrades to broadcast everything in HD.
I’m not a couch potatoe, I don’t eat at McDonalds but I like DVD’s every once in a while. I bought one and it works perfectly fine for me. Even my old content will work and if you haven’t heard of Mactheripper then you aren’t paying attention. Content…..get real….what do you want? Buy it, rip it or just watch Jerry Springer the way you always do. What movie or show content do you get when you use an Xbox? Ah, the same freak’n content. Oh yeah, you can play games. Guess what, I don’t play games any more either.
So for me, this thing is great. I watch and party with MTV style video’s with my friends. I share my home movies and pictures with people I spend actual time with and I don’t have to waste time hooking crap up or transfering it to other devices.
As for the hard drive, I believe there was an article the other day about hooking up an external drive to expand your hard drive. I will look for it and do it myself and let you know.
I say boycott AppleTV and buying video of iTunes.
It just locks you up to the Apple digital monopoly.
Heck, if I buy a DVD I can take it over to friends and watch it. I can give it away or even sell it.
Try doing that with your payperview AppleTV programs.
Don´t you guys see how you are all building the prison wall on your content and lifestyle?
You don´t own it, it owns you!
“Don´t you guys see how you are all building the prison wall on your content
and lifestyle?”
It amazes me that they don’t seem to see it. They seem to walk blindly right into the DRM traps for the promise of a bit of cheese.
This is the first honest review of the AppleTV I’ve seen so far, which is more than I can say for MDN’s coverage of it – the review wasn’t nearly as glowing as the Pro/Con exerpt indicates, and the grade was “B-“, not “B” (nice try MDN).
I could go on my own rant – again – about what AppleTV is missing, but I’ll just let the professionals at iLounge do the talking for me:
“[Compared to other A/V devices available] Apple suggests that the usage model for Apple TV is different [thus better]: you’re supposed to use your computer as the main repository for content, and synchronize only portions of your media to Apple TV at a given time. We respectfully disagree. Most users have no desire to keep shuttling content from device to device, and would do much better with a central networked storage drive that holds all of their home or office iTunes content. Apple TV gets us no closer to that goal, and what it does do, it does slowly [with 4 to 8 hour synching times for video].
A balanced view of the Apple TV’s … capabilities must credit Apple for creating a great video viewing interface with clean, simple … controls, while knocking it for failing to deliver the format support, content, and consistent presentation the average user would expect from a $300, high-definition-ready media player. Despite … its other features and impressive design touches, video support is the tentpole of a device that all but demands a high-definition television … and we can’t say that we’re fully satisfied with what Apple TV accomplishes so far…
We were surprised to discover that some of the H.264 movies we’ve tested without problems in iTunes and on iPods do not play properly on Apple TV … [exhibiting] serious macroblock and stuttering issues … we’ll leave it for you to decide whether this is a bug, or Apple’s way of making users “prefer” iTunes Store or other authorized content…
We … judge products on the performance and value provided by their actual features, rather than the ones people wished were included, and so you won’t see in our list of “Cons” many … things readers have been begging Apple to include …: a … digital video recorder, a disc player, or even the ability to play games. But that doesn’t mean that we wouldn’t like to see them, or that they wouldn’t have helped Apple TV tremendously. We would have loved the ability to record TV … with this device, and … equipped with a DVD or next-generation disc player, Apple TV would [be] … an ideal bridge replacement for the players people have been using for years. Absent these features, it doesn’t really replace anything in a home AV setup as much as compete with them for … [A/V] ports. That’s a big contrast with Apple’s competitors’ approaches; Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Sony’s PlayStation 3, and other offerings like the Linksys 1600 all … think bigger …
…Apple TV ultimately doesn’t feel like a mainstream accessory: it’s billed as a music, photo, and video player, yet [while] … very focused on video, … [its] not the type of video that’s sitting on most iTunes users’ computers. [Also] … customers outside of the United States still can’t buy TV … or movies from [iTunes] … and though … [they] may … unlike Americans … legally rip DVDs to Apple TV, there’s not yet a guarantee that the device will … play [them] … videos we converted with ADS Tech’s hardware H.264 encoder Instant Video To-Go proved unwatchable, [thus] the fastest iTunes-compatible transcoding solution we know of has been rendered useless…
In our view, Apple TV isn’t, as some have suggested, a solution in search of a problem, but rather a partial solution in need of being completed.”
If all Apple is interested in is selling this to the Apple-faithful, fine. They’ll sell a bundle & make a lot of money, I’m sure. But if they really want to be THE major player in digital video, as they are in digital audio, they need to relearn some iPod lessons. iPod succeeded by giving people what they wanted in a portable audio device, NOT by giving them something that would herd them towards what Apple wanted to sell them through iTunes. That’s always been SONY’s mistake & why they’ve been failing so miserably of late.
Yet for video, it’s clear Jobs is taking that successful paradigm & turning it on it’s head. AppleTV is a device that sells content through iTunes first & foremost, and does just the bare-minimum of what people would like it do do otherwise. They were so focused on that mission they actually forgot to include a volume control, for crying out loud.
AppleTV could have been so much better than the stock-price booster it is now. I just hope someone at Cupertino is listening and makes the appropriate changes.
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Excellently expressed [Odyssey67]. Those last three paragraphs really hit the nail on the head. That Sony comparison is perfect. There’s a fine line between giving people what they want and trying to herd consumers into a captive corral.
It seems to me that Apple had planned a hi-def video roll out with this product, but that it didn’t materialize. The movie producers are trying to level the playing field with Apple.
MDN “quite” as in: I’m sure.
Sorry, but I couldn’t disagree more with the above review. I knew from the keynote and the specs released beforehand exactly what TV was, what formats it supported, and exactly why I wanted it. I did not create a mental laundry list of unannounced features that I hoped it would have, and I am supremely unconcerned with being “locked in to Apple’s walled garden”.
TV does one thing extremely well – it takes my media and puts it on the big screen TV. With Handbrake, an iMac, and a few background cpu cycles I can rip a DVD into an h.264/AAC .mp4 video at full resolution that will stream flawlessly from an external USB media hard drive mounted on my desktop to the living room TV. Oh, and it also does music and photos.
Nowhere in the keynote or in the specs did TV claim to be:
>”a central networked storage drive that holds all of their home or office iTunes content”
>a DVR
>a disc player
>a game machine
>something that’s sure to play videos from ADS Tech’s hardware H.264 encoder Instant Video To-Go [whatever that is]
As for the silly insinuation that TV output has been crippled to force people into “prefering” content from iTunes – rubbish! I have a 300GB hard drive full of non-iTunes, non-DRM content that streams perfectly, without stutter. Hell, it even scrubs better than it does on the desktop.
And the remote – it is true – has no volume control. Luckily, the TV remote right beside it probably has one.
Excellent device.
Stopped by the local Apple Store and messed around with one for a while. What I found impressive is that the TV menu does not bog down with a large library like Front Row does on Macs. Maybe the new version of Front Row will share the snappy interface performance.
@ Up Close
Are you sure about this? I’ve never been to an Apple Store where they’ve had more than a couple of hundred (at most) tunes and a dozen or so videos. When lots of people have libraries of 10,000+ songs, the ‘real world’ experience with iTunes (and I guess Apple TV) is not as smooth and flashy as the Apple Store demo.
I got around the speed issue in iTunes by ditching a (perfectly good) PC and moving to a (perfectly better) iMac.
I’d be interested to hear from anyone who has an Apple TV and a mega media library if speed is an issue.
Ranu –
I’ve got 12,611 songs, 231 movies, 111 TV shows, podcasts, audiobooks, etc. – I have seen great performance out of my AppleTV. It would be better if the movies section were broken down into better search categories – but the speed is fine…
gorsh – why?
wasn´t 10,000 songs enough? 231 movies? that´s almost one a day. plus tv shows. all that time to download, maintain, search, find, listen, watch.
do you ever go outside? do you have a job, friends, wife,girlfriend? when was the last time you took a vacation that was over 200 miles from home?
i am so glad not to be a digital media addict.
easy, there, Teddy! Being a media addict is not that bad! Songs, movies, music videos – hey, at least I’m not collecting the severed heads of my victims…
okay – maybe we collectors are a little obsessive – but don’t be too surprised, there are a lot of us. We’ve collected comics and baseball cards as kids, concert t-shirts, decorative water bongs…
your average movie renter might rent one or two videos per week. Take the ones that you like – spend about three minutes to start them encoding – then drop them off in the mailbox or at the video store in the morning. That still leaves plenty of time for work, wives, kids, and your life-defining 200-mile trips. Not that hard!
>>>”Don´t you guys see how you are all building the prison wall on your content
and lifestyle?”
>>It amazes me that they don’t seem to see it. They seem to walk blindly right into the DRM traps for the promise of a bit of cheese.
Revolt! & Brau: These bits of wisdom never get said enough. Actually, it seems they never get said on MDN.
>Odyssey wrote: AppleTV is a device that sells content through iTunes first & foremost, and does just the bare-minimum of what people would like it do do otherwise.
What I’d like it to do-
Act more like a expanded desktop. That way, it would play whatever I could play on my Mac or PC.
— If it were playable, it’ll work.
That’s a far cry from:
— If it can play in iTunes, it’ll work.
As you point out, its first master is the iTunes music store. It’s second is its buyer*.
* with strings attached.
From Grok: “Sorry, but I couldn’t disagree more with the above review. I knew from the keynote and the specs released beforehand exactly what TV was, what formats it supported, and exactly why I wanted it. I did not create a mental laundry list of unannounced features that I hoped it would have, and I am supremely unconcerned with being “locked in to Apple’s walled garden”.”
Good for you dude.
“TV does one thing extremely well – it takes my media and puts it on the big screen TV. With Handbrake, an iMac, and a few background cpu cycles I can rip a DVD into an h.264/AAC .mp4 video at full resolution that will stream flawlessly from an external USB media hard drive mounted on my desktop to the living room TV. Oh, and it also does music and photos.”
Um, did you even read this review you disagree so much with? The best DVD ripper in existent wouldn’t work! Video that was already working on iPods & in iTunes wouldn’t work. Streaming worked ok most of the time, but not all of the time, and was no substitute for just having the files on a bigger drive IN or CONNECTED to the device … which the AppleTV doesn’t do out of the box. Oh, and music and photos on TV are nice, but I don’t need an AppleTV for that. The iPod I already own does it just fine.
“Nowhere in the keynote or in the specs did TV claim to be:
>”a central networked storage drive that holds all of their home or office iTunes content”
>a DVR
>a disc player
>a game machine
>something that’s sure to play videos from ADS Tech’s hardware H.264 encoder Instant Video To-Go [whatever that is]”
Nice way to diss an argument without really adressing it. iLounge themselves said they weren’t grading AppleTV based on those things … it got a B- for the things Apple said it could do and didn’t do as well as they said. It wasn’t perfect based on it’s own capabilities. As for the rest, what they said was that, if it did have one or two or all of those features, it would have helped make it a more mainstream product, instead of somethin that just Apple fanboys were sure to buy. Which is true cause DVRs, disc players, & game machines are all huge mainstream sellers. Logic, right?
An if you don’t know what the hardware ripper is, then why are you even talkin about it? Move on to somethin you DO know about. Next.
“As for the silly insinuation that TV output has been crippled to force people into “prefering” content from iTunes – rubbish! I have a 300GB hard drive full of non-iTunes, non-DRM content that streams perfectly, without stutter. Hell, it even scrubs better than it does on the desktop.
And the remote – it is true – has no volume control. Luckily, the TV remote right beside it probably has one.”
Nice to see you can at least admit the obvious. Be proud. But no one said AppleTV is crippled by edging people to iTunes. They said … and I agree … thats what it’s purpose is. It achieves its purpose. So its not crippled. The question is whether that should be its purpose. Its not the purpose of the iPod … even though the losers trying to compete with it would say that … sour grapes an all … and the iPod conquered the world. Odyssey got it 100% right … My iPod lets me do what I want with ALL my music, no matter if I bought it from iTunes. That’s what makes it great. The AppleTV lets me do what Apple wants me to do, an only with SOME of my video. It only works ‘great’ when the video is bought from iTunes. Big difference.
“Excellent device.”
Shitty post. You sound like you work for Apple.
Odyssey67,
This is the first honest review of the AppleTV I’ve seen so far, which is more than I can say for MDN’s coverage of it…
I call bullshit. MDN has not yet done a review of Apple TV to date. MDN’s “coverage” of Apple TV articles and reviews happens to include this review that you seem to love so much. Therefore, MDN’s “coverage” is exactly what you seem to desire.
You are a retard.
Boy, I guess I got it all wrong, Ishmael – I mean, if the “best DVD ripper in existent wouldn’t work!”… I’ve been using the poor man’s freebie rippers (Handbrake and MTR) and they all worked fine – every one.
I (and no doubt scholars everywhere) am still pondering the meaning of:
“They said … and I agree … thats what it’s purpose is. It achieves its purpose. So its not crippled. The question is whether that should be its purpose. Its not the purpose of the iPod … even though the losers trying to compete with it would say that … sour grapes an all … and the iPod conquered the world…”
Maybe I’m missing it… what is it that people want this device to do? Play DivX? Xvid? Whatever crap is in that AVI wrapper? Your grandma’s super8 movies of Uncle Danny drunk at the 1962 Christmas party? This is one of those geek revolts that nobody really understands. It’s like the iPod audio revolt, where they came out of the woodwork with charts and graphs to show you why the iPod was crap.
Here’s the breakdown:
>they don’t make you buy it
>if you buy it, you don’t have to buy content from iTunes
>there are certain formats it supports – they are clearly listed
>any conpiracies, coup d’etats, or black helicopter theories exist, as usual, only in certain imaginations out there.
>go to the Apple store and try it – it’s really slick
@ Tired of Retards: “I call bullshit. MDN has not yet done a review of Apple TV to date. MDN’s “coverage” of Apple TV articles and reviews happens to include this review that you seem to love so much. Therefore, MDN’s “coverage” is exactly what you seem to desire.”
And I call troll. First, as you should already know, MDN typically doesn’t do reviews – they link to everyone elses. I’ll assume you aren’t dumb and are simply throwing out a red herring with that due to not having any better argument. Continuing to be so kind gets more problematic, however, as after that first statement you seem so filled with ‘anti-Apple rage’ that you don’t actually understand complete sentences anymore.
So let me try it again:
What I was saying was that, among all those reviews that have been linked to here at MDN, as well as others I’ve seen elsewhere, this review from iLounge is the first honest one – “honest” in the sense that this review has, for the first time, thoroughly pointed out all the pluses & minuses, using more set-ups & configurations, and is presented in a neat & understandable package that’s the most free of Apple-envy – that I have read.
Clear?
Jeeze. No offense dude, but if you’re so tired now, you must get absolutely nackered everytime you look in a mirror. You should probably get your platelet levels checked, pronto, as I’m pretty sure there isn’t anything to be done about your IQ.
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MDN magic word (no kidding) is “specific”
As in, “I can’t be any more specific than that”.
The problem with AppleTV in Canada is that we can’t buy decent video content from iTunes. No movies, no TV shows available here.
I already have a cable for connecting my MacBook Pro to my HD TV and can easily show dvds that way. But . . . since I started buying iBooks nearly a decade ago I’ve wanted to cut the cables and be able to use it from anywhere in my home. I actually ordered the first Airport in Toronto. I always wanted it to be able to replace my connections to USB devices-scanners, printer (it eventually did this), digital cameras, external drives, etc.
I don’t wat another DVD player either but until decent content is available from iTunes or otherwise, I’m stuck. I will use my MacBook for DVD duty and hope to get a BluRay when I upgrade my computer in the next year or so.
Only solution (suggested in a whisper at my Apple Store) was to use illegal means to rip a DVD. It takes about 48 h ours to do one DVD. That’s hardly a great solution.
Seems to me that the only other way to solve this would be to add a DVD/BluRay player in the AppleTV box.
It’s a first version. Wait for version 2 if you don’t like the initial features.
@ grok: “Boy, I guess I got it all wrong … I mean, if the “best DVD ripper in existent wouldn’t work!”… I’ve been using the poor man’s freebie rippers (Handbrake and MTR) and they all worked fine…”
Best refers to quality, and here also to speed. I’ve used the ADS and its damn good. So if your software works for AppleTV, fine. Free is even better. But some will want the performance that comes with a hardware ripper, especially since HD really brings out the flaws. And there’s no reason why an MPEG4 or H.264 file – no matter how it was made – should have issues if AppleTV ‘supports’ it. Yet the iLounge review – among others – make it clear this is a concern.
“Maybe I’m missing it… what is it that people want this device to do? Play DivX? Xvid? Whatever crap is in that AVI wrapper? Your grandma’s … 1962 Christmas party? This is … like the iPod audio revolt, where they came out of … with charts and graphs to show you why the iPod was crap.”
This is nothing like the audiophile beef with 128bitAAC. Your own examples demonstrate the ‘Joe Sixpack’ nature of AppleTVs problem. YES I want to see the 1962 Xmas party on my HDD. YES I want more playable codecs – at least all the ones Quicktime already supports – as those are the ones on my Mac. Who wouldn’t expect this?? AppleTV is sold as THE way to ‘get your video from your Mac to your HDTV’. Well, right now the only vids gauranteed to play on are video podcasts and iTunes shows.
So, maybe I’M missing something, but just looking at that tells me that AppleTV, quite possibly, was designed more for iTunes compatibility than it was for compatibility with my life.
“Here’s the breakdown:
>they don’t make you buy it
>if you buy it, you don’t have to buy content from iTunes
>there are certain formats it supports – they are clearly listed
>any conpiracies … or black helicopter theories exist … only in certain imaginations out there.
>go to the Apple store and try it – it’s really slick”
Reversing order:
> I have – it’s definitely nice.
> It’s no fantasy/theory that AppleTV is a limited device for files not related to iTunes downloads.
> The current supported formats are a] too few (using QT itself as a reasonable standard), and b] don’t work across the board (using iPod & iTunes performance as, again, a reasonable standard).
> While technically I don’t have to buy from iTunes to use AppleTV, Apple has not made anything else nearly as easy. Like I said, maybe this is a good strategy – but if so then stop glossing over it.
> No one makes you buy ANY manufactured product – that’s not the point, and never is. If it was, then what consumer would have any right to ask for changes to a product that doesn’t suit their needs, or only does so partially (which I think is the case here). I mean, have you NEVER expressed an opinion before, on any product, regarding how good/bad/mediocre it is? If so, even if only to your friends, then you need to get off the high-horse on this one.
I’ll say it again: If all Apple is interested in is selling to the Apple-faithful, fine. They’ll sell a shitload. But if they want AppleTV to replicate the success of the iPod – and they do – they need to relearn the lessons of the iPod. iPod gives people most everything they want/expect in a portable audio device. It does NOT overwhelmingly herd them towards buying through iTunes. That’s the SONY strategy – capturing customers rather than catering to them.
For video Jobs is following the SONY strategy. Whether he or you want to admit it, AppleTV sells content through iTunes first & foremost, simply by perfoming best – or at all – with iTunes content. That’s not what iPod does – an normal MP3 or AAC file plays the same regardless. AppleTV also does the bare-minimum beyond streaming iTunes video, even though (again, whether Jobs likes it or not) people WANT to play their other old videos reliably. They even WANT to record non-iTunes shows, WANT optical discs to play through, WANT to cut down on the devices cluttering the shelf. AppleTV has the elan of iPod, but doesn’t satisfy the basic ‘wants’ like iPod. And if Apple has no interest in giving people that, then what exactly is the point?
AppleTV is a great stock-price booster, and a wet-dream to those who love Apple & the Mac. It will come out of the gates like a shot. But I think, once it’s limitations become better known, more and more regular people will be saying what many of us are here already – that AppleTV is missing some ingredients.
Ok – dead horse time. I’m done
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Fair enough, O67-
I understood your post, just didn’t agree with the review you posted. What I still don’t get is why (other) folks here and abroad are so incensed about this little box. Go back and read the posts and mark the level of vehemence. I thought that iLounge’s take was pretty good, but some people here seem to be furious at… well… something about AppleTV.
So I guess it’s – more codecs that people want? Higher resolution? Those’ll be nice. In the meantime, it works great. Didn’t mean to get on the high horse, but this is exactly like the iPod audio controversy, with the same claims about Apple’s ulterior motives (why won’t this play ogg vorbis, anyone?). Google “itunes lock-in” and you’ll see how many people out there still feel trapped by the ITS. Hence the statement “they don’t make you buy it”. I wasn’t being facetious – but with the spitting rage shown by some of the other posters here, you’d think that Steve-O lifted their wallets at the club last night. This is outrage in search of a subject. AppleTV has its pros and cons – personally, I’d give it a “B”. Caveat Emptor.
grok, I think I got this message by mistake. I’ll forward it to you below.
“Grok, sweetie:
Your Uncle Danny and I have decided that you are no longer invited over for Thanksgiving and the Christmas holidays. Be a dear about those old movies and stfu.
All my love,
Grandma”
case in point…
hi, grammy!
What I don’t understand is why so many reviews seem to point out the lack of volume control..
Since when do devices with no attached speakers offer a volume control? Do dvd players have volume control? Do VCR’s have volume control? Do cd players have volume control? Do Turntables or cassette decks have volume controls? The answer is no, so why should Apple TV have a volume control? It is simply a playback device meant to go through either tv’s or stereo receivers which have their own volume controls.
Thanks for this information.
Thanks for all the kind words of support!
@grok –
sounds like a lot of people got stuck with hours & hours of video that they hoped would work, but didn’t. at this point, it’s either convert or bitch. bitching’s easier.
I can’t remember an Apple product that has generated so much whining for what it doesn’t do. And this on MDN, one of the most rabid fan sites (I mean that in a good way). Well, I got my tv on Friday, and spent the weekend checking it out. My take is: Screw video. Having my entire iTunes library right there, with a digital audio output and the Core Animation-based screensaver that scrolls album artwork up the TV screen, was worth the price of admission. Even if there was no video capability whatsoever, this is so much cooler than hooking up an iPod dock’s analog audio out or streaming from AirTunes.
So many video formats that Apple TV won’t play? Exactly.. That’s the point..
Apple TV is Apple’s attempt at standardizing video content to iTunes friendly formats.
Gee… mine works great this far. Transferred photos and music in a jiffy. Real fast. Even played back HD clips from my Panasonic HDC-SD1 once I’ve processed them with BlackMagic Intensity. Excellent playback quality at the 1080i setting.
Works exactly as advertised. Everything looks as good as it should. HD source looks great. SD looks just like that, SD. It doesn’t upconvert SD to HD, if that’s what people are complaining about.
That mysterious USB port the manual claims is for “service” makes me wonder, though… you follow me?
Thanks for the defense O67. I abide.
You’re alright Grok. Bygones.