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Apple TV. How is it?
superhappypanda
Zug Island Sport FishingSeattleRegistered User regular
Zug Island Sport FishingSeattleRegistered User regular
Anyone here have an Apple TV and how do you like it? I was over a friend's place on the weekend and I liked the fact that he could run his picture gallery while listening to music. Not sure if I want to drop the cash just to have that feature. Also, how is the Netflix streaming compared to say, an XBOX/PS3/Roku?
Currently I have an XBOX 360 and a PS3 but I don't think there's any easy way to get my music and pics playing at the same time with those, are there?
Currently I have an XBOX 360 and a PS3 but I don't think there's any easy way to get my music and pics playing at the same time with those, are there?
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Every third party app on the Apple TV feels pretty gimped and parred down compared to their PS3/Xbox/whatever cousins
The buffering itself is fine, but the menus and features of the interface are extremely basic. When I bought a second TV, I left my PS3 in my living room because it's the better option for Netflix.
The best parts of the Apple TV ownership experience are:
- Video output from iPhone/iPad to your TV with basically no effort
- Being able to rent an iTunes movie when Netflix doesn't have it
For the price, I enjoy my Apple TV. If mine broke, I'd buy another one, maybe not immediately, but eventually. That's as much as an endorsement as I can give.
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
Oftentimes it's not just about the ability to expend the effort, but the desire to.
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
Hulu Plus is shit, unless it's changed. I'm pretty sure you still get ads with even Hulu Plus. I think it's not worth the monthly price to stream ads to a mobile device, but that's just my two cents.
I believe you can get regular hulu on a device running xmbc though. I don't believe you can jailbreak the generation three appletv's yet though, hence why the second generation models are so expensive on ebay.
My usage was initially for XBMC, and I wanted something that was discrete and looked good (while also being able to control it with my universal remote, rather than a PC). I actually started using the apple features too, playing music, sharing photos etc, is much easier through the aTV interface, and I rent films off iTunes sometimes now.
It also has a neat "screen sharing" feature with any modern apple device. I can screen share my laptop, or iphone/pad.
I bought mine second hand, and have had no issues. My only recommendation is to double check the version of IOS on them and whether they're jailbreak-able. A quick google would sort this. Some nice apps out there, that do all the techie stuff with minimal fuss.
Jailbroken devices act just like regular devices only you have more options. As long as you don't try to update any illicit programs via legitimate methods, it's really no different. You can use itunes, the app store, etc and not have any issues. I buy apps all the time but my phone is jailbroken. ios 4.3 and don't have any problems. I'm too lazy to backup and upgrade. :P
If all else fails though you can always restore via itunes, it's not like you brick it by jailbreaking it.
I'll set it up for NetFlix for sure. I like the NetFlix interface on the PS3, but mainly because it's easier to do data entry in search and I can't imagine that would be a good experience with the Apple TV remote. But for making selections in the Instant queue and the various recommended content I assume it is OK?
I'll set it up to stream iTunes from his PC (mainly for music and picture slideshows), and he'll probably like the ability to rent content via the Apple TV.
He's got an iPhone and an iPad, what all can you do with this Airplay thing?
With the newer iOS and at least an iPad 2, you can do full on video mirroring. I haven't tried it with games, but it *should* work. You can also use your iPhone and iPad as remotes to both your computer's iTunes, and to control the AppleTV.