Apple TV
 

What cave have I've been living in.

Been wanting a music server to hook up to my HT reciever downstairs so I could play my MP3s sitting on my PC but the $11000 for something like a Sooloos been holding me back.

Buddy mentioned the Apple TV and this thing looks fantastic, music server plus can download HD movies and TV shows.

Wondering what they're really like, anyone have one?

You can only play movies and TV shows that you have downloaded from iTunes Music Store, from what I've heard...

Still, to be able to play even that and not have to have your computer on to do it is great. I'm on the lookout for something similar that plays all my media.

I just use my xbox 360 which is looked up to my HT. The xbox is hooked directly up to my router so i can stream all my media off my pc which is also hooked directly to my router. I use Windows media center extender for audio files and just have my media folders on my PC shared so I can Browse my videos. Works like a charm. Also, if you want to listen to content on your ipod you can just plug it into the xbox too.

I have one and Just hate it! I have a Home server in the basement and A HTPC on one TV a TVIX HDm-5100 on the other and I bought an apple tv for my bedroom. I was very excited I thought it would be awsome I used a patchstick and installed Boxee and XBMC becuase Apple tv is very limited to what it plays. But after months of fighting with it I am ready to give up. So if you want to try it ill trade you for a good skimmer!:lol:

I have one and HD movies from Apple look incredible on it! They play almost immediately too. I'm pretty sure that any video you can get INTO itunes will then play/stream to the tv box. At least that's how it has seemed to work for me. I've watched a few movies and tv shows this way. Need laptop on for that tho...

The lock in thing will continue with these products until somebody decides on a standard for all of the download outlets to use. As bad as Apple's stuff can be I'd have to say my XBOX 360 is worse, it's way easier to put divx content on a disc and let the dvd player do it. One outlet will eventually get enough market share that new market players will have to design interoperable products.

If you are serious about the skimmer PM me, I have a G-2 I'd trade.

+1 on putting DivX movies on a DVD and watching them there... it's just easier. And you can archive your movies that way too.

On a side note, you could always use Airport Express to get your music from iTunes to your stereo. There is even a good workaround for playing all system audio through it, at least if your using a Mac. But lets hope that all the companies eventually start working together on this... like High Def DVD, I hate that there are 2 formats... Stupid Sony :evil:

I am building a media computer and my friend already has one set up. Simply it is another computer, that is in your stereo/TV rack and hooked to the TV and sound system. with windows media canter and a wireless card so you can run it in your home network it is simple and works good.

you could build one for cheep depending on what you have around the house for computer spares.

Steve

wow, love or hate. Think a little more research is needed to see if worth the $249

I love my Apple TV. I have my whole iTunes music library now playing on my living room stereo. I have always been a Blockbuster movie rental person but since I bought the Apple TV I have never gone back to Blockbuster. Downloading is way better. Unfortunately the selection is not as good but I think that will just take time with the movie industry. The movie quality of a regular movie is great and the HD versions are excellent. If you rent a regular movie you can start watching it about 30 seconds after it starts downloading. If you rent the HD version than it usually takes about 1.5 hours before you can start watching (planning ahead helps). I would never go back to Blockbuster and would never give up my Apple TV.

When I rent HD they start playing in no more than 30 seconds...

Also...I haven't had issues playing a lot of my movies on it. I have quicktime pro which i open avi, mpg, wmv files etc in. Save'em out as .mov and then into itunes. from there it streams to my apple tv.

Ah, I didn't think of that... well done, you found a way :lol: Now I have to buy QT Pro and an Apple TV, thanks :twised:

well after seeing the XBOX would work, looked into the kid's wii.

Not as slick as Apple TV and iTunes, but using winamp I'm playing my MP3s on my HT.

Well I just ran into an issue trying to get a movie to play. It was .avi so I opened in qt and saved as mov. Went into my library no prob. But there was a flag when trying to sync to my apple tv. Must be the codec no idea. So in qt again...I selected export and saw a 'movie to apple tv' option. This create a .m4v and I KNOW this works flawlessly. Takes a while to do the conversion tho.