Apple MA711LL/A TV with 40GB Hard Drive [OLD VERSION] by Apple Computer
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Digital camera reviews of Apple MA711LL/A TV with 40GB Hard Drive [OLD VERSION]
Digital camera Review: AppleTV - impressions
Summary: 4 Stars
The first impressive part was buying the AppleTV through Amazon - the prices were ridiculously cheaper compared to the local prices here in Australia. Even adjusting for currency changes, I saved 34%.
The machine itself works a treat. The instructions are clear and easy to follow. Set up was easy-peasy.
Movies and music streamed without problems.
Occasionally, there is a delay in the initial sync-ing which Apple failed to disclose. This is despite using the latest N-hubs.
All in all, as long as you've got an HD TV, an Apple computer, iTunes and a hub, the AppleTV slips into the family network with ease.
4/5 for usability
5/5 for access
4.5/5 for long term tolerability (occasional hiccup with syncing scoring a minus 0.5)
Digital camera Review: AppleTV -- something to watch all the time.
Summary: 5 Stars
We bought ourselves an AppleTV to replace our XBox 360 as our primary media center (why? it is loud, and it has a tendency to need repair. Plus we are switching our household to Macs, and our Media Center PC is going away).
We have started to purchase some TV shows off of iTunes (primarily The Office) and we wanted to watch them on our big screen TV in the living room. I was toying with the idea of a Mac Mini, but they are just a little too expensive for what I want (especially by the time you get the video conversion out of the way). Plus, they would eat up another machine registration (out of 5) from our iTunes account.
So, we went by and looked at the AppleTV at the local Apple Store. As it was a new product, the sales staff weren't too 'educated' on it yet. But as I stood there staring at the little box, I thought: "Perhaps I can archive our extensive DVD collection and serve them off of one of our Macs".
So I left with a shiny new AppleTV in hand (and about $300 poorer). Taking it home, I simply plugged in some component cables into our RPTV and the power into the wall. No power switch on the Apple TV. The thing displayed the Apple Logo for about 10 seconds or so. I setup the TV for 1080i and put in my WEP password in the system configuration. AppleTV gave me a passcode to link with my iTunes Macs/PCs. Entering the passcode into iTunes allowed me to synchronize with that machine's iTunes media.
We only have a 802.11g network and so it took a while to synchronize the box with iTunes. You can not only synchronize a library, but you can also select up to 5 machines on your network as a streaming source for content (except for pictures evidently).
Playing a few of the episodes of The Office was great, we could finally sit and relax in the family room without having a laptop on our laps, or putting it up on the Cinema Display in the office room of the house. No hitches, etc... We browsed through a few trailers online that Apple allows you to browse. Looked great, minimal lag (we have a 3Mbps DSL line). It will be intriguing to see if they expand the ability to browse online content. Currently it is limited to browsing movie trailers. It would be great if they let you browse iTunes.
Speaking of which, one of the problems I have with the iTunes service is there is no real "rental" model. This was one thing that the XBox 360 had going for it -- you could rent movies online for about what they cost at Blockbuster. That, and the selection isn't so great via iTunes yet.
BUT, the primary reason I bought this is to clear out our DVD library from the bookshelf. We have TONS of DVDs, and DVDs for the kids that take up way too much shelf space. I archived a few DVDs the first day (including some old classics like Gone with the Wind) and the box streamed them effortlessly over the network. At last! At night we can choose a movie out of our library from the comfort of our living room sofa. If you have a large DVD collection that you would love to archive and access at a whim (assuming your computer is on, or if you add a larger HDD to your AppleTV, you can skip the streaming part) this is a great way to access them.
We are planning on creating a playlist for the kids to watch educational children's DVDs instead of the mental rotgut found even on PBS (Dragon Tales? Clifford The Big Red Dog? Those are educational?) so that for their hour or so of TV they can watch what we want to 'push' to them. Seeing how repetitive children's programming is on TV, they should hardly care :-)
The big thing I don't really care for thus far is the Apple Remote. If you have a newer Mac, or an Apple Hi-Fi, etc... you know the device I am talking about. It feels awkward for controlling a TV like appliance (it felt just Ok for something like FrontRow on the Mac) or a stereo system (Apple Hi-Fi). If you have Macs or other Apple appliances that use a remote, make sure to pair them -- else, you'll wreak all sorts of havoc!
There have been folks who have been "hacking" apart the AppleTV to get larger HDDs installed, getting into the OS X install on the box to get other forms of media accessible, running Apache, etc... It really is just a cut down (and slow) PC underneath it all. The big thing I suspect many owners will do is to upgrade the HDD if they want to store their media library on it. Apple would be wise to release this in multiple HDD sizes like they do with the iPod. 40GB, 80GB, 120GB would be great sizes and would be worth it for those with large media collections.
Apple did spring for 802.11n wireless on the box, and I plan on getting an 802.11n router to take advantage of this in the next couple of months (Apple makes the Airport Extreme if you plan on going all Apple at home).
So far I am extremely pleased with this device, and it is one step closer to our eventual liberation from Cable TV (Satellite in our case). Buying the shows we want ala carte, getting news over the Internet and archiving our own DVDs allows us to save the $50/month cable bill and just get the few shows we actually do watch. At $34 for a season of most shows, and assuming we watch about 10 shows a season that would be $340 a year, rather than $600!
Digital camera Review: AppleTV 1.1 is interesting but not compelling... waiting for v2.0 update
Summary: 3 Stars
This review was written prior to the "take2" update availability.
Version 1.1 of the firmware is bound to one machine for its primary content sync, but allows read/only sharing from multiple other PC/Mac machines running iTunes. This causes a problem when you have multiple iTunes deployed in your house and want to transfer content from multiple locations. Switching to a different machine for syncing results in deleting ALL the content on the box - ouch.
The device comes with YouTube access which is surprisingly useful. As the content on YouTube continues to expand this features becomes increasingly useful. The quality varies from awful to decent on playback, but sometimes that is good enough. Or perhaps it needs to be because AppleTV 1.1 does not come with much else for fresh content.
AppleTV 1.1 requires a PC or Mac with iTunes to do anything beyond youtube viewing. That will apparently change with AppleTV 2.0 - when ever it ships.
The remote is very simple/basic, unlike so many others with far too many custom buttons.
It was extremely simple to configure, including using the wireless setup on a secure network. I expected that to be difficult and was pleasantly surprised there.
This device does not have an off switch, or at least non that I have found. It just goes into screensave mode and is always on.
It has lots of potential and hopefully the "Take2" firmware update will take advantage of it and remove the dependency on a PC/Mac for providing fresh content.
Digital camera Review: Awesome but could be much better!
Summary: 4 Stars
This product does everything Apple said it will do. The Apple TV attempts to be a product that will fill a long existing void in the media world. A device that can "transparently mesh home computer entertainment (An active experience) with home television entertainment (A passive experience) successfully". Many products have attempted, yet failed, to succeed in this market. So how does the Apple TV measure up? Well, from the perspective of a very critical Videophile/Audiophile, here is how the Apple TV scored:
This thing does not support 1080i or 1080p. Tolerable? Yes and no. It's a freaking first generation product fry crying out loud! But 1080i could have been a feature without breaking Apple's bank while still being affordable for the consumer.
It does support anything other than 2.0 stereo sound. Though it includes a 5.1 surround mimic codec. Tolerable? NO! Not for any generation home Audio/Video Device.
iTunes videos do not yet support Wide Screen. Neither does this unless you rip you own media. Tolerable? NO! Why would anyone want to watch a movie in full screen unless your a moron? If I don't see the black bars on the top and bottom, I wont watch the movie!
It's supports Component Cable. Tolerable? Yes and no. There are lots of people that don't take Video and Audio Seriously. So component is all they have. Still sucks though. But my gripe is why not include a model that excludes Component with a lower price point? >I<
It has 54 MB G speed. Tolerable? No way! For the price, it should have N no questions asked!
It does not have Dual Gigabit UTP. Tolerable. NO!
The USB port is disabled, though hackable. This is pure Nazism on Apple's part. No excuse. This is something Microsoft would do. Which is the reason why I avoid all things Microsoft at any cost. Including free! So shame on Apple for this bit!
If your thinking about setting this thing up and watching a movie in just a few minutes, think again. This thing will not stream Video files larger than 2 gigs. So you will have to "convert all" of your movies to "Apple TV format". Not fun at all. And to add insult to injury, you won't be able to use the "Apple TV codec" for your iPod video. Which means that you will have lots of duplicates of your videos in itunes. Kiss that hard drive space good bye and get ready to shell out for a Terabyte External.
The U.I is not customizable. Which would be fine if the U.I was done properly. There is only one way of viewing your videos; alphabetical. Tolerable? NO! I don't want to scroll downwards through thousands of movies just to find the right one. Why Apple did not include the same U.I with the itunes section of this device is beyond me. I like to view my genres if I so desired. No such ease of use with this product.
The price is too high for a product that lacks such essential features. Had this product started at $150, that would be okay. Though that would cannibalize the ipod.
It cannibalizes the Mac mini market. A much better product by far. So it seems that Apple missed big with this product. Instead of lowering the Mac Mini's price (over priced as it is) to really fill the void, they introduced a product that is wonderful for the not-so-critical consumer but fails big for those that are. I would love to see the Mac Mini get some more attention from Apple. Bump up the specs and bump down the price. That would make the Apple TV shine for what it really is: " A lackluster product that lacks true features and does nothing but cannibalize other Apple products, but was expressly created not to do so. Strange! I say to Apple: Ditch this thing and replace it with a lower priced Mac Mini. Now that would be domination of this market like no other!
Does it earn it own weight in dollars? No. Is it a good product. Sure it is. Can it be better? Oh yes. Should you buy one? Yup. With all your DVDs getting scratched up, would you rather spend thousands on a new,but still the same library, or $300 to save them all in one convenient location to access with the family with the push of a button? It's a no brainer if you ask me.
Digital camera Review: Best Thing for TV since DVD
Summary: 4 Stars
This is an awesome item, although I would recommend going with the 40GB if you want to keep your photos on it. The menus are clear and fast and more and more content is added every week. My only complaint is that the remote is a little too simplified and it would and a more suggestive search interface would be nice (or a wireless keyboard addition).