[Macworld]

Post your comments for Apple TV 3.0.1 update addresses disappearing content issue here

[derekm]

I threw caution to the wind and did not unplug and restart before updating. The AppleTV did not explode. However, I did not experience a burst of gamma radiation and acquire any superpowers either. Wish me better luck next time.

[ncj37]

Not the same bug, but sounds similar to a previous issue that occurred in an earlier version of the Apple TV. This previous problem was covered in a article here on MacWorld in June of this year. Below is the link:

http://www.macworld....letv_files.html

[Felix001]

Re: "...update prevents content from temporarily disappearing from the set-top box until it’s resynced."

It's not possible to resync iTunes movies downloaded directly to the the Apple TV since they remain solely on the Apple TV (i.e., aren't shared with your computer; thus, aren't available for resyncing). I guess if those disappeared, you'd have to contact Apple Customer Service for authorization to re-download the applicable movies.

Or does the installation of update 3.0.1 magically make them reappear?

[MrLizard]

It surprises me that this box is the most unreliable one that sits under my TV.

DVD player, PVR, Blu-ray box, amp and games console all work fine, but this little box, which has the least amount of functionality, seems to have the most problems.

Freeze-ups/hangs, content sometimes not playing, and a garbled display are the main problems I have.

To me, it still doesn't feel like it's quite ready for the living room.

[hillstones]

Maybe the content disappeared because it was embarrassed to be on the AppleTV.

[ncj37]

MrLizard, on 08 November 2009 - 04:55 AM, said:

...DVD player, PVR, Blu-ray box, amp and games console all work fine, but this little box, which has the least amount of functionality, seems to have the most problems...

The least amount of functionality? You must be using it wrong. Does your DVD or Blu-ray player connect to the internet and allow you to view streaming media from sources like YouTube, the iTunes Store, and Flickr? Does it support podcasts? How about internet radio? Does it support downloadable audio, music videos, movies? Does it allow you to arrange your content into playlists that conform to your own specifications? Does it play literally dozens of different audio and video formats (rather than just two or three)? Does your DVD player or Blu-ray device support both wired and wireless networking and automatically sync content to and from your PC/Mac? Do any of your devices (other than game consoles) get free updates at least once each year that offer significant new features?

I'm not saying that the Apple TV is perfect (far from it), but it is one of the most complicated (to implement) and feature rich consumer devices that you can buy. The only things that come close to its capabilities and feature set are the XBox 360 or PlayStation 3 (or a standalone PC). Having said this, however, I'll admit that the Apple TV has had more than it fair share of problems. Nevertheless, my now over two-year-old Apple TV has worked largely without problems. It's not as reliable as my DVD player but that is a largely a single or dual function device (plays DVDs and audio CDs) that uses technology that has been around for over ten years. However, my Apple TV is probably more reliable than my cable DVR box (in fact, I've had two different DVRs fail during the time that I've owned my Apple TV and I've never used a DVR that didn't have bugs).

So, it's a complex device that has had some problems. But that's different than claiming that it is a simple device that shouldn't have any problems. I do think, however, that Apple should be working harder at developing and debugging the Apple TV. It's a device that has great potential.

This post has been edited by ncj37: 08 November 2009 - 12:13 PM

[pdrayton]

This latest updated killed the ability to listen to radio stations in a playlist, which was helpful if you wanted to listen to a radio station that isn't in iTunes "Radio" list.

Now my collection of radio stations I listened to, which aren't in the Apple Radio list, are no longer playable.

Arggggh!

[aquraishi]

I had no problem with disappearing content before the update. After the update, all of my content had disappeared! Arrrgggghhhhh!!!!!

[Jeff_Jungblut]

I have two ATVs and this problem happened to me yesterday on my upstairs ATV but not the downstairs ATV. The older MW article linked above (DRM music being resynced because the box lost its iTunes authorization) was not my problem.

I got an alert in iTunes saying some stuff couldn't be copied to upstairs ATV because there wasn't enough room. Odd, because both ATVs are set up with identical sync options and there's 30GB free on the downstairs ATV. iTunes was resyncing over 4,000 of about 10,000 items to the upstairs ATV. In the space usage bar graph at the bottom, iTunes showed over 77GB of space used for "Other" on the upstairs ATV. Typically, "Other" takes up only 200-300 MB.

To fix the upstairs ATV, I had to do a factory restore, then update to 3.0.1, then resync everything. Two hours after doing the restore/update, I got the email from Apple, so I immediately updated the downstairs ATV without a problem or resync.

[Jeff_Jungblut]

pdrayton, on 08 November 2009 - 01:28 PM, said:

This latest updated killed the ability to listen to radio stations in a playlist, which was helpful if you wanted to listen to a radio station that isn't in iTunes "Radio" list.

Now my collection of radio stations I listened to, which aren't in the Apple Radio list, are no longer playable.

They're still playable, but those playlists containing radio stations no longer show up under Music. They now appear under Internet > Radio > Playlists.

[Jeff_Jungblut]

ncj37, on 08 November 2009 - 12:12 PM, said:

The least amount of functionality? You must be using it wrong. Does your DVD or Blu-ray player connect to the internet and allow you to view streaming media from sources like YouTube, the iTunes Store, and Flickr? Does it support podcasts? How about internet radio? Does it support downloadable audio, music videos, movies? Does it allow you to arrange your content into playlists that conform to your own specifications? Does it play literally dozens of different audio and video formats (rather than just two or three)? Does your DVD player or Blu-ray device support both wired and wireless networking and automatically sync content to and from your PC/Mac? Do any of your devices (other than game consoles) get free updates at least once each year that offer significant new features?

In my case, umm yes they do. Look around, there are plenty of internet-aware home theater devices on the market, Apple TV isn't the only game in town.

My own gear consists of:

• TiVo HD -- Netflix, Amazon VOD, Blockbuster VOD, YouTube, Rhapsody, Photobucket, Picasa, home media servers, internet radio, podcasts
• LG BD390 Blu-ray -- Netflix, CinemaNow, Vudu, YouTube, home media servers (Vudu support came in the latest firmware update)
• Panasonic TC-P65V10 plasma -- Amazon VOD, YouTube, Picasa, Bloomberg news & stocks
• Denon AVR-3310CI receiver -- Rhapsody, Napster, home media servers, internet radio, USB thumbdrives
• Apple TV (you already know what it does)

I don't use most of those online services other than Netflix and internet radio. Ironically my Harmony One remote seems to be the only device that does not support YouTube, yet with its 2" color LCD it is the only device that should. Even "HQ" youtube vids look like crap on a 65" TV.

Since it sounds like you wanna whip it out and measure it, does your AppleTV record TV programs, play Blu-ray discs, or offer Netflix streaming? No I didn't think so.

[ncj37]

Jeff_Jungblut, on 08 November 2009 - 04:13 PM, said:

ncj37, on 08 November 2009 - 12:12 PM, said:

The least amount of functionality? You must be using it wrong. Does your DVD or Blu-ray player connect to the internet and allow you to view streaming media from sources like YouTube, the iTunes Store, and Flickr? Does it support podcasts? How about internet radio? Does it support downloadable audio, music videos, movies? Does it allow you to arrange your content into playlists that conform to your own specifications? Does it play literally dozens of different audio and video formats (rather than just two or three)? Does your DVD player or Blu-ray device support both wired and wireless networking and automatically sync content to and from your PC/Mac? Do any of your devices (other than game consoles) get free updates at least once each year that offer significant new features?

In my case, umm yes they do. Look around, there are plenty of internet-aware home theater devices on the market, Apple TV isn't the only game in town.

My own gear consists of:

• TiVo HD -- Netflix, Amazon VOD, Blockbuster VOD, YouTube, Rhapsody, Photobucket, Picasa, home media servers, internet radio, podcasts
• LG BD390 Blu-ray -- Netflix, CinemaNow, Vudu, YouTube, home media servers (Vudu support came in the latest firmware update)
• Panasonic TC-P65V10 plasma -- Amazon VOD, YouTube, Picasa, Bloomberg news & stocks
• Denon AVR-3310CI receiver -- Rhapsody, Napster, home media servers, internet radio, USB thumbdrives
• Apple TV (you already know what it does)

I don't use most of those online services other than Netflix and internet radio. Ironically my Harmony One remote seems to be the only device that does not support YouTube, yet with its 2" color LCD it is the only device that should. Even "HQ" youtube vids look like crap on a 65" TV.

Since it sounds like you wanna whip it out and measure it, does your AppleTV record TV programs, play Blu-ray discs, or offer Netflix streaming? No I didn't think so.

Well, you've got some nice equipment there. However, the only unit that is really that close to the capabilities of the Apple TV is your TiVo HD which admittedly adds DVR functionality over the Apple TV. Further, the only two devices in your list that include a built-in hard disk for support of a full range of downloadable content are the TiVo and the Apple TV. In any case, if you ignore the Blu-ray/DVD and DVR functionality (which I never claimed could be done on the Apple TV) you end up with a set of devices that in total just duplicates the features on the Apple TV. That doesn't sound like the Apple TV offers the "least amount of functionality" (in a single device). Below is my equipment list which duplicates pretty much what you can do (although the VOD services aren't the same):

• HD Cable TV Box/DVR (no up-front cost, month-to-month rental) -- cable video on demand (VOD), TV tuner, DVR
• PlayStation 3 -- Blu-ray, DVDs, games, and other services which frankly I don't use.
• Apple TV -- iTunes VOD, music, TV, and movie downloads (pay-to-own), podcasts, internet radio, YouTube, Flickr, interface support for PC/Mac media server
• Just any old HD TV
• Just any old receiver

Shall we look at the cost of your "gear":

TiVo HD -- about $300 (or more) plus CableCARD and just over $100 per year for TiVo subscription
LG BD390 -- about $300
Panasonic TC-P65V10 -- upwards of $3000
Denon AVR-3310CI -- upwards of $1000

versus:

Apple TV -- $229

It looks like the Apple TV offers a lot for the money even if it can't do everything that your "gear" (in total) can. I'm not saying that the Apple TV is the best solution for everyone or that it has every possible feature. It's just that it includes a large range of services in a single device and thus probably doesn't warrant your claim of "least amount of functionality."

[Jeff_Jungblut]

ncj37, on 08 November 2009 - 10:05 PM, said:

Well, you've got some nice equipment there. However, the only unit that is really that close to the capabilities of the Apple TV is your TiVo HD which admittedly adds DVR functionality over the Apple TV. Further, the only two devices in your list that include a built-in hard disk for support of a full range of downloadable content are the TiVo and the Apple TV. In any case, if you ignore the Blu-ray/DVD and DVR functionality (which I never claimed could be done on the Apple TV) you end up with a set of devices that in total just duplicates the features on the Apple TV. That doesn't sound like the Apple TV offers the "least amount of functionality" (in a single device). Below is my equipment list which duplicates pretty much what you can do (although the VOD services aren't the same):

I didn't say the ATV offered the least amount of functionality, I believe that was the person you originally responded to. I jumped in to respond to your list of things the ATV does that other devices don't, to say hey wait a minute, yes they can do those things.

ncj37, on 08 November 2009 - 10:05 PM, said:

• HD Cable TV Box/DVR (no up-front cost, month-to-month rental) -- cable video on demand (VOD), TV tuner, DVR

I'm so sorry! I highly recommend a TiVo HD over any cable company DVR. We had a Scientific Atlanta HD DVR back in '04 or '05 (before TiVo did HD) and I wanted to throw that piece of junk out the window more than once.

ncj37, on 08 November 2009 - 10:05 PM, said:

• PlayStation 3 -- Blu-ray, DVDs, games, and other services which frankly I don't use.

My partner already has one hooked up to another TV but I'm not a gamer.

ncj37, on 08 November 2009 - 10:05 PM, said:

• Apple TV -- iTunes VOD, music, TV, and movie downloads (pay-to-own), podcasts, internet radio, YouTube, Flickr, interface support for PC/Mac media server
• Just any old HD TV
• Just any old receiver

Shall we look at the cost of your "gear":

TiVo HD -- about $300 (or more) plus CableCARD and just over $100 per year for TiVo subscription
LG BD390 -- about $300
Panasonic TC-P65V10 -- upwards of $3000
Denon AVR-3310CI -- upwards of $1000

It looks like the Apple TV offers a lot for the money even if it can't do everything that your "gear" (in total) can. I'm not saying that the Apple TV is the best solution for everyone or that it has every possible feature. It's just that it includes a large range of services in a single device and thus probably doesn't warrant your claim of "least amount of functionality."

Again, "least amount of functionality" was MrLizard above, not me.

Cost wasn't a concern for me. I haven't bought any new "big-ticket" home theater equipment in 14 years, and I'll have these components for at least the next 15 years or until they break. I watch a lot of TV so I spoiled myself.

Regarding cost, the TiVo was $299 for the box + $399 for lifetime service. Because we already have multiple TiVos in the house, the lifetime service was discounted to $299. The LG BD390 was $329, the TV was $3999, the ATV was $229 and the Denon was $1499. (Plus all the HDMI & ethernet cables and a gigabit switch to connect everything.) My old receiver had no HDMI I/O; the best it did was S-Video, which is all my old analog rear-projection TV did, so that's why I got a new receiver with lots of HDMI ports.

For me, the ATV does one thing really well that the TiVo doesn't, and that's playing back MP4 video (downloaded or ripped from DVD) and keeping track of what I've watched/haven't watched across multiple ATVs. I used to have no use at all for an ATV until I downloaded 440 episodes of Dark Shadows from a site I won't mention. (I already own the entire series on VHS, so this is my "backup"). I've also found the ATV is very convenient for timeshifting DVD rentals, using Handbrake and MetaX.