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If you don't want to do without airplay but still be able to play any possible kind of video file from a local usb drive or some internet site just buy a boxee box. It even plays mkv in rar files (www.boxee.tv)

Neither is right for me. My HDTV doesn't have HDMI and I'm not keen on spending hundreds of dollars to replace a working television with a newer one that oh-by-the-way has higher power consumption (the gift that keeps on taking) just to be able to use these.

Does the iPod Touch mirror via Apple TV?

 brobdingnagian, on 25 November 2011 - 06:54 AM, said:

No, only the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S support mirroring whether it's via AirPlay or wired adapter.

Roku boxes can do composite video out, older models could do component but it looks like they dropped that in the current models.

TV manufacturers are under a mandate to lower their power consumption, this is a big reason plasma TVs aren't being offered as much. You'll probably find most newer TVs draw less power than the older ones. Especially if you get an LED edge lit one.

 bastion, on 25 November 2011 - 06:25 AM, said:

Roku still sells an earlier model, the Roku XDS, for which you can buy a component cable.

As for power, if your HDTV is old enough to lack HDMI, it's almost certainly a CRT. A plasma TV will very likely use more power than a CRT but an LCD TV will use less than a CRT (note LED TVs are just LCDs that use LEDs for the backlight instead of CFLs).

 extra88, on 25 November 2011 - 07:46 AM, said:

You're right about mine being a CRT, and my expectations about power consumption matched yours. Unfortunately, I've been looking periodically over the last few years and I haven't seen an LCD yet that's the same size as my current relatively modest screen and doesn't have a higher draw. Trust me; I *want* to replace mine but I haven't been able to justify it on power savings because they aren't there.

I use my Apple TV along with Air Video on my iPhone and iPad to stream any video (both commercial and personal) from my Mac without having to use iTunes. Couldn't be happier. It amazes me how Air Video is one of the most underrated pieces of software out there.

 rtye, on 25 November 2011 - 09:02 AM, said:

How exactly do you airplay from your Mac to your Apple TV without using iTunes?

I just boxed up my Roku 2 XS and will be returning it today, this ony offers options for PAID use of HULU, NETFLIX AMAON..etc with no access to the internet.. Why would I pay to see an espisode of a current TV series when I can get it for free on the internet? The few things that are free are old movies and AOL content from a year ago. Oh wait... I can get to Facebook but only look at pictures and video..nothing else!! I thought I would get more functionality and some new offerings than I get with my current OLD apple TV, but I got muchless! Even my LG st600 in my office offers more options than this thing does. Wasted my gas to get to Best buy on this item, now I have to watse gas to get it back!!!

 bastion, on 25 November 2011 - 09:01 AM, said:

I find that hard to believe. CRTs have a big heater at the rear of the tube to generate the electrons used for the display. LED LCDs should easily trounce your CRT. If you wish to discuss further, please provide the make/model of your TV. Having said that, I think you are better off even if your set used more power. Even if it used twice the power I would still keep your CRT set over an LCD TV. If you enjoy watching movies, especially in a dark or darkened room, the "grey goo" of LCDs will more than likely drive you crazy. And I have an LED LCD TV in my bedroom that has dynamic lighting that is supposed to help with the "grey goo" effect - and it does lessen it. But I find that the entire screen shifts color with the backlight adjusting and it's far more distracting than the "grey goo" problem it's supposed to be solving so I ended up turning it off. If you like high contrast displays with true blacks for movies, LCD's are crap - at least in my opinion. Plenty of people seem to like them, and I don't mind the one I have in my bedroom - I don't watch movies in there either.

Sigh. So my main set is still a three CRT Rear Projection Television. I like watching a movie and in the scenes that are black, that the display is actually black!

The most promising replacement I have found so far is Mitsubishi LaserVue. It's a rear projection DLP that instead of a bright white light and a color wheel, it uses three lasers (red, green, blue). It's supposed to have amazing contrast and brightness, and with no color wheel none of the edge "tearing" you can get with a color wheel on high contrast scenes filled with action. It's also crazy expensive - over $4K for the 70" version. I have a 52" set now and will be upgrading which also complicates things

While I get the whole power thing, my Tivo uses more power than my TV ever will - power consumption is not going to be the first thing I think about when replacing it. My Tivo's are on 7x24, my TVs a fraction of that. When I'm actually sitting in front of my main one - particularly when watching a movie, I want the best picture I can get. It is, by definition, a luxury item anyway - right?

 bmhardy, on 25 November 2011 - 09:15 AM, said:

http://ericasadun.co...tegory/airplay/

Be sure to check out Bruce - it's way cool!

 bastion, on 25 November 2011 - 09:01 AM, said:

Power consumption is decreasing, not increasing. The numbers may not be substantial, but they are going down, as well as prices too. My 51" Hitachi CRT-based rear projection HDTV from 2003 consumed 248w when on. My Philips 42" LCD (2008) consumed 240w when on, and the Samsung 56" DLP (2008) that replaced the Hitachi consumes 230w. I am sure you are finding some that consume more, and you didn't mention your current TV screen size, but there are some that have lower power specs compared to older types of TVs. I have not compared plasma to LCD, so not sure which of those two technologies consume more power. My DLP has an LED backlight source, so it does not have a conventional bulb with color wheel that most other DLPs had.