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hi guys. i hope you won't be turned off by my question, basic as they are...
i am considering buying an Apple TV. however, i really can't figure out how to set it up. i've read the manual available online and yet i still can't figure out how to connect it to my computer. so i hope you'll be patient with me.
i am currently using a macbook with OS X (10.4.10) and iTunes 7.3.2. the housing complex where i live in offers free wifi, so i don't have a wireless router at home. (the housing complex actually forbids the use of a wireless router, for security reasons, i guess).
my questions are:
1. how will the apple TV and my macbook see each other? will they be able to communicate with one another through the macbook's built-in wifi? i am hoping that i won't need to buy a firewire anymore (and also because it is not allowed).
2. my wife is using a windows xp laptop and she has her own set of media. can the built-in wifi from her laptop communicate with the apple TV?
3. can the apple TV store contents that are not in my macbook? i mean, after synching the two, can i remove contents from the macbook so i can free up some space in it? (i'm planning to get the 160GB model apple TV.)
4. my TV has a component video connection. so i am going to buy a "component video cable" for that. do i still need to buy a separate "analog audio cable"?
can anyone help me with a "really" step-by-step way for my queries? by the way, i have no idea about DHCP, WEP, etc. pardon my ignorance. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
thanks for the replies.
gary
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"How-to" for Apple TV
MultiQuote
#2
smax013 
- Veteran
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- Group: Members
- Posts: 2,480
- Joined: 06-July 07
Posted 27 August 2007 - 02:58 PM
Quote:
hi guys. i hope you won't be turned off by my question, basic as they are...
i am considering buying an Apple TV. however, i really can't figure out how to set it up. i've read the manual available online and yet i still can't figure out how to connect it to my computer. so i hope you'll be patient with me.
i am currently using a macbook with OS X (10.4.10) and iTunes 7.3.2. the housing complex where i live in offers free wifi, so i don't have a wireless router at home. (the housing complex actually forbids the use of a wireless router, for security reasons, i guess).
my questions are:
1. how will the apple TV and my macbook see each other? will they be able to communicate with one another through the macbook's built-in wifi? i am hoping that i won't need to buy a firewire anymore (and also because it is not allowed).
2. my wife is using a windows xp laptop and she has her own set of media. can the built-in wifi from her laptop communicate with the apple TV?
3. can the apple TV store contents that are not in my macbook? i mean, after synching the two, can i remove contents from the macbook so i can free up some space in it? (i'm planning to get the 160GB model apple TV.)
4. my TV has a component video connection. so i am going to buy a "component video cable" for that. do i still need to buy a separate "analog audio cable"?
can anyone help me with a "really" step-by-step way for my queries? by the way, i have no idea about DHCP, WEP, etc. pardon my ignorance. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
thanks for the replies.
gary
hi guys. i hope you won't be turned off by my question, basic as they are...
i am considering buying an Apple TV. however, i really can't figure out how to set it up. i've read the manual available online and yet i still can't figure out how to connect it to my computer. so i hope you'll be patient with me.
i am currently using a macbook with OS X (10.4.10) and iTunes 7.3.2. the housing complex where i live in offers free wifi, so i don't have a wireless router at home. (the housing complex actually forbids the use of a wireless router, for security reasons, i guess).
my questions are:
1. how will the apple TV and my macbook see each other? will they be able to communicate with one another through the macbook's built-in wifi? i am hoping that i won't need to buy a firewire anymore (and also because it is not allowed).
2. my wife is using a windows xp laptop and she has her own set of media. can the built-in wifi from her laptop communicate with the apple TV?
3. can the apple TV store contents that are not in my macbook? i mean, after synching the two, can i remove contents from the macbook so i can free up some space in it? (i'm planning to get the 160GB model apple TV.)
4. my TV has a component video connection. so i am going to buy a "component video cable" for that. do i still need to buy a separate "analog audio cable"?
can anyone help me with a "really" step-by-step way for my queries? by the way, i have no idea about DHCP, WEP, etc. pardon my ignorance. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
thanks for the replies.
gary
I will answer the easist one (for me anyway) one first:
4) Yes, you will need a seperate audio cable. The component cables are for the video only. You will likely want to use the RCA audio jacks, but if you TV (or stereo system) support digital audio by a optical cable, then that would be the way to go.
1) You should be able to use the Apple TV with the free WiFi that your building has. I would assume that you would just need to enter the proper setup parameters. If the WiFi network is unprotected, you should just have to "find" the WiFi network. If it is a protected with WEP or WPA, then you would have to enter the WEP or WPA password into the Apple TV.
The thing that I am not sure about are security issues on a shared WiFi network that you don't control and share with other people outside your household. I don't know how that might effect the Apple TV. I am guessing that it shouldn't be an issue, but...
If you don't want to do that, then you could potentially do a wired network in your home and attach the Apple TV with an ethernet cable.
2) Your wife's laptop should work as well...assuming she has iTunes installed on her laptop. You need iTunes to either sync with the Apple TV or stream content to the Apple TV. Note that you can only sync ONE computer with the Apple TV (i.e. where it will actually download the content to the Apple TV's hard drive) but you can stream from multiple computers. Thus, if you have your MacBook setup to sync, then you will only be able to stream content from your wife's computer.
3) I don't know for sure, but I would assume so. Maybe someone else who has an Apple TV can answer that...I have yet to acquire such a toy yet...maybe for Christmas.
#3
garybc
- Newbie
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- Group: Members
- Posts: 4
- Joined: 27-February 07
Posted 28 August 2007 - 11:16 AM
hi smax013. thanks for the insights. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
i am sorry to sound so ignorant of this, but i have no idea about the properties of our wifi connection. what my wife and i did was to just register two computers to the housing committee. that's it. you couldn't connect to the network if you are not registered. so i don't know if we will be able to let the apple tv connect to the network. i know the ATV will be able to find our wifi connection but i don't know if that will help my cause since it will find the network for the entire housing complex...
i really wish to buy an ATV for the holidays, but i wish it won't be so complicated nor so difficult... by the way, my wife also uses iTunes on her win XP laptop.
again, thanks for the insights. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
gary
i am sorry to sound so ignorant of this, but i have no idea about the properties of our wifi connection. what my wife and i did was to just register two computers to the housing committee. that's it. you couldn't connect to the network if you are not registered. so i don't know if we will be able to let the apple tv connect to the network. i know the ATV will be able to find our wifi connection but i don't know if that will help my cause since it will find the network for the entire housing complex...
i really wish to buy an ATV for the holidays, but i wish it won't be so complicated nor so difficult... by the way, my wife also uses iTunes on her win XP laptop.
again, thanks for the insights. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
gary
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