[jessehammer]

This product is still in it's infancy. They're just getting around to 720p and 5.1? Pathetic. The video quality is still a deal breaker for me, but that's really beside the point. Right now, there's NO CONTENT on the itunes store. What are we supposed to watch? This thing is so limited. It's really just Apple testing junk on nerds.

[Eideard]

First reasonable, informed article I've ever seen about AppleTV.
Thanks.

[wlunscher]

Take two looks nice, but I think I'll wait for take three. I wish it had Safari web access, like the iPhone. That would be big. Would require a different remote, though. Adding a touch pad that works like the new Macbook Air would be work, or reconfigure an iPod touch as a remote (minus the iPod features), would be even better, perhaps even sell it as a universal remote. 1080p is also a must. And how about accept a webcam to run iChat via your big screen. I guess what I want the ATV to be is a super iPod that displays on the big screen.

[lantzn]

I bought our Apple TV in September along with a Sony 32" Bravia KDL-32XBR4 HDTV (everyone who watches our TV absolutely LOVES it even with standard DirectTV content). I knew Apple would come through with movie rentals and am anxious to update my ATV in a couple of weeks. However we have already found our ATV very useful. It's been used for streaming music, photos and movies from our 2 Macs. We have DVDs and Tivo content that has been ripped to iTunes using Handbrake/Tivo DecodeManager. All our music is AAC 320 and sounds great! We often just set it to play photo slideshows which makes it the ultimate digital picture frame. When guests come over we've used it to play YouTube and video clips from our Macs and our son's MacBook pro. Our 4 grown kids and their friends, all in their mid 20s, just love the thing and find it very entertaining. They flipped when I told them movie rentals were coming. So for 3 months we've enjoyed our ATV and now rentals are icing on the cake. This is the tip of the iceberg, things will go through their growing pains but we will have a great media server in the end. Thanks Apple.

[lantzn]

I read somewhere they are using the iPhone as an ATV remote. Can't remember how they got it to work.

[meta]

I know the original AppleTV could be hacked. However, as Apple have shown with the iPhone, they are more than willing to lock people out of modifying the hardware they've purchased. I'm not going to blithely assume that the AppleTV 2.0 will be hackable the same way.

[Charlestonbossman]

Not to be a nag, but unfortunately this article is riddled with typos. Is there an editor in the house? Perhaps a spell checker?

[ericem]

"but the updated interface discards the distinction between local and remote storage. Your media is your mediaa??My Movies, for examplea??and the Apple TV doesna??t force you to choose a source."
I said Apple TV should have done this from day one because it plays streaming content as well as content stored on its hard drive and makes its small hard drive a moot point.

[deasys]

jessehammer said:

They're just getting around to 720p and 5.1?

No, Apple TV has supported 720p right from the start.

jessehammer said:

The video quality is still a deal breaker for me

So, you've never seen what the Apple TV can do. Too bad.

jessehammer said:

Right now, there's NO CONTENT on the itunes store.

That's true. I hear that the iTunes Store might provide movie rentals some day, even directly to Apple TV.

Sheesh...

[johnnymac47]

I think even Apple misses the greatest appeal and marketing opportunity for the Apple TV. I use mine to play all my iTunes music through my stereo. I got tired of having to find an ipod to put into my main stereo system. Instead, I bought the large capacity Apple TV on discount at Cosco. As a bonus, I can look at my photos and view video content from my iTunes collection. The new update will make it even better.

[smaug]

But if you buy an HD movie and want to finish watching it on your MBP you're out of luck, since it appears you cannot transfer them from ATV to another device, unlike SD content via iTunes on a Mac.

[adamboy71]

I have a 40GB ATV and love it. I'll admit, it hasn't been a device I've used every day largely due to the reasons that Take 1 was criticized for. But it does what it was designed to do very well. Take 2, on the other hand, WILL be a device I use every day. In fact, I'm considering doing the same thing someone said in a previous post... turning off my cable (DirecTV actually) and relying strictly on Apple TV.
One thing I'm wondering, does my Mac need to be running iTunes in order for the contents of my library to show up in Apple TV Take 2? Does it need to be awake?

[khurtwilliams]

I have been torn between what I see are the three major choices in this area; namely the Vudu, Apple TV and Tivo with Amazon Unbox. With TiVo HD. I can record standard def or HD broadcast content, buy or rent movies though the partnership with Amazon Unbox, stream content from another PC or Mac in the home, or view sideshows from photobucket or Google's Picasa Web Albums. Amazon Unbox on Tivo is not HD though.
With VuduI have instant access to 1080P HD quality content but lose the recording or music features and will have no access to existing content.

However the other options mentioned also do no allow me to move my purchased or other content around my devices ( PC, Mac and iPods ) at will. With Apple TV I get everything the TiVo has to offer except for broadcast recording.

Will Apple upgrade Front Row and iTunes on OS X so that I can bring similar capabilities to a mac mini? Can I have my cake and eat it too if I price out a Core 2 Duo mac mini with an Elgatodevice? Those are the questions keeping me from making any purchases at this time.
Message was edited by: khurtwilliams

[deasys]

adamboy71 said:

One thing I'm wondering, does my Mac need to be running iTunes in order for the contents of my library to show up in Apple TV Take 2? Does it need to be awake?

Only if you intend to stream rather than sync.

If you sync, once the synchronization is complete, your Mac does not need to be awake or powered on to access the content.