MalMac,
After having a MacMini connected to a TV, I have now two AppleTV's
(two TV's) and the MacMini has gone for
a variety of reasons including ease of use and under utilisation with
a much better quality picture also being
a benefit of the ATV (which has HDMI and Component Video not just
Composite).
A MacMini is the obvious competitor but it needs more administration.
The ATV has a much simpler
interface and no risk of going back to the desktop/deleting files
etc. I did have to upgrade the Hard
Disk in my Alum iMac to allow everything in the iTunes Library to be
available and that isn't a job
for the fainthearted !
The ATV is a great device that many people just don't "get" at all.
It does many things that a MacMini
(or any Mac) can't do at all. Some things I have worked out as I have
gone along are:
It is a pain that the ATV won't play avi's and so on - you need to
convert with MPEG STreamclip, Handbrake
etc. before you can add the media to your computers iTunes library
(and everything needs to be in there...)
I have a heap of home movies etc that were edited in iMovie. The
quality is much better when played
back as a mp4v on the ATV compared to watching a DVD burned in iDVD of
the same content. This also
goes for any slideshows that you burn onto DVD too. The ATV outputs
higher resolution than a DVD...
Using a iPT to control a ATV is better than the Apple remote, not only
because it is cool - also it reacts
more quickly - I guess the control is via different means (IR vs
Airport) internally anyway...
You can use a ATV as a party jukebox. Connect it to a Amp and
speakers after you have synced your
music to it and then control with a iPod Touch/iPhone. No one else
can change the music !
I did try the free Patchstick hack to use Boxee and XBMC - worked
easily when I was on v2.2 software
but everything reset since v2.3. I haven't got around to trying it
again. Boxee is cool and XBMC allows
playing avi's from different computers etc. but it all seemed a bit
too WIndoze like to me.
The built in screen saver is really neat. Set it to your photo
library. The way the images display and
rotate is jawdropping to many who have seen it.
Rentals are so easy. Bit of a pity that you have to watch within 24
hours of starting but not too painful.
Podcasts on the ATV allow you to watch/listen streaming and not just
as a download like in iTunes.
The YouTube interface is much easier to navigate than doing the same
on a computer.
In your shoes I would wait but don't write the ATV off at all - it is
a great, easy to use, way to watch
your iPhoto library and movies as well as being able to play your
music plus have a number of
other uses...
Regards
Mark
On 22/12/2008, at 2:03 PM, Malcolm McCallum wrote:
Do wamug members have any views on AppleTV. My wife HATES wires -
nearly the cause of divorce on occasions so I want to use Apple TV
to show iPhoto,iView and Myspace etc. I am a little nervous about
buying this time of year with January coming up. Any guidance
gratefully received. Am aiming to buy an iTouch for 'er indoors at
same time. :-)
Mac
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