What is Digg?Sponsored by Travelzoo
Take Advantage of Ridiculously Low Holiday Airfares view!
travelzoo.com - Flights $52 and up for Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Year. But move on it now.
32 Comments
- Quix, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13The resolution of the demo materials in the Apple Store truly DOES suck, big time. At least from what I saw. Blocky and full of artifacts. But owners are saying actual video quality on AppleTVs is very good. And I tend to believe this, because the TV shows I buy on iTunes and play on my 57" HDTV via my iPod and S-video cable look FAR better than what I saw on display in the Apple Store. So apparently it's not the product that's bad, it's the demo.
For some bizarre reason, Apple used crap quality material for their in-store demos. Hopefully they won't use the same stuff in Target. I always thought the intent was to make a product look BETTER in the store than it actually is, not worse... - adml_shake, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6sweet, the only thing better would be if they accidently put them on the 35% clearance rack like they did the ipod Hi-Fi sets a few weeks after they came in...
- Drizzit, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7I bought one, I rip dvd's and play them through the AppleTV. I can get DVD quality video even at 500megs per hour of video. I would love it though if the aTV would play back video_ts folders or iso's so I could just do direct rips.
Quality of downloaded content from iTunes is much better than my DVR is doing for me now. Plus we've been burned on DVR's missing some critical episode of a series we may be watching. It's actually easier to just get a season pass on iTunes and know you're going to get it.
Forced me to buy a ReadyNAS NV+, but the investment is worth it. - superkendall, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Yes, that is the Mac mini. I use mine for just that. Not quite as elegant as the AppleTV to use, but very flexible - there are also a lot of media aggregation programs (like MediaCentral) that provide support for a wider range of media than FrontRow alone (and can use the same remote).
- OdinEye, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"Obviously, they need to compete with TiVo and the like."
While I take your point, I don't think this is obvious yet. Apple TV and Tivo are not currently in direct competition with one another, and it may not be in Apple's business plan to move into direct competition (profit and market share are not synonymous). It is currently essentially a parallel product - you can record stuff coming over cable, or you can download it and watch it that way.
Each option has benefits and drawbacks. If you are going Tivo and cable you have a lot more viewing options, but you must generally contend with commercials and the monthly cable and Tivo bill. With Apple TV you get no commercials, and you avoid the cable and Tivo bill, but you must pay for the downloads.
If TV is your primary source of entertainment, and you must have things like football or NASCAR, cable or satellite is probably going to win. If you only watch a few specific things a week, and would rather not contend with commercials, etc, Apple TV (Maybe combined with Netflix) may be the better way to go. - LilBoyLuver, on 10/12/2007, -6/+8You're the one who clicked on the link.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Agreed, but since the streaming is so efficient, I don't really see the advantage of throwing a bigger disk in the unit. I stream everything and actually prefer it over syncing.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Blaming the Apple TV for bad video quality is like blaming the iPod for crappy sound when playing a 32kbps MP3 file.
I have an Apple TV-- really like it. I'm ripping my own DVD's, and it has been able to handle everything I've thrown at it. Apple TV actually makes watching DVD content on my 42" LCD TV enjoyable. When I hook my DVD player directly to the TV, the quality is horrid.
Still, I think it's a tough sell for Apple until they can get video rentals on demand up and running with iTunes/ATV. The hardware is fantastic. - TheRealDeal, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1AppleTV does not suck. Obviously you don't have one.
If you did, and placed your own DVD quality video or 720p video on it you would be singing a different tune.
AppleTV is great for displaying HD quality video, music, and photos on a widescreen TV. Plain and simple.
Just because the iTunes Store does not carry DVD quality or HD content does not mean the AppleTV itself sucks. Just roll your own high quality content (DVD Rippers anyone), or download HD video podcasts.
Geeks are supposed to be smarter than this. - daborg, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I want a home theater PC with the looks and the price point of the Apple TV on which I can:
* Watch shows online in a browser (especially the online offerings of the networks e.g. watch Lost on abc.com etc).
* Download the occasional video in the common formats (wmv, mov, xvid, avi, etc) and watch it.
* Watch shows downloaded in iTunes.
* Watch HD content.
What is that, the Mac Mini? Has the Apple TV been hacked to support this kind of thing yet? - bradbaxter, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Apple TV does NOT require HDTV. Apple recommends a widescreen TV, but even a 4:3 works fine. I've been using it with my Epson projector and it works great. I don't have cable or satellite tv, because I have a tendency to become a couch potato. With Apple TV and the iTunes store, I can be more selective about what shows I watch on a regular basis, with a season pass. Plus, no commercials to skip through and no missed episodes (I used to use Tivo). Apple TV isn't for everyone, but I love mine.
- TheRealDeal, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Finally someone who knows what they are talking about! Thanks derekknight.
- dvddesign, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Once Apple puts HD content (TV shows and MOVIES) up on the iTS and 2.0's the AppleTV with a bigger HDD, support for people who don't have component, etc, they might actually have something.
As it is now, it's a VERY niche product for only a select few who do all their TV and movie viewing through iTunes. - 3vno, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I bought an appletv too, lol the apple employee made a point to tell me there was a 10%? restocking fee. Anyway, i backup my dvds myself. i converted the movies with handbrake and it looks good on my WD-65831 65 inch dlp. It doesnt compare to playing them on a sony upconverting dvdplayer, but it still looks good, and the files size is cut in half, plus i dont have to load the dvds into the player. Just stream the movies off itunes.
The 720p would be nice IF apple starts selling hi-def movies. People might buy an appletv instead of a Blu-ray or hd dvd player. - superkendall, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I watch Heros and Battestar Galactica through ITS, exactly because the quality is better than my local analog (or even digital) cable signal for those channels.
Would I like it 720p? Hell yes. And for a while I was downloading 720 XVid versions of Battlestar. But that's a little more annoying to deal with, so really I just prefer the Apple solution as being simpler and also directing some money back to the show producers.
I think Apple will offer HD movie and/or TV downloads at some point, I'm not sur what they are waiting for but since the Apple TV supports 720p it's obvious they have plans. - Quix, on 10/12/2007, -10/+10I think you mean Zune...
- Arthere, on 09/13/2008, -0/+0Boy do I love Target
http://www.creditcardassociate.com/target.html - jonesboy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Actually, London Drugs here in BC (Canada) has been carrying the AppleTV for awhile...
- tacojohn48, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Target could really use some deals on ipods right now; just the other day we had $5000 worth stolen at my store.
- TheRealDeal, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1London Drugs?
- indietroy, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1If Apple really wants to make this work, they need to strike some sort of deal with Comcast or some other major ISP/cable provider. Selling it in stores is pointless. Obviously, they need to compete with TiVo and the like. The best way to do that isn't by selling it at Target.
- asauterChicago, on 10/12/2007, -12/+10Why was he dugg down? Seriously, AppleTV is crap. It requires HDTV, yet doesn't produce anything near as good as regular broadcast analog tv. The content is limited, and it has less functionality than a Series 1 Tivo. Seriously, the thing is a complete rip-off, preying on people who don't know any better: "ooo, it's Apple, it must be good"...
- KyjL, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3All three of them seem to like it a lot.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -9/+7Target stores are really great these days, but I can only imagine they were pressured into taking AppleTV in exchange for some deals on iPods or something else upcoming. AppleTV is D.O.A. according to everyone who has seen it in action at the Apple Stores. Resolution sucks and the idea of streaming content from the computer to the box is a bit clunky at the very least.
- ncaauwe, on 10/12/2007, -9/+7Hooray, now I could actually buy one locally if I wanted...Not dugg, not buried. Just...meh.
- BLACKEAGLE, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1it sucks enough said
- wageslaven, on 10/12/2007, -9/+6it is dead. its about $150 too expensive for what it does.
- wageslaven, on 10/12/2007, -8/+4Windows Media Extender for the win Bob.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/extender/default.mspx - n8r0n, on 10/12/2007, -12/+8People still care about AppleTV?
I thought it was dead. - wageslaven, on 10/12/2007, -9/+2Target is getting this because apple is trying to move stock. Target is a discount retailer after all.
- Junkey, on 10/12/2007, -11/+3I can honestly say I have never been inside a Target.
- Evoguy, on 10/12/2007, -17/+6Umm.. who cares?
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is