Apple TV Black Impressions?

[2infinity]

Hey guys,

I have had my Apple TV (Black) in the mix for over a month now and generally like it very much. Interface is snappy, Netflix and Netradio are pretty cool and being able to stream music/photos from my mac is pretty great.

I generally like the performance, but Netflix sometimes is glitchy and has to buffer several times throughout a program. No power button, so rebooting is a PITA when needed. And sometimes it must be outputting weird audio signals b/c the UMC-1 keeps switching between no audio/ PCM 2.0 which causes a popping sound, but a reboot fixes and this is only a rarity

SQ is pretty good, but I haven't been able to test the 5.1 as netfilx does not have any movies in that format available to ATV and I am not going to spend 5 bucks on a HD rental from the apple store. . .they need to lower that price.

Ok so those are my impressions!

What are yours?

Anyone else have one and want to chime in?

Anyone else greatly anticipating the ATVFlash program for ATV Black to add Hulu/LastFM/more codecs/Web-Browsing/NAS streaming?

I for one cant wait!

[RSavage]

It's a really fun $99 toy. I got one mainly because of the potential for future hacks / development. There has already been pretty good progress....I'm sure once the long expected OS update shows up there will be a TON more.

If / when Apple comes through with an App Store, it should be even more interesting.

The ATVFlash product is interesting but I think they will need to reevaluate their pricing on the new version. That price point worked on the original ATV, but I don't see it flying on the new one.

The HDMI implementation seems 'ok'.....not any more buggy than my OPPO or DVR with the UMC. Certainly not flawless, but nothing seems to be at this point.

[Deleted]

Nov 19, 2010 12:47:05 GMT -5 2infinity said:

Hey guys,

I have had my Apple TV (Black) in the mix for over a month now and generally like it very much. Interface is snappy, Netflix and Netradio are pretty cool and being able to stream music/photos from my mac is pretty great.

I generally like the performance, but Netflix sometimes is glitchy and has to buffer several times throughout a program. No power button, so rebooting is a PITA when needed. And sometimes it must be outputting weird audio signals b/c the UMC-1 keeps switching between no audio/ PCM 2.0 which causes a popping sound, but a reboot fixes and this is only a rarity

SQ is pretty good, but I haven't been able to test the 5.1 as netfilx does not have any movies in that format available to ATV and I am not going to spend 5 bucks on a HD rental from the apple store. . .they need to lower that price.

Ok so those are my impressions!

What are yours?

Anyone else have one and want to chime in?

Anyone else greatly anticipating the ATVFlash program for ATV Black to add Hulu/LastFM/more codecs/Web-Browsing/NAS streaming?

I for one cant wait!

I got the Apple Tv for Netflix, Itunes streaming and internet radio.

Netflix: It's a great feature but has to buffer here and there. I watched a free movie and can't remember what it was called sorry. The 5.1 track was pretty decent. I mean come on its a little black box that can fit the palm of your hand

Itunes: The sound quality is far better then i thought it was going to be. There is a little lag time when changing songs and fast forwarding. I use my macbook pro and if i use the remote the Apple Tv came with, it screws with the volume on my computer hahah. So i always leave my computer in the kitchen so i don't have this problem. I downloaded the Remote app from Apple, which allows me to change tracks on my macbook from my iPhone. Then it streams to my theater. It's freaking awesome hahah

Internet radio: The sound quality is excellent and there are thousands of stations to choose from. It has errors from time to time though.


Overall i love it and it was 99 bucks sooo.. big gain for me

[gluebben]

My AppleTV configuration:

Running it wirelessly, my router is 4 feet from the device on the other side of a standard wall.

For movies/streaming web content - The AppleTV is connected to my Onkyo TX-SR607 via HDMI. I only have a 3.1 configuration set up on the Onkyo as my living room is too small for much else. The Onkyo is driving my three Energy RC-Mini CC speakers for this purpose.

For two channel music - The AppleTV is connected to my LMC-1 and UPA-2 via TosLink and outputs to my pair of Energy CB-20s. Effectively I can throw five speakers at music if I really want to

NetFlix: I haven't had the buffering problems you guys are describing, at least not frequently. I've been streaming NetFlix via my XBox for two years now and find performance on both devices to be comparable in quality and efficiency. I have experienced an occassional instance of rebuffering on both devices, but nothing which irritates me. Usually the matter clears up in moments.

iTunes Rentals: The prices don't bother me. I've rented a number of movies, thus far, all in HD and at varying price points. The two recent releases I rented were $4.99 each, one older release was only $1.99 and some others were $2.99. I'm content with the menu pricing there. I didn't have any buffering hiccups or glitches with any of my rentals and have no misgivings about continuing to rent movies on the device.

Streaming Music: Works like a champ, just as I'd hoped. I admit that the MP3s streamed off my laptop don't sound nearly as good as their source CDs, but performance is admirable for keeping me company while I get ready for work each morning or as a backdrop while I read every night.

Internet Radio: Sound quality is very good, certainly better than MP3s. I find the stations themselves to be a little irritating as they lack meaningful labels or descriptions. Access to Pandora would be very nice.

YouTube: I've never had a lot of use for YouTube, but find myself more willing to use it now on the television than on my laptops. It's just more efficient. Using the AppleTV remote to search anything on the device sucks, I much prefer using the Remote application for my iPhone when searching as it offers the phone's keypad for input of text.

All in all I'm pleased with the purchase and will be even more pleased when its utilities expand in the future.

[2infinity]

Thanks Gents!

I agree largely with your assessments! It is a pretty sweet piece of gear. Will be better when netflix upgrades their soundtracks to 5.1.

[etm117]

I got my ATV2 about 3 weeks ago. Immediately upon getting home, I realized I didn't have an extra HDMI laying around (doh ) So I waited another week for a monoprice cable. In that week, I setup Handbrake and got it functional to create movies that worked on my computer, iPhone and iPad.

Once I got the HDMI, I connected the AppleTV to my computer iTunes library and selected the DVD I ripped. It ouput the 5.1 to the UMC-1 and sounded perfect. To be sure, I threw the DVD into my Oppo and everything sounded similar. Perfect!

So based on that, I have spent the better part of the last two weeks ripping my DVD collection to my PC. My wife loves the simple interface to the AppleTV and already watched a movie without needing my help this past weekend.

So now I finally have a unit that will stream my CD and DVD collection with a great user interface without having to keep a full HTPC in my cabinet. This is a total winner in my book.

- Erik

[gluebben]

I have one HUGE word of caution after learning a very frustrating lesson with my mother's AppleTV last week. Before you buy one you need to perform a number of internet connection speed tests (use Google to search for speed tests, pick one and run it a few times). If the results of those tests are ever below 5Mb/sec don't pick up an AppleTV yet. Get a hold of your internet service provider (ISP) and learn whether or not you can receive speeds above 5Mb/sec.

We made several attempts, last week, to rent movies from the iTunes store on mom's AppleTV. Each attempt was met with a load time as low as 120 minutes and as high as 1,100 minutes. When I ran speed tests on her network I found that our ISP was throttling her connection to only 2.2Mb/sec.

AppleTV rentals do not work like NetFlix streaming content, at all. NetFlix will analyze your connection speed and deliver a low quality picture/sound if your connection is suffering. AppleTV's rentals are all or nothing - if your connection is poor then the stream will never start.

We've since gotten the problem corrected and I haven't had anything like the difficulties she experienced. But I felt caution is necessary for everyone reading this thread.

[djoel]

So there isn't a hard drive win this thing? I told that to a friend at work he claims it has one, he might be thinking of the previous ATV, that we both have.

Any reason / advantages to go for the new ATV over the bigger one?

Thanks


DJoel

[x2turbo]

I believe it has an 8GB SSD

[gluebben]

It's built solely as a streaming client. The internal memory unit is merely there to provide an operating system and perhaps room, in the future, for apps. The old AppleTV has a harddrive, but not the version being discussed here.

[djoel]

Thanks Guys..I'll do my home work next time..

Djoel

[DoingOK]

I'm enjoying mine quite a bit....in fact, grabbing one for the bedroom TV next.

[pdaddy]

If not an Apple TV, does anyone have another $100 ish solution for me to stream from my MacBook Pro to the XDA? I would really love to get the full fidelity of my few track which are 24/96 and I have my output settings on my Mac to send that, but know that Apple TV will down scale it.

[hemster]

Dec 3, 2010 21:36:53 GMT -5 pdaddy said:

If not an Apple TV, does anyone have another $100 ish solution for me to stream from my MacBook Pro to the XDA? I would really love to get the full fidelity of my few track which are 24/96 and I have my output settings on my Mac to send that, but know that Apple TV will down scale it.

Maybe something like Xstreamer www.xtreamer.net/ may fit the bill?

[pdaddy]

Thanks Hemster. I'll have a look see.

[BigV10]

pdaddy, why not consider running a 50ft. optical toslink cable that you can plug in for the 24/96? Sure it's not streaming, but it's cheap and pretty easy to conceal. I'm running a 50ft. length from monoprice.com to feed iTunes from my Mac Pro in my home office over to my home theatre. Then I control iTunes with an iPhone or iPad from anywhere in the house.

[pdaddy]

A quick look at the xtreamer does reflect support for 24/96 or better fidelity. I did not see anything in the FAQ or knowledge base. Also only the higher end supports optical out which may or may not be required for higher fidelity output. I am not sure.

[pdaddy]

Big v10, I have been setting my Macbook Pro on the top shelf of my audio pier this week as I got the XDA, which is not awful as I have the remote app on my iPad and iPhone, but I would love a high def streaming solution. I am going to keep and eye on the reviews to see if folks are really hearing much greater SQ from the higher bit rates and if not, I may go ahead and opt for an Apple TV as my house configuration would not easily accommodate a 50 ft cable run without some serious work. Keep the ideas coming though.