After months and months of dilly dallying I finally got an Apple TV this week. I’ve dabbled with a few Internet TV solutions and media clients and I’ve got to say this is the neatest solution. There’s not a vast range of decent apps built in, but I can use AirPlay to send pretty much anything from the iPhone. Last night I was watching Red Bull TV’s coverage of the recent downhill on the big screen. The media streaming is typically well executed and again can all be controlled via my phone or even by my normal TV remote. Very impressed.

Had mine for over a year now and although it doesn’t get used a lot it is very good.

I use it for streaming music, videos, photo’s and renting films off iTunes.

I was particularly giddy when I discovered I could stream Spotify from my phone to the Apple TV and hence the ‘”big” stereo. Endless sofa-based listening sessions will ensue 😀

i love mine.

the latest update to bring it inline with the newly released one is a much better UI than the old one

the apple rent system works not too bad also – im only on a 2.5 meg connection due to country life ….. and there was absolutely no LAG on an SD movie. choice of movie on the other hand from us was awful – hang over 2 … predictable and no where near as good as the first for funnies.

I am now tempted by an Airplay amp/speakers or a digital input AV reciever for my music as the whole airplay system works really well , but i currently just play it through my TV but the sound on that sucks for music.

only issues i see are – you need to take your ipad/iphone off of auto sleep/lock to use it with mirroring/airplay to tv or it annoys the hell out of you.

the Atv needs iplayer/4od/itv player apps though and then it would be complete

if only it had an nfl subscription option

can you watch normal internet stuff through it? i.e redbull tv? how does that work? do i browse to it on my ipod touch and then mirror on the tv? or can i search to it on the tv?

what about iplayer? is that on the apple tv menu? or do i need to go looking for it and then mirror again?

sorry if this is basic, just considering options..

at the moment nicko you need to use your ipod touch app to open the iplayer APP and then mirror to the atv

you can jailbreak the apple tv to have iplayer app via Xbmc or similar but i have not bothered.

It’s lacking in apps like iPlayer and 4OD, but the AirPlay feature (slightly different from mirroring) allows everything I’ve tried on my iPhone to be streamed like Red Bull TV. I really can’t see the lack of built in apps as an issue if you have an iPhone 4/4S or iPad 2/3. You do have to turn off auto lock as someone said above. Highly recommended if you are an iPhone/iPad user.

you can jailbreak the apple tv to have iplayer app via Xbmc or similar but i have not bothered

It was the first thing I did when I got mine 18 months ago and it’s pretty fab.
Other than Netflix, YouTube, music streaming I use it mostly for mirroring/airplay iPlayer and other stuff from the iPad and playing movies downloaded from t’interweb (in fact the latter is probably #1 use). Great value for money.

doesnt let lovefilm be streamed though !!!

shame – guess apple wins that war – i unsigned from lovefilm and just use apples rental service when i want to watch a film rather than watching films for the sake of it…..

hmm. no ipad or iphone 4 here.

maybe xbox is the route to go, but you need a gold account.

why cant anyone do a one-off box that does everything you need? how hard can it be?

PS3 is as close as it gets – iplayer, ITV, 4OD, netflix, lovefilm. Plus a DVD/blu-ray player and it will stream most media formats too.

Really like my AppleTV though – if you have a Mac then it’s worth spending a few quid on “iFlicks”. You just give it whatever video files you happen to have obtained, it goes off to the various internet databases, pulls down covers, synopsis, air dates, etc then encodes it all in the right format and sticks it in iTunes for you.

NEED youtube tho for AMA SX, otherwise that 50% of my weekly viewing lost…

will stick to plugging laptop in to telly for time being.

What is the quality of the stream like if you mirror the iphone / Ipad onto the big screen. I use the father in laws Sky go account to watch the rugby a bit on the IPad and would live to watch it on the Main TV? or even 4OD etc

why cant anyone do a one-off box that does everything you need?

You being the operative word 🙂

Provided you’ve got an iPad/iPhone I think Apple TV is as close to the one-off box that I’ve seen. Moreover, the user interface is excellent. If you don’t have an iPhone/iPad I’d be inclined to agree on the PS3. You can get a lot of what the PS3 does for a lot less money if you get a Sony Blu Ray player, but don’t expect them to be updated as frequently as new models replace old. The ubiquity of the PS3 is its best strength since 3rd parties want to work with it. Another plus point on the Sony stuff is Qriocity, which is a pay as you go movie streaming service rather than subscription.

As a relatively recent convert to the Apple walled garden (which is not all rosy might I add) I do like the way it all works so effortlessly together. It encourages you further into “their way”, but the results are great if you go with it and don’t fight it. Very clever stuff and no wonder Apple are so mightily wealthy.

What is the quality of the stream like if you mirror the iphone / Ipad onto the big screen

Mirroring is duplicating the entire screen onto the TV, so with an iPad being a lot less widescreen than a TV you get a lot of spare space around the sides. However AirPlay is something slightly different whereby only the media is streamed to the Apple TV, not the screen. I don’t notice a difference between this and broadcast TV and have noticed no issues with buffering mid way through something…yet.

NEED youtube

It’s on most if not all smart TVs/Blu Rays players these days. My cheap Sony BD player has it, as has Apple TV.

Provided you’ve got an iPad/iPhone I think Apple TV is as close to the one-off box that I’ve seen.

that’s a mighty concession for the idea of a ‘one off’… how much is said ipad/iphone? £300? quite an outlay to support the notion of a one off £99 tv box!

i’ve been considering getting one for ages to fill in the last missing link at home (i.e. so that I don’t have cables trailing from my MPB to AV receiver etc).

If anyone is selling one let me know, otherwise i’m off to John Lewis at the weekend.

ah yes but my apple tv came after my iphone and ipad. I was happy with thm as standalones then thought well – it sure would be nice to watch this youtube clip/movie/music through the tv …. looked at the cables and thought no you know what …. Atv

you mentioned you have an ipod touch already – if its a newish one with the new os on it itll work with mirroring and airplay.

that’s a mighty concession for the idea of a ‘one off’… how much is said ipad/iphone? £300? quite an outlay to support the notion of a one off £99 tv box!

Not necessarily. Many people have already got an iPad/iPhone and if so Apple TV is a great – cheap – option. Many similar media boxes cost considerably more than Apple TV too. If you’re prevaricating over a phone upgrade and looking at media streamers/clients then it should be a consideration too.

As I said in my post, you can get a cheap BD player for £100 that will do a lot of what the PS3 will do, but don’t expect it to be as neat an implementation as the Apple TV. I’ve tried both.

i’m off to John Lewis at the weekend.

Do it! It gave me that giggly feeling that something can do a job so effortlessly well 😀

look im not desperately anti-apple or anything. sadly my touch is too old to do what i want it to (i think)

i just consider it a shame that a £300 item is a prerequisite for making a £99 item work nicely.

not sure what ill do ultimately. prob stick with laptop and trailing wires. ho hum!

i just consider it a shame that a £300 item is a prerequisite for making a £99 item work nicely

That’s not quite what I’m saying. Apple TV is a good value media box that works nicely even without an iPhone or iPad. If you use iTunes for example it is a great way of streaming stuff on your computer to your TV/stereo as well as having a variety of built in apps like You Tube and Netflix. However if you do have an iPhone/iPad it is a no-brainer bargain-of-the-century device because you suddenly have access to all sorts.

nah i understand – my mrs looks at the black box with frustration because her 3g (not 3gs) does not work with it …..

i have ipad 2 and iphone 4 – but both go with me when traveling.

what do we think of tv internet boxes? not as neat as apple tv. but full access to all things net-based?

http://www.johnlewis.com/231269816/Product.aspx?source=63258

like this.

any experiences?

What is the quality of the stream like if you mirror the iphone / Ipad onto the big screen. I use the father in laws Sky go account to watch the rugby a bit on the IPad and would live to watch it on the Main TV? or even 4OD etc

Sky have disabled the HDMI output on the iPad for SkyGo – it’s really annoying.

tracknicko, that LG box looks pretty good and more fully featured than Apple TV if you’ve no plans on getting an iPhone/iPad. The one thing I would say is try and have a play with it. If the interface and implementation is a bit rubbish you won’t use it. I’ve tried a variety of DLNA media servers serving my Sony BD player and the end results were disappointing. This is where Apple’s box won me over.

It’s a minefield by the way; plenty of threads on STW if you do a search.

I like the appleTV but it needs to be jailbroken to get its full potential. Unfortunately mine updated and can’t be re-jailbroken yet!
XBMC and Icefilms are a must.

…needs to be jailbroken to get its full potential

Don’t let this put anyone off. I can’t imagine ever getting through all the media I can access on my big screen with my non-jailbroken one.

NEED youtube tho for AMA SX, otherwise that 50% of my weekly viewing lost…

Bah, only 480p on YouTube.

What you need is Slicknick610’s full HD torrents from each round off thepiratebay!

torrent shmorrent phil. think some of the uploads youtube are 720 too btw

Sky have disabled the HDMI output on the iPad for SkyGo – it’s really annoying.

Last I checked, there was only about three channels on it as well. I think Sky Sports might have been one of them – so ok for your rugby I expect, but of absolutely no use to me whatsoever.

Just got mine, and love it. Didn’t realise that people who don’t have an iPod touch would buy one – I assumed that the Apple tv is pretty much exclusively targeted at people who already have iPods etc and want to stream the pictures onto their tv screen.

assumed that the Apple tv is pretty much exclusively targeted at people who already have iPods etc

As I said above, it is an exceptional bit of kit if you own an iOS device to stream content to it, but there’s still loads it does otherwise:

1. Streams music/video/photos from your computer
2. You Tube
3. Net Flix
4. iTunes store streaming for movies and TV
5. Flickr
6. Some rubbish to do with major league baseball 🙂

The lack of a native app for iPlayer is a glaring omission, but amongst all that lot above is a lot of media content.