Can anyone explain it to me, what are its alternatives and if I were to get it which version do I need?

Thanks in advance 🙂

Apple TV does nothing that any net based device does other than integrate with other Apple kit you may have like an iPad or Mac. Like all things Apple, it works seamlessly together, so the Apple TV enables your TV to become an extension to view everything you have on your Apple devices and on iTunes. Apart from that there are not that many features that Apple TV has relative to some of the other things out there. You can’t get iPlayer on it yet, but can access Netflix and other streaming channels.

So if you’ve not got other Apple kit then i’d get something else.

Like all things Apple, it works seamlessly together, so the Apple TV enables your TV to become an extension to view everything you have on your Apple devices and on iTunes.

Except you regularly need to re boot your router, Apple TV, and iTunes, and even then it may not work properly. I am bitter tho 🙂

Airplay off portable devices is very reliable, renting movies is v easy, but the airplay off iTunes is shockingly unreliable, IME.

You can’t get iPlayer on it yet, but can access Netflix and other streaming channels.

If you have an ipad/iPhone you can airplay it via the apple tv

Love mine. They are really useful.

Now I do have other Apple kit, phone, iPad, mac to get the most out of Apple TV you do need one of those.

For example I watch midweek mini movies and redbull tv coverage of the mtb downhill with a combination of my phone and Apple TV, instead of the small phone screen the content is sent to the tv – full screen magnificent.

Now you can use Apple TV to watch YouTube and Vimeo content, it work best if you have an account and have set up your own feed. You can rent movies direct onto the apple tv as well for example. You can play your music through the tv / speakers (eg from iPhone). You can look at your photos (via iCloud, Flikr). You can watch movies held on your pc/mac on the tv. The iPhone and iPad support “mirroring” with apple tv so the tv acts as a “repeater” of device screen, I find this useful for browsing web using tv, reading email etc.

Version – just get whatever they are selling, mine are a couple of years old and work very well.

Except you regularly need to re boot your router, Apple TV, and iTunes, and even then it may not work properly. I am bitter tho

Airplay off portable devices is very reliable, renting movies is v easy, but the airplay off iTunes is shockingly unreliable, IME.

Never had any probs.

Also run seas0n pass on it so xbmc can installed.

Alternatively get a raspberry pi and run xbmc on it for about £40 or a small pc running Windows or Linux with xbmc and have a full media setup with a full pc os behind it to do everything else.

I notice they have different sized storage capacities, if I only intend to play stuff on TV from my phone etc, is this something to be arsed about?

What is the advantage of, say, version 3 over version 2?

There may well be other/cheaper/better options out there, but I quite like mine. It’s good and you don’t need to be IT savvy to use it. I’ve always felt under skilled with windows stuffs.
You will be needing couch tuner. Great site.

You ‘really’ want the v2 which you can then jailbreak in about 5 mins – this adds a load of functionality (such as xbmc). But v2 boxes now sell for quite a lot of money as the v3 box cannot be jailbroken.
They don’t officially have any storage, but the v2 does actually have about 7gb which you can access once its jailbroken.
Great bits of kit for streaming. I have a v2 and a raspberry pi running Raspbmc which is pretty cool also.

Would XBMC on a RaspbPi (or similar) allow me to mirror my Mac or iPhone on a TV the same way Apple TV does? Genuine question, not fanboi sniping.

Google says yes (probably)
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/AddingAirPlayToAReceiverWithoutAnAppleTVRaspbmcAndTheRaspberryPi.aspx