If so what do you think? I am itching to do something with better integration of my computer to my system and think it may be the ticket.

Also can you use it with an external harddrive for additional storage? 160gb seems like it would get full mighty quick, I have a 250gb external harddrive I am using just for itunes and while I don't have as many DVD's as I do CD's I am sure I have more then enough to fill 160gb in no time.

 

I have one.

It's essentially an iPod for your TV. As with any Apple product, it "just works".

As of right now, you can not use an external USB drive for storage. There are various hacking websites out there working on this kind of a solution, but nothing has been developed as of yet.

Keep in mind that you don't have to sync everything to the Apple TV. You can always stream music/videos from an iTunes library. You'll need a .g network and I'd recommend .n or hardwiring the Apple TV to a router.

 

i am on the edge too. The apple tv has pretty much everything i need (really only want music right now), just not sure if i should go for a full blown media pc.

 

Apple TV = Awesome Idea.

Reality = it was released too soon. My airport express streams my music wonderfully to my stereo. The big issue right now is lack of HD content. Regular SD content sold on Itunes looks like shite on a HD TV. Now, I do realize the Apple TV is set up for HD already (.n wireless, HDMI, etc.) But I don't feel it's worth getting until the Itunes Store goes HD, and it will.

 

Quick question on this... the Apple TV can stream any videos in your iTunes library, not just content from the iTunes store, correct?

I'm thinking about buying one of these, but every single review says that the video quality is terrible... but no one talks about anything other than iTunes store stuff.

 

It only does video based on the H.264 format.

Specifically:

H.264 and protected H.264 (from iTunes Store): Up to 5 Mbps, Progressive Main Profile (CAVLC) with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps (maximum resolution: 1280 by 720 pixels at 24 fps, 960 by 540 pixels at 30 fps) in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

Basically, it needs to be able to be played in Quicktime and the video would likely need to be converted to the AppleTV specs.

 

OK... so if I just convert my vids to h.264 .mp4 I should be fine, right? Scrib, have you used your AppleTV for any HD content like this?

If I set my converter to 'go nuts' quality (VisualHub), the files come out the same size in .mp4 as I put them in. Can I assume I'm not losing any quality from the format swap?

 

Well, you're gonna lose some quality. It just all depends.

How big are your files now? Perhaps you can send me one, I'll take a look at it pre-conversion and then how it looks on my Apple TV?

The stuff I've been watching is 720p content so any conversion is still in line with that the device plays.

 

Another thing to do is take a file and convert it to ATV format. Quicktime will do this for you (look in the Export settings). Or you can use a utility like handbrake.

Keep in mind that if the source isn't close a HD video to begin with, it's likely going to look as bad or worse than a 480i video when converted.

 

So you say you are watching 720p with it and it looks ok?

I'll give the ATV format a shot... I have handbrake, but I've never used it for video conversion other than from DVD. I'll mess around with it.

Thanks for the offer on the file... but if you say you are watching 720p and the quality is fine then thats all I really needed to know