Apple TV: 3 Months Later

June 5, 2008 in Just Plain Awesomeness, Technology with View Comments

It has been several months now since I purchased an AppleTV.  I have had a lot of time to love it, get mad at it, and really get to know it, and I wanted to share my thoughts on the device and how it has changed the way I partake in media.

Movie Rentals

Every week, iTunes offers a $.99 rental.  This is a standard definition movie that is usually at least a few years old, but so far they have served up some pretty classic movies.  I have rented A Fish Called Wanda, Escape from Alcatraz, The Usual Suspects, and a few others.  For $.99, it’s hard to beat that deal.

The HD rentals look great on a 30 inch HDTV, as do the standard definition ones.  An extra buck gets you 720p video on your rental.  For me, that’s worth it.  A new release HD rental will run you 5 bucks, but you don’t have to leave the house, and the download pretty fast.  Usually a few seconds after starting a download of a standard definition movie, it’s ready to watch.

There really is no reason to go to blockbuster now.  The time restrictions are not an issue.  When I start a movie, I finish the same day, so 24 hours to finish watching it is not an issue.

Movies I Own

I have a few hundred DVD’s, and have them all ripped to an external hard drive.  In iTunes, I have selected a bunch of them to sync over to the AppleTV so they can be watched sans computer.  But even still, with iTunes up and running, every single non-synced movie is viewable via streaming.

When streaming, it usually starts playing almost instantly.  That being said, the movies copied to the AppleTV hard drive are the ones I plan on watching sometime soon.

Movie Purchases

I have only purchased a few movies through iTunes.  The ones I have purchased (Mission to Mars and The Hunted) have been $9.99 each (as are all of the “library” titles), which isn’t so bad.  The downside here is that you are not getting any special features with the movie.  For most movies, I don’t really care about those.

The quality is *almost* dvd quality.  Honestly though, the movies look just fine.  Maybe on a 60-inch tv you would notice some pixelation, but Apple seems to have that under control.

Video Podcasts

Many video podcasts are available in HD, so what I do here is subscribe to both the iPod version AND the HD version.  I sync the HD version to the AppleTV, so I can watch it either at home or on the go using my iPod.  And trust me, Diggnation and The Totally Rad Show both look great in HD on a TV.

Music

Personally, I don’t have any music copied to the AppleTV.  I have it stream since the files are so small.  The only time I listen to music through the AppleTV is if I am cleaning my house (so hardly ever really).

Annoyances

Luckily, there aren’t many.  I would say that the main one is that sometimes the AppleTV will just “disappear” from iTunes.  This seems to happen right in the middle of a movie I am streaming from my computer, so it causes it to just stop.

Other than that, there are no other major annoyances.

Overall

It has been at least 3 months since I watched a dvd in my dvd player.  Besides watching TV using DirecTV, the AppleTV is my primary source of entertainment.  It’s hard to imagine going back to watching dvd discs, especially now that I have access to them at my fingertips.

If you are even the least bit thinking about getting an AppleTV, I would highly reccommend it.  It is rediculously easy to use, and it will change the way you watch movies at home.

  • @(big)Phil -

    1- regular DVDs are at most 480p, so if you rip them at that, you have a perfect copy of it at roughly a third of the size of a .VOB file. As far as Blu Ray, you would have to continue to play those off of the player. They are possible to rip, but I have no idea how. But for regular DVDs, an .mp4 file with H.264 compression will give you a beautiful copy of the movie with no signs of compression if done right (say, 2500kbps). And yes, the max resolution on an AppleTV is 720p, but a regular DVD upconverted to 720p or 1080i look exactly the same.

    2 - True, it doesn't recognize .vob files, but again, when ripped as an .mp4, it won't need to read them. .mp4 saves you hard drive space and streams a LOT better than a giant .vob file.

    The ability to play my movies is half of the equation. The other half is the iTunes integration with buying/renting movies without have to go anywhere. That rules!
  • @(big)Phil -

    1- regular DVDs are at most 480p, so if you rip them at that, you have a perfect copy of it at roughly a third of the size of a .VOB file. As far as Blu Ray, you would have to continue to play those off of the player. They are possible to rip, but I have no idea how. But for regular DVDs, an .mp4 file with H.264 compression will give you a beautiful copy of the movie with no signs of compression if done right (say, 2500kbps). And yes, the max resolution on an AppleTV is 720p, but a regular DVD upconverted to 720p or 1080i look exactly the same.

    2 - True, it doesn't recognize .vob files, but again, when ripped as an .mp4, it won't need to read them. .mp4 saves you hard drive space and streams a LOT better than a giant .vob file.

    The ability to play my movies is half of the equation. The other half is the iTunes integration with buying/renting movies without have to go anywhere. That rules!
  • Phil
    Adam,
    I almost bought one of those, but didn't like a few things about it. Perhaps you can enlighten me just in case I am wrong. One, to rip DVDs to MP4s lessens the quality of a DVD that is viewable on AppleTV, because the highest output it can generate is 1080i, however I don't believe that it actually "upconverts" to 1080i yet. From what I understand, the maximum output is 720p. The reason this is important to me is because I have a Blu-Ray DVD player that does upconvert non-BluRay discs to 1080i.
    Two, the AppleTV does not recognize VOB files, only MP4s.
    Lastly, I have heard that it runs very hot and kind of loud.
    I have been looking to build a "video jukebox" for a few years now to have all my movies electronically, but I obviously am a bit picky as to what I exactly want. I have found this: http://www.amazon.com/ZeeVee-ZV100-NA-ZvBox/dp/...
    and think that this is my answer. If you haven't seen it, you probably would be very interested in it; only downside is it is a bit pricey.
    I have a random question for you as well: I would like to put together my own website. Any recommendations on what to read about it and how to get it together?
    Thanks.
  • Phil
    Adam,
    I almost bought one of those, but didn't like a few things about it. Perhaps you can enlighten me just in case I am wrong. One, to rip DVDs to MP4s lessens the quality of a DVD that is viewable on AppleTV, because the highest output it can generate is 1080i, however I don't believe that it actually "upconverts" to 1080i yet. From what I understand, the maximum output is 720p. The reason this is important to me is because I have a Blu-Ray DVD player that does upconvert non-BluRay discs to 1080i.
    Two, the AppleTV does not recognize VOB files, only MP4s.
    Lastly, I have heard that it runs very hot and kind of loud.
    I have been looking to build a "video jukebox" for a few years now to have all my movies electronically, but I obviously am a bit picky as to what I exactly want. I have found this: http://www.amazon.com/ZeeVee-ZV100-NA-ZvBox/dp/...
    and think that this is my answer. If you haven't seen it, you probably would be very interested in it; only downside is it is a bit pricey.
    I have a random question for you as well: I would like to put together my own website. Any recommendations on what to read about it and how to get it together?
    Thanks.
  • O, I do that about once a week!
  • O, I do that about once a week!
  • hmmm... with a bag of popcorn and cans of soda, that would be a perfect combination.

    ifoundmes last blog post..men and gum
  • hmmm... with a bag of popcorn and cans of soda, that would be a perfect combination.

    ifoundmes last blog post..men and gum
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