Apple TV follow-up follow-up post:
We tested buying and watching TV shows through iTunes and watching them on the TV using the iPad. (Eureka and Downton Abbey, both brilliant.) We also rented The Santa Clause for 99p. All worked really well so I suspended our Lovefilm account so the monthly fee can go on TV shows for a while rather than 2 DVD movies a month.
The problem with using the iPad is that it doesn’t have a remote control and content has to be downloaded to it (it’s only 16GB). I use it for my knitting patterns and I like to knit when I’m watching TV. Plus it has to be charged up beforehand - it can’t be plugged into the telly and a power source at the same time.
Everyone we know who has an Apple TV has said good things. I had some birthday & Christmas money burning a hole in my pocket and I thought it would be a nice Christmas pressie for our mini family. So on Christmas Eve, as Nev was travelling home from work, he diverted to the Apple store and picked one up. Kudos Apple Store for having an express checkout btw!
First impressions out of the box are that it’s tiny. It sits on the TV table, which is also black, like another remote or a games console sensor. It doesn’t come with a HDMI cable but we had one spare. The remote is a lovely cool brushed metal sliver. A slimmer silver beveled version of an old rectangular iPod Shuffle. (Try saying that after some Christmas spirit!) The Apple TV itself is a joy to hold and behold. Typical Apple design.
Setting up was easy except I had to turn off Home Sharing on my Mac and turn it back on again before the Apple TV would recognise the Mac. (Since setting this up we haven’t used it as purchased shows can be streamed directly from iTunes as well as from your local storage device). Airplay worked flawlessly out of the box - streaming content wirelessly from iPads/iPhones to the Apple TV to be played on your television. Everything works wirelessly although there is a port on the back to hardwire an internet connection if you want to. We’ve had a couple of moments where there was no sound but I’ve set the Dolby Digital setting to “on” rather than “auto” and I think that’s sorted it.
The user interface is simple, intuitive, and quick. Easy access to You Tube, Podcasts (video and audio), buying TV shows, and renting movies (as well as some other stuff that we haven’t explored yet.) It really is a joy to be able to access our favourite Revision 3 shows on-demand on the telly.
Over Christmas we rented X-Men: First Class and Captain America and streamed them in HD. The experience was flawless. No buffering issues or problems pausing and restarting. (We have a download speed of about 7Mb/s.)
The Apple TV doesn’t have a hard drive and is purely a wireless streaming device to get content onto your TV. It integrates beautifully with other Apple devices and an existing iTunes account. With a good broadband connection it streams like a dream.
So no complains or regrets so far and it’s definitely brought a smile to our faces this Christmas.
