New Apple TV Discussion - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

Larry · 2010-10-01, 06:49 PM

Got my Apple TV 2.0 from FedEx this morning. Here are my first impressions:

1. Its small. I mean really small.
2. It comes with a power cord and remote. You'll need you own HDMI and optical audio cable (if you want to hook it up to your receiver).
3. Interface/controls familiar if you have any apple product.
4. Loaded the apple remote app on my iPad. Makes navigation easy - but more importantly, makes data entry (like accounts/passwords) super easy as it you can use the keyboard that pops up on the iPad.
5. Netflix - looks good but I don't like the interface as much as on the iPad. I don't think it remembers where I left off watching a recording - not sure about this yet.
6. Turned on home sharing and was able to stream anything from my iTunes library (music, video, podcasts) to the TV.
7. You can watch youtube and podcasts (not from your iTunes library).
8. Tried listening to some internet radio - as I expected it to be.
9. Only movie rentals (looks like they are around $6) - you can preview and select SD or HD. No TV shows - but you could stream them from your iTunes library if you purchased TV shows there.

All in all I am quite impressed. Fast, easy to use. I just wish it allowed streaming from outside of iTunes.

hugh · 2010-10-01, 07:02 PM

Larry, thanks for the feedback. I am interested in getting one. Did you have an older Apple TV that you could compare to?

Larry · 2010-10-01, 07:42 PM

Sorry, no previous Apple TV - this is my first.

Update on Netflix - you can't tell which episodes of a TV series you have watched. When you select one, if you are in the middle it will ask if you want to resume watching or start from the beginning. Not as friendly as on the iPad, PC or PS3.

Tried out Flickr - very nice. Quick viewing of photos. With the iPad running Apple Remote, you can flick left and right to go through the photos.

hugh · 2010-10-01, 09:21 PM

What I like about it is that it only uses 6 watts or so. The old Apple TV was about 30 or 35 watts even when in standby

uberchuckie · 2010-10-01, 09:59 PM

My new Apple TV arrived today. As usual for Apple products, it's pretty slick. I can even use my iPhone as the remote. This is useful for typing in user names, passwords or searching for movies. Using the virtual keyboard with the remote is little clunky. It streams movies and music from any computer that has iTunes with Home Sharing enabled.

I tried Netflix and it works pretty well. I have not yet encountered any buffering problems as I watched an episode of Mad Men in 720p. As others have said already, the selection of new movies are scarce. However, I do find the catalog of the older movies pretty good. It would be nice if the movie info pages would show which movie was in the HD. Right now, I have to check on the Netflix website.

The lack of TV rental is noticeable. I wonder if this is a temporary thing or not. For $120, I think it's pretty good.

Tikker · 2010-10-01, 10:26 PM

can you stream stuff from a NAS/fileserver or is your only choice stuff from iTunes?

kcrw · 2010-12-03, 06:46 PM

is there any way to permanenty register the Apple TV with nexflix to eliminate the need to enter email and UN each time you want to enter netflix from apple tv.

North_of_Calgary · 2010-12-03, 07:06 PM

Huh? I only ever had to enter the Netflix credentials once. And I've had it unplugged many times.

As for the 8GB and buffering I think the answer is "yes" and the discussions on this thread seem to support that. It's been discussed in other outlets that there's only 512MB (to the best of my memory) for application cache similar to the iPhone. And the iPhone can accommodate thousands of installed apps in that space. So what else are they going to do with that 8GB. I don't know but they certainly don't need it all for iOS apps. And they of course could change how they use it in future updates that they push down.

It doesn't seem to be a simple "record full content" technique like the first ATV or a PVR but it does seem to be used for a more complex "read ahead" buffering type of algorithm. There also seems to some meta-data caching of movie lists, box art, things like that (obvious to observe when accessing Netflix). So I think they're using that 8GB for something and not just reserving it for iOS apps.

kcrw · 2010-12-03, 07:22 PM

maybe i'm missing something, but everytime I select netflic from atv I have to enter credentials. We are 1st time atv users and maybe i've missed a step. Any help is appreciated

2010-10-01, 06:49 PM	#1
Larry Veteran Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Ottawa, Ontario (Rogers) Posts: 1,521	New Apple TV Discussion Got my Apple TV 2.0 from FedEx this morning. Here are my first impressions: 1. Its small. I mean really small. 2. It comes with a power cord and remote. You'll need you own HDMI and optical audio cable (if you want to hook it up to your receiver). 3. Interface/controls familiar if you have any apple product. 4. Loaded the apple remote app on my iPad. Makes navigation easy - but more importantly, makes data entry (like accounts/passwords) super easy as it you can use the keyboard that pops up on the iPad. 5. Netflix - looks good but I don't like the interface as much as on the iPad. I don't think it remembers where I left off watching a recording - not sure about this yet. 6. Turned on home sharing and was able to stream anything from my iTunes library (music, video, podcasts) to the TV. 7. You can watch youtube and podcasts (not from your iTunes library). 8. Tried listening to some internet radio - as I expected it to be. 9. Only movie rentals (looks like they are around $6) - you can preview and select SD or HD. No TV shows - but you could stream them from your iTunes library if you purchased TV shows there. All in all I am quite impressed. Fast, easy to use. I just wish it allowed streaming from outside of iTunes.

2010-10-01, 07:02 PM	#2
hugh Member #1 Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Toronto Posts: 47,492	Larry, thanks for the feedback. I am interested in getting one. Did you have an older Apple TV that you could compare to? __________________ As of January 2012, I am no longer the owner of the Digital Home website. If you have questions about the operation of the site, please contact VSAdmin. For personal inquiries contact me at the Hugh Thompson website.

2010-10-01, 09:21 PM	#4
hugh Member #1 Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Toronto Posts: 47,492	What I like about it is that it only uses 6 watts or so. The old Apple TV was about 30 or 35 watts even when in standby __________________ As of January 2012, I am no longer the owner of the Digital Home website. If you have questions about the operation of the site, please contact VSAdmin. For personal inquiries contact me at the Hugh Thompson website.

2010-10-01, 09:59 PM	#5
uberchuckie Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Nepean, ON Posts: 368	My new Apple TV arrived today. As usual for Apple products, it's pretty slick. I can even use my iPhone as the remote. This is useful for typing in user names, passwords or searching for movies. Using the virtual keyboard with the remote is little clunky. It streams movies and music from any computer that has iTunes with Home Sharing enabled. I tried Netflix and it works pretty well. I have not yet encountered any buffering problems as I watched an episode of Mad Men in 720p. As others have said already, the selection of new movies are scarce. However, I do find the catalog of the older movies pretty good. It would be nice if the movie info pages would show which movie was in the HD. Right now, I have to check on the Netflix website. The lack of TV rental is noticeable. I wonder if this is a temporary thing or not. For $120, I think it's pretty good. __________________ Sanyo Z700, RX-V1800, DMP-BD35, XBox 360, Apple TV 2, Paradigm Monitor 7, Athena AS-B1, AS-C1, AS-R1

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2010-10-01, 07:42 PM	#3
Larry Veteran Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Ottawa, Ontario (Rogers) Posts: 1,521	Sorry, no previous Apple TV - this is my first. Update on Netflix - you can't tell which episodes of a TV series you have watched. When you select one, if you are in the middle it will ask if you want to resume watching or start from the beginning. Not as friendly as on the iPad, PC or PS3. Tried out Flickr - very nice. Quick viewing of photos. With the iPad running Apple Remote, you can flick left and right to go through the photos.

2010-10-01, 10:26 PM	#6
Tikker Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: SaskTel Posts: 895	can you stream stuff from a NAS/fileserver or is your only choice stuff from iTunes?

2010-12-03, 06:46 PM	#7
kcrw Rookie Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 3	is there any way to permanenty register the Apple TV with nexflix to eliminate the need to enter email and UN each time you want to enter netflix from apple tv.

2010-12-03, 07:06 PM	#8
North_of_Calgary Veteran Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Calgary Area Posts: 2,074	Huh? I only ever had to enter the Netflix credentials once. And I've had it unplugged many times. As for the 8GB and buffering I think the answer is "yes" and the discussions on this thread seem to support that. It's been discussed in other outlets that there's only 512MB (to the best of my memory) for application cache similar to the iPhone. And the iPhone can accommodate thousands of installed apps in that space. So what else are they going to do with that 8GB. I don't know but they certainly don't need it all for iOS apps. And they of course could change how they use it in future updates that they push down. It doesn't seem to be a simple "record full content" technique like the first ATV or a PVR but it does seem to be used for a more complex "read ahead" buffering type of algorithm. There also seems to some meta-data caching of movie lists, box art, things like that (obvious to observe when accessing Netflix). So I think they're using that 8GB for something and not just reserving it for iOS apps.

2010-12-03, 07:22 PM	#9
kcrw Rookie Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 3	maybe i'm missing something, but everytime I select netflic from atv I have to enter credentials. We are 1st time atv users and maybe i've missed a step. Any help is appreciated