Apple TV

[irs]

So i am looking at buying one when i am in the US. Since they are cheaper down there.

Just a couple of questions.

Can you stream movies from your pc to them. Do you have to buy Apple movies or can you use them off your own disk that you have copied.
Does it work with pc or do you have to have a mac?

Do they stream MKV files? or do you have to convert.

Any other info would be great.
Thanks

[eblend]

I don't think MKV is supported, wasn't in the older versions. Also not sure if you can actually stream to them.

This is a better option for what you want in my opinion:
WDTV Live plus (if you care for netflix), or WDTV Live if you don't need netflix.

Another option is this

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=570, but it is more then just a player, it is like a media hub, acts as a media server so you can share stuff off it to other devices instead of using your computer for example.

Really..unless you want to rent videos from apple...I don't see a reason to get apple tv

[BrknFngrs]

Originally posted by eblend
Really..unless you want to rent videos from apple...I don't see a reason to get apple tv

Agreed. I'm hoping that once they do some additional development of XBMC on the Apple TV it could become a good option considering the price, form factor, etc.

[rage2]

AppleTV will stream anything in your itunes library on your computer. You'd have to convert everything and drop them into your itunes and it'll stream it. I use the AirVideo app on iPad to do this, I can select all my movies, and it'll automatically convert and drop them into itunes.

Or you can jailbreak and load XBMC on the AppleTV, which will natively play MKV's and such.

AppleTV does way more than rent videos from Apple.

[eblend]

Originally posted by rage2
AppleTV will stream anything in your itunes library on your computer. You'd have to convert everything and drop them into your itunes and it'll stream it. I use the AirVideo app on iPad to do this, I can select all my movies, and it'll automatically convert and drop them into itunes.

Or you can jailbreak and load XBMC on the AppleTV, which will natively play MKV's and such.

AppleTV does way more than rent videos from Apple.

But not everyone wants to tinker with their devices, so why bother with converting and making all the extra work when there are devices that are more than capable of doing all he wants from the get go, without all of that overhead.

[MilanoRedTeg]

The Air Video App is awesome

[ee2k]

Netflix through apple tv alone is reason to buy it. A great way to use your home theater for Netflix. also online radio, AirPlay from any device with iTunes to Home theater throug Apple Tv.

[Xtrema]

I thought Apple TV is iOS based? So there is Air Video app should be able live stream from Air Video server installed on any PC.

But still, other than streaming from iPad, I don't find AppleTV very useful.

[sillysod]

Originally posted by eblend
This is a better option for what you want in my opinion:
WDTV Live plus (if you care for netflix), or WDTV Live if you don't need netflix.

Actually netflix on the WDTV Live plus doesn't work in Canada. How do I know? I bought one and got told by Western Digital that it will not be availble in Canada.

I still use it to stream network media, but I ended up just getting a refurbished Wii from EB Games for $129.00 for Netflix and it works perfectly.

[D'z Nutz]

Originally posted by eblend


But not everyone wants to tinker with their devices, so why bother with converting and making all the extra work when there are devices that are more than capable of doing all he wants from the get go, without all of that overhead.

Making a patchstick is a lot less hassle than having to convert all your videos:
http://code.google.com/p/atvusb-creator/

Takes like a whoppin' 5-10 minutes from start to finish.

Just to take it one step further, I installed Nito TV on my Apple TV so I could load my movies onto an external hard drive and watch it off of there. No more converting for me!

I fucking love my Apple TV and wish I had gotten one sooner. For the record, I've never rented anything on there since I got it as a nice, compact media box.

[rage2]

Originally posted by eblend
But not everyone wants to tinker with their devices, so why bother with converting and making all the extra work when there are devices that are more than capable of doing all he wants from the get go, without all of that overhead.

True, I don't use my AppleTV for streaming movies. I have my Media Center for that.

Was just saying there's more to Apple TV than renting movies. I only rent movies on there once or twice a month. Mostly netflix, music player, video podcasts, and Airplay.

[ZorroAMG]

Jailbreaking the current Black ATV is unstable and useless. I have both ATV's and couldn't ever get a real reliable stream of my movies from my desktop. It always crashes or requires a re-tethering/JB'ing. Who the frakk wants to convert all of their movies?

When I got my MBA in february, I relegated my old MBP to my media centre to stream properly.

ATV really IS only good for iTunes content and rentals at the moment.

[irs]

Well i have been using a ps3 and a xbox360 as a media extender off my computer but i am finding lately that I am getting pixlation and with the ps3 media server it will not do MKV's for me any more.
This is making me mad.

Plus If I stream i would like the audio in 5.1 for my theatre system.
It will be in my theatre room.

I will have to look more into the airvideo. Sounds interesting. But does it keep the audio 5.1?
I have an iPad and iPhone so this sounds interesting.

Also if i get the Apple TV I would like to look into the Nitro tv as well.

[tenth]

Originally posted by irs
Well i have been using a ps3 and a xbox360 as a media extender off my computer but i am finding lately that I am getting pixlation and with the ps3 media server it will not do MKV's for me any more.
This is making me mad.

Plus If I stream i would like the audio in 5.1 for my theatre system.
It will be in my theatre room.

fwiw, you should be able to stream 5.1 DD/DTS using PS3 media server. I got it working without too much issue, although note that your PS3 won't show the DTS stream as 5.1, but your receiver should show it (PS3 media server tricks the system). I think it was just one check-box in the options to get the DTS enabled.

I did ditch the PS3 recently due to its interface, and issues with mkvs (some won't play and fastforward/rewind issues). My solution was a small mini-ITX based HTPC.

[cam_wmh]

I have a newb friend, that has Apple TV tied to this Mac.

We installed VUZE on his Mac, and it allows him to download any movie torrent, automatically converts the movie torrent to the best quality possible, into an iTunes compatible format, & loads it into his iTunes movie folder. (disclaimer, VUZE is a convoluted resource pig on PC)

Further, I installed a simple VPN client (logmein) for him on his mac & iphone. He can download the episodes/movie torrents via his iPhone, and then just get home, sit on the couch and watch the movies on his ATV. It's pretty slick for a bud that's a bit of a newb.

It's similar to my setup, except I have a full-blown HTPC with XBMC, and the same logmein VPN client. It's pretty slick.

[MrSector9]

I was going to buy appletv(2) but idecided to wait to see what else comes out for cool homebrew and how well it works before i buy. It will only play max of 720p right now and they are not sure if it is hardware or software that is causing that (even with xbmc from what i can tell)

I use my ps3 for all my streaming, and my old xbox with xbmc in the bedroom.

The boxee unit looks to work pretty good but it is quite alot of money for what it really is.

[RawB8figure]

anyone here know if you can use hulu or netflick usa on this ?????

[rage2]

There's no hulu on appletv yet. Netflix USA works perfect on it using usvideo service.

[focusdriv3r]

how do you guys DL movies? i just use vuze its not that complicated to convert after you DL it it takes two clicks.

not even two clicks, drag a movie to itunes...



then select what its for.



and thats it, not that complicated. takes 15-30mins.

the funny thing is all my movied i have "saved" on my hard drive i deleted them because they are on netflix usa.

so there goes my harddrive i dont need them anymore only for new movies i just DL'ed.

i love my apple tv becasue of airplay, remote etc...

[Manhattan]

9 month bump...

Is it possible to hook up an external hard drive via USB to Apple TV to watch mkv files? This capability alone would make it worth the purchase for me.