Well I finally found a deal on an Apple TV on eBay. If you’ve been thinking about getting one, now is a great time as several have been listed lately. I went for the 40GB model since it will mostly be used to stream content from my Mac, so no need for huge drive space, at least for a while.
Looking forward to using it!
Looking for an Apple TV? Here are some current 40GB Apple TVs on eBay:
[phpbay]apple tv 40, 6[/phpbay]
Well it has been a month now, and I love the Panasonic Viera plasma that we purchased in October. The picture is really great, has just enough inputs, the menus are easy to use, the speakers are decent sounding, and overall it has been a very enjoyable upgrade from our 19″ CRT television.
For the past month I’ve had our Mac mini connected to the plasma to allow us to play videos such as stuff from our movie library, iTunes, as well as music through our stereo. This has been great fun, and opens up many possibilities for convenience and choice, not to mention being a serious alternative to cable TV. However, since this is our main computer, it has made regular computer use a little more difficult.
Need to check email? Walk into the living room and fire up the plasma. Mail.app is easy to read on a 50-inch screen, but it is kind of silly. The kids are enjoying Webkinz in full plasma goodness as well. As I type this I’m crouched over a piano bench sitting on a child’s chair, with the keyboard hooked up by USB extension cord. Funny, I know, but this has become known as Problem Number 1. And we don’t plan on buying another computer just to have in the media center.
So that brings me to the title of this post. Apple TV has been out for quite a while now, without much change other than the Take Two software upgrade. For a little over $200 you get a small, silent box that will play your iTunes music and videos streamed from your PC to your HDTV. Since the Apple TV connects by HDMI or component cables, it solves Problem Number 2, which was the difficulty of getting the resolution settings right. I’m currently using SwitchResX to display my screen in an odd 1224 x 688 format (which by the way, prevents iMovie HD from opening, but that’s another story). My Mac resolution is working, but I still have some quirks and fine tuning to work out. The Apple TV is designed for television, and as such it will just work.
Many folks have hesitated to get the Apple TV due to some limitations, such as small hard drive space or playback of Apple-only video formats. These limitations don’t matter for me now, as there are third party plugins for Apple TV (such as boxee and XBMC) which allow for added convenience of playing alternate video formats, not to mention connecting to internet video services such as Hulu and CBS.com (something we were already doing with the mini). I can also use my EyeTV and Mac mini as a DVR, and stream those programs to the Apple TV as well.
The time has come. And with Apple refurb prices at $199, the time is right. Apple TV, here I come!