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#1 2007-07-13 11:03 pm

MuckSavage
The Balls
From: In a glass case of emotion.
Registered: 2001-10-02
Posts: 3402
Website

Who's got an Apple TV?

What are your impressions? We have a 42" Plasma, and I have taken to putting all of my movies on my hard drive. I love the idea of the apple tv, but I want to hear what others think, good or bad.


You have an absolutely breath-taking... heiney. I mean, that thing's good. I wanna be friends with it.

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#2 2007-07-13 11:30 pm

C. Ives
We're All Mad Here
From: Wonderland
Registered: 2001-03-05
Posts: 2065

Re: Who's got an Apple TV?

I don't, but I plan to within the year.

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#3 2007-07-13 11:45 pm

FutureDreamz
1.1.2.3.5.8.13.21.34.55
From: カナダ
Registered: 2007-01-07
Posts: 4511

Re: Who's got an Apple TV?

Never heard of an Apple-branded tv, but I'm trying to get a tv.


Thanks for clicking.

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#4 2007-07-14 12:36 am

maleko
Member
From: Eugene, OR
Registered: 2006-11-25
Posts: 1221

Re: Who's got an Apple TV?

Played with one at my local store.  I liked it.  I've been running Leopard since WWDC and the Front Row in Leopard is the exact same as the Apple TV.  I like the idea of Apple TV as well, but I think I'm going to turn my MBP into one by hooking it to a TV.  Then I can play dvd's as well.

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#5 2007-07-14 7:26 am

ukimalefu
4 8 15 16 23 42
Moderator
From: time loop
Registered: 2002-09-09
Posts: 9358
Website

Re: Who's got an Apple TV?

FutureDreamz wrote:

Never heard of an Apple-branded tv, but I'm trying to get a tv.

The Macintosh TV

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#6 2007-07-14 8:12 pm

Jasoco
Your own personal Jesus
From: Doylestown, PA, USA, Earth
Registered: 2000-08-26
Posts: 8848
Website

Re: Who's got an Apple TV?

I do and I've ripped about 110 movies and 300+ TV show episodes for it already.


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#7 2007-07-14 9:07 pm

Gatchaman
Member
From: Milepost 266.2, Track 1
Registered: 2001-03-17
Posts: 3338
Website

Re: Who's got an Apple TV?

I'm more interested in hearing how Youtube content looks on it.


"I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'"
  -- Bob Newhart

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#8 2007-07-14 10:15 pm

user
Your plastic pal who's fun to be with
From: I'm not getting you down, am I
Registered: 2001-10-15
Posts: 16031

Re: Who's got an Apple TV?

maleko wrote:

I've been running Leopard since WWDC...

That's a neat trick.....


Aw, he's no fun, he fell right over.

Unless you become as little children, there's no way you will believe this crap.

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#9 2007-07-14 11:37 pm

ActionAttackJohn
Soon to be banned
From: 1st State
Registered: 2007-05-03
Posts: 197

Re: Who's got an Apple TV?

I was going to buy one, but noone could convince me that DVD movies i've copied to my computer in DivX format will play.


ffffffffffffffffffffffff

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#10 2007-07-15 5:43 am

ukimalefu
4 8 15 16 23 42
Moderator
From: time loop
Registered: 2002-09-09
Posts: 9358
Website

Re: Who's got an Apple TV?

user wrote:

maleko wrote:

I've been running Leopard since WWDC...

That's a neat trick.....

It's very easy, he's either a pirate or a Mac software developer.

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#11 2007-07-15 8:58 am

zerocool90
Member
From: N.C.
Registered: 2002-05-02
Posts: 1538
Website

Re: Who's got an Apple TV?

I went and checked out appleTV at my local apple store, and well, honestly the picture quality was terrible..it was a stright HDMI hookup to a plasma TV in store, but all thier demo movies looked really bad..even something all digital like "the incredibles" which should have been amazing wasnt. there werent a bunch of compression artifacts or ghosting or anything, the motion was all very smooth, but all the color and definition was way way off..kinda like when back in the day you might have a game that would run in "thousands" of colors and you would change it to 256..the game would still play fine, but everything looked wierd. It wasnt as dramatic as that, but it wasnt even VHS quality.

now im guessing this was a problem with the in store demo stuff, cause i cant imagine marketing something like that where theres such a huge decrease in picture quality..


....Shopping on BuyMusic.com is best described as Soviet.... from the washington post

and goto www.deloreanrocks.com and listen to my music

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#12 2007-07-15 12:29 pm

Jasoco
Your own personal Jesus
From: Doylestown, PA, USA, Earth
Registered: 2000-08-26
Posts: 8848
Website

Re: Who's got an Apple TV?

I ripped my own copy of The Incredibles at 2500KBPs and it looks DVD quality.

What KBPs do iTunes downloads come in?


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#13 2007-07-16 8:26 am

fuzzynormal
Member
Registered: 2001-03-26
Posts: 1083
Website

Re: Who's got an Apple TV?

I don't, and also I don't understand why I never had Front Row installed on my MacBook Pro from the factory.  That seemed weird to me.  I've never known how to get it either... maybe I'm just not smarts.

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#14 2007-07-16 9:44 am

Daniel
[dp] design#
From: Melbourne, FL
Registered: 2000-11-21
Posts: 9706
Website

Re: Who's got an Apple TV?

I have one.  I love it.  iTunes-purchased content looks great, although my HDTV is admittedly only 30" big, and is also a CRT which does better with lower resolution video than plasmas or LCD's.  YouTube content looks LOADS better on the TV than it does in crappy FLV format on the actual website, although navigating it with the Apple Remote is a bit clunky.

All in all, a great purchase that allowed me to cancel my subscription to Blockbuster Online and may very well end up allowing me to cancel my cable TV as well.


Airman Dan
Private Pilot, Instrument Airplane Single-Engine Land
http://homepage.mac.com/dp.design/.Pictures/atat/AtAT-Banner.jpg

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#15 2007-07-16 10:56 am

MuckSavage
The Balls
From: In a glass case of emotion.
Registered: 2001-10-02
Posts: 3402
Website

Re: Who's got an Apple TV?

Thanks for everyone's replies, especially you, Ives.


You have an absolutely breath-taking... heiney. I mean, that thing's good. I wanna be friends with it.

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#16 2007-07-16 10:57 am

MuckSavage
The Balls
From: In a glass case of emotion.
Registered: 2001-10-02
Posts: 3402
Website

Re: Who's got an Apple TV?

fuzzynormal wrote:

I don't, and also I don't understand why I never had Front Row installed on my MacBook Pro from the factory.  That seemed weird to me.  I've never known how to get it either... maybe I'm just not smarts.

Apple- escape.


You have an absolutely breath-taking... heiney. I mean, that thing's good. I wanna be friends with it.

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#17 2007-07-16 11:42 am

maleko
Member
From: Eugene, OR
Registered: 2006-11-25
Posts: 1221

Re: Who's got an Apple TV?

ukimalefu wrote:

user wrote:

maleko wrote:

I've been running Leopard since WWDC...

That's a neat trick.....

It's very easy, he's either a pirate or a Mac software developer.

I got it secondhand from my cousin, who attends WWDC every year.  I guess thats piracy. roll

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#18 2007-07-16 11:59 am

DukeofNuke
Free Radical
From: Hazard
Registered: 2003-05-02
Posts: 2563

Re: Who's got an Apple TV?

I saw a demo in a store, (Sam's), and I thought the picture quality was way below what it should be.
I want a Mac-Mini, and use it for the same purpose as the AppleTV, but with internet, too.


"If you want to kick a tiger in the ass, you better have a plan for dealing with his teeth."
- Tom Clancy

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#19 2007-07-16 12:23 pm

cleekj
Member
Registered: 2006-01-11
Posts: 387

Re: Who's got an Apple TV?

Provided you do not mind being married to iTunes and QuickTime its great. My poor DVD player is jealous (it has not even been turned on) and so in my Xbox 360 for playing various music and videos

So far I am quite pleased with the h.264 encoding handbrake does

http://handbrake.m0k.org/

Handbrake has a preset for the ATV I rip all my stuff at an average 2500kb bit rate Hand brake also captures the anamorphic settings for 16x9 and 235:1 so wide aspect content looks like t should on my 60' LG RP LCD. Ripped movies or TV shows are for the most part identical to the original DVD in my DVD player.

ATV does not process AC3 or DTS but just passes the signal on to an AV Receiver for decoding via its optical audio output

http://www.macworld.com/2007/04/firstlo … /index.php


"You will find the back of my hand very displeasing"

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#20 2007-07-16 12:30 pm

MuckSavage
The Balls
From: In a glass case of emotion.
Registered: 2001-10-02
Posts: 3402
Website

Re: Who's got an Apple TV?

Yeah, I've been using the preset for Apple Tv in handbrake. I'm excited to see how they come out.


You have an absolutely breath-taking... heiney. I mean, that thing's good. I wanna be friends with it.

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#21 2007-07-16 3:45 pm

maleko
Member
From: Eugene, OR
Registered: 2006-11-25
Posts: 1221

Re: Who's got an Apple TV?

I use the Apple TV setting in HandBrake as well.  No plans to buy one, I just like the files it produces.

Last edited by maleko (2007-07-16 3:45 pm)

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#22 2007-07-16 11:57 pm

fuzzynormal
Member
Registered: 2001-03-26
Posts: 1083
Website

Re: Who's got an Apple TV?

MuckSavage wrote:

Apple- escape.

As I say, I'm not smarts.  I can't figure out how to use 'frontrow' nor am I even sure it's installed on my computer.  I've been told it's part of the OS.  Beats me.

My remote makes the music on my iTunes flip skip ahead and change volume.  I figure if I HAD 'frontrow' then when I hit the MENU button on the little apple remote something should happen.  Oh well.

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#23 2007-07-17 8:08 am

pottymouth
Uncreative
Moderator
From: JP, MA
Registered: 2002-02-06
Posts: 17410
Website

Re: Who's got an Apple TV?

And the audio? Anybody actually ripping their DVDs with anything but plain ol' stereo?

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#24 2007-07-17 8:26 am

Daniel
[dp] design#
From: Melbourne, FL
Registered: 2000-11-21
Posts: 9706
Website

Re: Who's got an Apple TV?

fuzzynormal wrote:

MuckSavage wrote:

Apple- escape.

As I say, I'm not smarts.  I can't figure out how to use 'frontrow' nor am I even sure it's installed on my computer.  I've been told it's part of the OS.  Beats me.

My remote makes the music on my iTunes flip skip ahead and change volume.  I figure if I HAD 'frontrow' then when I hit the MENU button on the little apple remote something should happen.  Oh well.

MuckSavage was telling you how to activate it.  If it is installed, pressing Apple-Escape (the key with an apple on it next to your space bar, and the key in the very upper left of your keyboard labeled "ESC"), will activate Front Row.

Though I do believe you are supposed to be able to activate it with the remote as well.  Not having a Mac with Front Row, I couldn't tell you.

pottymouth wrote:

And the audio? Anybody actually ripping their DVDs with anything but plain ol' stereo?

The tv doesn't handle audio, it just passes it along to something else.  If you connect it via optical audio out to a 5.1 receiver, you'll get what you expect from the 5.1 receiver.


Airman Dan
Private Pilot, Instrument Airplane Single-Engine Land
http://homepage.mac.com/dp.design/.Pictures/atat/AtAT-Banner.jpg

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#25 2007-07-17 1:24 pm

pottymouth
Uncreative
Moderator
From: JP, MA
Registered: 2002-02-06
Posts: 17410
Website

Re: Who's got an Apple TV?

Daniel wrote:

fuzzynormal wrote:

MuckSavage wrote:

Apple- escape.

As I say, I'm not smarts.  I can't figure out how to use 'frontrow' nor am I even sure it's installed on my computer.  I've been told it's part of the OS.  Beats me.

My remote makes the music on my iTunes flip skip ahead and change volume.  I figure if I HAD 'frontrow' then when I hit the MENU button on the little apple remote something should happen.  Oh well.

MuckSavage was telling you how to activate it.  If it is installed, pressing Apple-Escape (the key with an apple on it next to your space bar, and the key in the very upper left of your keyboard labeled "ESC"), will activate Front Row.

Though I do believe you are supposed to be able to activate it with the remote as well.  Not having a Mac with Front Row, I couldn't tell you.

pottymouth wrote:

And the audio? Anybody actually ripping their DVDs with anything but plain ol' stereo?

The tv doesn't handle audio, it just passes it along to something else.  If you connect it via optical audio out to a 5.1 receiver, you'll get what you expect from the 5.1 receiver.

Ya, so is anybody here ripping AVIs with AC3 intact?

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