Thinking of getting an apple TV

meoklmrk91 · 28-10-2012 1:08am #1

Hi all,

I am thinking if picking myself up an apple TV for Xmas, the main reason I want it is I have an iPad 2 and iPhone 4S and I think the airplay feature is class. I watch most of my TV and movies in apps or online, what is the playback like, is it in anyway laggy? Either in apps or in safari.

This would be my main use for it and if it doesn't work well then I don't think there is much point in me getting it. I have been completely suckered in to apple world :rolleyes:

T-K-O · 28-10-2012 1:18am

Hey I have a similar setup ipad / phone / tv and mac.

The quality of video on the ipad is excellent. The quality of something like filmon is perfect however when you airplay to your TV via the Apple TV the quality is not as good. However it is not laggy at all.

You cannot stream from safari on your computer to the Apple TV. If you have a computer with itunes I would suggest adding your media collection to itunes and you can stream from there.

If you have a HD movie on your computer it will stream perfectly.

ads20101 · 28-10-2012 1:26am

meoklmrk91 wrote: »

Hi all,

I am thinking if picking myself up an apple TV for Xmas, the main reason I want it is I have an iPad 2 and iPhone 4S and I think the airplay feature is class. I watch most of my TV and movies in apps or online, what is the playback like, is it in anyway laggy? Either in apps or in safari.

This would be my main use for it and if it doesn't work well then I don't think there is much point in me getting it. I have been completely suckered in to apple world :rolleyes:

I have had mine for over a year. I have found it a versatile and useful device. I mainly use it for Netflix - interface good (could be a little better) and easy to use. Absolutely no lag on 3Mb connection.

Picture nice and clear - in fact if you buy one now, it may look the same as mine but it displays at a higher resolution of 1080p. Mine is only 720, but meets my current needs.

In the apple store, it is great for downloading rentals (esp if you have a US acc - or so I've been told.....ahem!!!). You have the choice of standard or HD rentals. If you download at standard there is very little buffering on my speed, but if you download a HD movie at 2.55 to 3Mb you should expect to wait for the box to buffer up for about 2 hours before watching.

Then there is another problem - one that I have only recently discovered. If you rent a long movie rental ie over 2hrs the box for whatever reason will show you the movie but will stop just after the 2 1/4 hr mark and will stop and buffer up again like it is a new movie. Another 2hr wait. I think it must have to split the movie into 2 different parts. Maybe this is an issue with my box? Not sure, but it's worth commenting.

Hey, I know I might be underselling this, but I think it's brilliant for the price.

Also, some could argue that more can be done with it once it is jailbroken....but that's for a different discussion

T-K-O · 28-10-2012 1:31am

Hi ads

Just on downloading of movies. I do not experience that at all. The movie downloads within minutes and plays without a problem

ads20101 · 28-10-2012 6:03am

T-K-O wrote: »

Hi ads

Just on downloading of movies. I do not experience that at all. The movie downloads within minutes and plays without a problem

So does mine if I don't download at HD resolution.

However my local broadband is the old ADSL. Hence no more than a 3Mb/s line.

If you have a better line than this, and I expect you do, you shouldn't have any buffer issues.

adox · 28-10-2012 9:56am

Try and get your hands on an ATV2 if you can. It can be jail broken and you could stream all your local media to it, no matter what format it is in.

I love my Apple TV but would have little or no use for it if it wasn't jail broken.

gzoladz · 28-10-2012 10:13am

Waste of money...get any of the android set top boxes, install xbmc and there you go.

meoklmrk91 · 28-10-2012 11:19am

T-K-O wrote: »

Hey I have a similar setup ipad / phone / tv and mac.

The quality of video on the ipad is excellent. The quality of something like filmon is perfect however when you airplay to your TV via the Apple TV the quality is not as good. However it is not laggy at all.

You cannot stream from safari on your computer to the Apple TV. If you have a computer with itunes I would suggest adding your media collection to itunes and you can stream from there.

If you have a HD movie on your computer it will stream perfectly.

So you can't watch videos in safari via AirPlay? Ah well that kind of ruins if for me, no point in just getting it for netlix as I already have that on the PS3. Real pity.

T-K-O · 28-10-2012 2:15pm

meoklmrk91 wrote: »

So you can't watch videos in safari via AirPlay? Ah well that kind of ruins if for me, no point in just getting it for netlix as I already have that on the PS3. Real pity.

Definitely not a wate of money, You can jailbreak the apple tv and that opens up a whole new world. XBMC, NAVI-x etc.

T-K-O · 28-10-2012 2:25pm

ads20101 wrote: »

So does mine if I don't download at HD resolution.

However my local broadband is the old ADSL. Hence no more than a 3Mb/s line.

If you have a better line than this, and I expect you do, you shouldn't have any buffer issues.

Yeah I can understand that its the second buffering thats strange

ads20101 · 28-10-2012 3:03pm

T-K-O wrote: »

Yeah I can understand that its the second buffering thats strange

Yeah, so do I.

It's only happened to me twice. The first time was with 'the grey' 2 months ago, thought nothing of it, then it happened again 3 days ago with the avengers.

I know the ATV2's have 8GB of internal ram, so it shouldve been able to hold the full thing.

I hope it's not starting to fail!!!

If it does I'll be getting another.....now there's a testament to buy the box.:D

T-K-O · 28-10-2012 3:11pm

ads20101 wrote: »

Yeah, so do I.

It's only happened to me twice. The first time was with 'the grey' 2 months ago, thought nothing of it, then it happened again 3 days ago with the avengers.

I know the ATV2's have 8GB of internal ram, so it shouldve been able to hold the full thing.

I hope it's not starting to fail!!!

If it does I'll be getting another.....now there's a testament to buy the box.:D

Despite Apple locking it down its an excellent piece of kit. I think it was lord of the ring I downloaded and didnt experience the second buffer, granted my broadband is 50 mb so that would explain the initial download. Lets hope its not the RAM.

I just installed xbmc so Im looking forward to playing around with that

120_Minutes · 28-10-2012 3:23pm

its well worth the money, and if you own any two of the following: iphone 4s (S not a 4) ipad 2 or above, and macbook running mountain lion. you can then see anything thats on the device sceen through mirroring, though its a little laggy from the mac.

add to what everyone else has said, you've the usual itunes, netflix and youtube. its a lot more powerful if you jailbreak, lets just say i dont torrent as much as i used to.

you cant jailbreak an ATV 3 yet, so if you want to do that, buy a second hand 2 or search for new old stock (the ATV3 says 1080p on the side of the box so you'll know what to look for)

I'll just say this: if mine broke tomorrow and it wasnt replaced i'd be divorced!

Gumbo · 28-10-2012 11:33pm

120_Minutes wrote: »

, lets just say i dont torrent as much

What do you mean by this?
Do you download straight to the ATV?

I'm so considering an ATV around Xmas time too so quite interested in this. Obviously I would need a 2 or is there any idea when 3 can be unlocked yet?

T-K-O · 28-10-2012 11:38pm

kceire wrote: »

What do you mean by this?
Do you download straight to the ATV?

I'm so considering an ATV around Xmas time too so quite interested in this. Obviously I would need a 2 or is there any idea when 3 can be unlocked yet?

you can steam media directly to apple tv

Thinking of getting an apple TV

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