Apple MA711LL/A TV with 40GB Hard Drive [OLD VERSION]
by Apple Computer
![Apple MA711LL/A TV with 40GB Hard Drive [OLD VERSION]](/images/Apple-MA711LL-A-TV-with-40GB-Hard-Drive-OLD-VERSION-B000MQNMQ6-L.jpg)
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Our Price: $349.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $94.95 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Apple MA711LL/A TV with 40GB Hard Drive [OLD VERSION]
Customer Review: Apple Simplicity, Functionality, and Style at its best
Summary: 5 Stars
The Apple TV is price really well in a market where the only other real competition comes from the major gaming consoles like the Xbox 360 Pro Holiday Bundle 2008 Includes 60GB Hard Drive and PlayStation 3 80GB. Both of them cost more, granted they do have slightly more functionality since they are gaming consoles, but for the purpose of having your media on your HDTV this is by far the best. The User interface couldn't be easier to navigate and is much easier to use for the average person compared to the others which are primarily aimed and much younger users who might be more tech savvy.
My favorite part about the Apple TV might just be the ability to rent movies. I love not having to brave the Michigan winter just to rent a movie. I can sit right on my couch and browse new movie trailers, buy music, explore YouTube, view my pictures, purchase my favorite TV shows, rent or buy movies, or just stream videos from iTunes on one of the computer in my house.
For the power users, the Apple TV can seem like its really limited, but the fact that you can install 3rd party software like Boxee (not supported by Apple) and play basically and file format you like is a definite plus.
The Apple TV really wins over the XBox 360 and Playstation 3 as a media device because of iTunes and the thousands of movies it has to offer. There is sooo much content available that you can rent/buy at a more than reasonable price (in my opinion). You can purchase movies for like $10 at DVD quality or rent them for no more than $5 for High-Definition quality that you can keep for 30 days, but once you start watching you only have 24 Hours to finish.
I really like the Genius music playback feature that lets you choose a song you like and the Apple TV will, based on your selection, create a playlist of similar music that you will like. It works very well actually.
The only downsides to the Apple TV right now that I can think of is the tiny little remote, the fact that it doesn't have support for more type of video out of the box, and that it has no Netflix streaming support (though I assume it's because that would be their competition). The remote I can deal with as far as using it goes because anyone will quickly become familiar with its very simplistic design and five button does it all interface. The problem with it is that it's so small it is easy to use. Fortunately you can get replacements at most electronic store for less than $20 Apple Remote Control for iPod (White) since all Apple products use the same remote.
Customer Review: Wonderful Entertainment Device!!
Summary: 5 Stars
My husband requested this for Christmas and I bought it for him, but it quickly became a treasure for the entire family.
In terms of the user experience, Apple TV gets a perfect score. Aside from the set up, which was a little frustrating, the device is extraordinarily easy to use. The remote has one main button and the menu is easy to navigate and it's very easy to search and find what you are looking for.
The selection is wide and diverse. There are very few TV shows or movies that I wanted that were not available. The Apple TV has virtually eliminated our need for our Blockbuster account, and anything other than basic cable. Most movies are available on the day they are released on DVD; however, they are not immediately for rental. If you want to see a brand new movie, you'll have to buy it. If you're willing to wait a month or two, you can rent the movies for less than you'll pay at Blockbuster or on demand with your cable/satellite provider. With all purchases, you have the choice of regular or HD. Movies take a few minutes to load, but then they play without any glitches and the picture quality was great, in my opinion.
The Apple TV is great for all ages. We have a 2 year old and all of his favorite Disney and Nickelodeon shows are available - we can purchase full seasons of more than 15 episodes of favorites like the Little Einsteins, the Backyardigans and Go Diego Go for $40 or less. We were paying $15 or more for DVDs with 4 episodes before, so this definitely saves us money.
You're also able to store your pictures and music on the device, which is pretty neat. We were able to show a slideshow of our wedding pictures to family and friends that could not attend using the Apple TV. I can also play my music through the sound system which was great, too. All in all, I'm very happy with the Apple TV.
Things to know -
1)Your television must support HDMI or component input.
2)You will need to BUY THE CABLES to connect the device to your TV, because there are none in the box. You may as well add them to your cart now for less than $[...], because they will cost $[...] or more at a retail store.
3)Synching the Apple TV to your iTunes account on your computer can be a little frustrating. Knowing this in advance makes it little less irritating when you're doing it ;-)
4)If I could go back, I would order the 160 GB version. The 40 GB only holds about 20-25 two hour films and if you're a movie lover, that will likely not be enough. For an extra $[...], you can have 4x the space.
Customer Review: IPOD for your TV. But Better!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Ran into this by accident when shopping for a new TV. I was looking for one of those TV's with built in Photo and Home Video capabilities like the new DLNA features of the SAMSUNG and Sonys. The samsung with this feature was a couple hundred bucks more and the sales guy told me to save the couple hundred bucks and pick up one of these.
It is an IPOD for you TV with better video capabilities. It wirelessly sync with itunes via a wifi network, and operates just like an IPOD and then some.
The music features are identical to any ipods. You can create playlists on itunes and send it over. The latest update even has the Genius feature of itune 8 where you select one song and it will build a playlist for you base on the genre of the song. Works great when you have thousands of sound to choose from.
The photo feature is cool too. You can sync you favorite photos to the APPLE TV and it will play it like a slide show. The photo also becomes a screen saver, much like the photo screen saver option on you PC.
But this is not why you bought it for. The video portion is pretty sweet. You can buy or rent videos straight from the AppleTV. You can do it from itunes (on the computer) and sync it over as well. I have the 40 gb version. I prefer to save the movies on an external hard drive and sync it over as needed rather than leaving it only on the Apple TV. Save the couple hundred dollars from the 160 gb version and get a 1 external TB drive. You just need to do the one extra step to transfer the files via itunes first. I believe you can not transfer the files from APPLE TV to the computer similar to the ipods but for sure there are hacks out there that probably took care of this already. I think the only difference is that you can only get HD format materials from the APPLE TV. Cost an extra dollar. I tried both and the standard format, I would say is as good as an old school DVD. THe HD is pretty good. Not sure it is as good as blu ray but pretty close. Video selection is limited right now, but Itunes was started pretty thin when it first started and look at it now.
The movie trailers are pretty sweet. It is prety much up to date with trailers that you would see in the movie theatres.
IT does run hot as many reviews had mention and it is a bit tricky to put on stand by.
The remote is tiny. I thing it will get lost among the cushions in no time. Check out the Harmony remotes. They are compatible.
Glad i got this instead of an Blu Ray. You can get You Tube as well. Straight from the box.
Customer Review: It's Two Devices In One
Summary: 5 Stars
Apple really needs to advertise and explain this thing better. It's an awesome device that does many things, but it's easier to understand it if you think of it really having only two distinct functions:
1) It's for renting HD movies. Give that new HD TV something to make it shine. Sure Blu-ray has won the format war, but what format war is next? Skip the wars and just stream the video. No clutter of DVDs and players to buy. Yes the selection is small now (it just started a month ago) but it will soon build up to include newer movies as they are released. Beware of old movies being released as HD. Renting "Blazing Saddles" in HD is not going to impress you. So, the only REAL new HD movies are the ones in theaters now and will soon be released for rental. We actually kept our Netflix account for renting the bulk of the older movies and TV shows we still like. Renting an HD movie for $5 is a cheap night of entertainment. I have a 6.0 Mbps internet connection and the HD movies are ready to play in about 1-2 minutes. You watch the movie as the rest of it downloads. I never had it stutter during playback.
2) It's an iPod for your TV. If you use iTunes and have photos, music, and home movies, this makes it easy to view them on your TV. I made my last vacation video in HD by using Final Cut Express and exporting it in the Apple TV format. Just drop that movie into iTunes and it will sync with the Apple TV. Viewing the still shots in HD is really amazing. Being like an iPod, Apple TV only shows content that you already have in iTunes. Don't think of it as some kind of backup drive for your music or movies.
Sure it does some other stuff like watching You Tube, but if the top two features are what you need, then this is for you. The simple "spouse friendly" remote is great too. My wife can now easily play our music collection without my computer being on.
ps: I bought the 160GB "take one" version of Apple TV. All I had to do was run the firmware updater and mine is now the same as the Take Two version (5.1 sound and all). The old and new Apple TV's have the same hardware.
One last thing - rentals are paid through the iTunes store so you can use iTunes gift cards to pay for movies!
Enjoy!
PS - one more reason - the $0.99 movie of the week. Apple has started offering a $0.99 movie rental each week. We've had Escape from Alcatraz, The ghost and the darkness, The Dead Zone and others. Not blockbusters, but certainly worth $0.99 and gets you used to the renting experience in an easy way.
Customer Review: The Best Way To Get YouTube, Video Podcasts, Flickr, and New Release Movies From the Internet to Your TV
Summary: 5 Stars
I've tinkered with many internet to TV gadgets including the ZvBox, Xbox 360, and D-Link DPG-1200. Apple TV trumps them all!
It features the ease of use and slick interface you expect from Apple, you get the ability to rent new release movies without a trip to the video store or a wait for the mailman, there's tons of good free on-demand content through YouTube and Video Podcasts, and you can play slide shows/a cool screen saver direct from Flickr photos.
My baby daughter in particular loves the YouTube and Flickr, because she gets to see herself on TV in our family pictures and home videos!
There's also great integration with the rest of Apple products! For example, an App Store application called "Remote" lets you wirelessly queue up your music and video from your iPhone or iPod Touch and if you have an Airport Express, you can use the "Remote" application to play the music stored on your Apple TV on speakers in another room!
Of course, there's also the ability to play iTunes content on both the Apple TV and your iPod, which is a compelling advantage over competing solutions, which tend to focus on a TV or a portable device, but not both.
The biggest disadvantage to the system is the restrictions imposed by movie studios, which limit selection of older films, delay the availability of new releases for rental, and make it so you only have 24 hours to finish a rental once you start watching.
There also isn't a quick way to get your old DVD's onto your Apple TV, so enter into an Apple TV knowing you are either going to have to repurchase your old movies, or spend days or weeks ripping your old DVD collection into a format compatible with the Apple TV (via applications like Handbrake) to view your movie collection on the device.
Overall, I find the Apple TV indispensable, despite the limitations, and think its ease of use, on-demand capability and integration with the rest of the Apple product line make it a cut above any of the competition.