Apple TV MB189LL/A with 160GB Hard Drive [OLD VERSION]
by Apple Computer
![Apple TV MB189LL/A with 160GB Hard Drive [OLD VERSION]](/images/Apple-TV-MB189LL-A-with-160GB-Hard-Drive-OLD-VERSION-B000RQHAUA-L.jpg)
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Our Price: $399.95 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $105.99 (click here) Category: Home Theater 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 TV MB189LL/A with 160GB Hard Drive [OLD VERSION]
Customer Review: Excellent media server
Summary: 5 Stars
I wanted a device that serves up my computer media (for me, that's photos and music files). I don't surf the web, etc. on my TV...I watch the TV while using my laptop. Therefore, a media center PC provides too much functionality at too much cost for my uses. I also have a DVR for recording, so this device doesn't need that capability. I like the simplicity.
1. Set up. This was very simple. The password interface is a bit awkward, as there is no keyboard, but so far that's the only time I'd need a keyboard. The Apple TV linked to my wireless network quickly and the connection is solid. I like that my media is on the device, as I'm not increasing my network traffic when I use it, only when I synch with my computer...which is done via iTunes. It's a very familiar process. 5 stars here.
2. Performance. Music serving is very smooth. The iPod style interface is very familiar. I like it. If you don't like the iPod interface, you will not like the Apple TV. Photo serving is also very smooth. It's a nice touch that the screen saver for my plasma TV during music playing is my own photos. Movie downloading has gone well. Movies look great on my 720p plasma at a 10 foot viewing distance. At that distance, my eyes can't tell 720 from 1080. Maybe fighter pilot eyes could, but my old eyes can't. If you want 1080p, you need Blu ray. With DSL, an HD movie is an overnight download. That's a fact of life for me. I'd like a faster internet connection, but I can't get one....that is not a fault of the device. I give 5 stars here, too.
caveats: If you want higher resolution, look elsewhere. HDMI cables are not included, but I got mine from monoprice for about $6. No DVR capability...it serves up media from your computer or iTunes (okay, or youtube, but that's not as good on an HD TV as it is on a computer in my humble opinion.
Customer Review: Great Device, Two Small Flaws; Would 40 Gb Be Enough For You?
Summary: 5 Stars
The "ah ha" moment comes when you discover that this device is actually a big square iPod, optimized for use with a television. I bought it for displaying photos, and it works great in this capacity. Other features are top notch, with three caveats:
1) Apparently this device was intended to be connected to power 24/7. I live in a lightening prone area, so I *always* disconnect electronics from the grid when not in use. The device gets very warm on top, and does not appear to go to sleep on its own. (You can turn it "off" with a special sequence on the remote, but there is no switch on the box.) All this would be fine, except it loses the password for my wireless network and I have to re-enter it each time I power back up. Minor pain and not as clean as it should be.
2) Apple fortunately gave us an alternative to iPhoto for managing/syncing photos -- you can specify a sync folder. However, iTunes is apparently not able to follow aliases, so you have to move or copy your photos into the special sync folder. Aliases are clearly better than copies in this context, so I was disappointed they didn't work. I use aliases all the time elsewhere on the Mac, so I consider this a true bug.
3) There is no Apple-sanctioned way to fill up the 160Gb HD with movies independent of iTunes (it *is* an iPod after all). This means you must have copies of all the media files on your computer. If you have a laptop, it is unlikely you'll ever use more than a third of that 160Gig, so the 40Gb version may be right for you. I would have saved $100 had I known this.
Otherwise I'm completely satisfied!
Customer Review: Many options but this is the one!
Summary: 5 Stars
It took about a year before I finally decided to buy this product, but finally I decided to get it last week! I'm a Mac computer owner (3) and this is the best choice for me. First thing there were 2 other choices: (A) VUDU Set Top Box for Movies On Demand for $110 and (B) Roku Digital Video Player for $100.
Selection (A) had less titles then the others, probably about 36,000 to 37,000 titles. Selection (B) was excellent because I have Netflix and Roku gave me the option to view my movies from Netflix and 40,000 plus more movies available from Amazon on Demand... but I already have an XBOX 360 and I can view my Netflix movies with it.
The reason why I chose the Apple TV is because I have an extensive Itunes music and video library and the Apple TV allows me to view and listen my movies in my family room and music around my house at any time without the hassle of tying up more cables than what I already have. Also the Apple TV has a 160GB hard drive allowing me to save space from more DVD cases, granted so does the first option but the most important thing was the customer service. Apple has the greatest customer service available via phone and online so therefore I chose the Apple TV.
If you don't care about the hard drive, the uploading of your Itunes library into your TV so that you can listen to your music around the house (if you have surround sound), viewing your pictures on your TV with little or no trouble using IPhoto, and you don't care about YouTube in your TV.... then I would go with the Roku Digital Video Player, they also seem to have a large selection of movies.
Customer Review: The Perfect Music Server
Summary: 5 Stars
I realize many buy this as a video server. There are too many ways to watch TV - Netflix, Comcast, DVDs - for me to fool with downloading and saving discs. I was shopping for the perfect music server - in my budget - and this is it. I am not an Apple devotee but recently bought an iPhone and it works flawlessly, actually it works exactly like technology has been promised to work my whole life. It is easy, intuitive, seamless and downright revelatory. Now back to Apple TV. It is the same. I followed the over-simplified directions, plugged it in and had music streaming to my living room in seconds. Now my vast CD collection is instantly available and searchable and I can see the artwork and track listings. Tonight we had some friends over and I set up a playlist of back ground smooth jazz and let it rip. The whole process took seconds (!) and I theoretically had 9 hours of shuffled music going. Of course there is also the endless variety of internet radio if you are feeling lazy. This affordable device has caused me to rediscover my collection of music (both during the burning process and sitting flipping through the albums on screen) and brought casual enjoyment to a new level. Sound quality is fine - most would be hard pressed to hear real differences. And I am not listening through little earphones on an iPod. I am feeding through mt TV via HDMI to my Onkyo reciever and JBL S310s. This product is a game changer and there is nothing else like it. I am hard pressed to find any thing to say negative about it. Buy it for what it is which is the perfect music server.Customer Review: GREAT if you install ATV Flash on it!!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I agree with the previous reviewers that Apple TV stinks right out of the box. BUT, if you install ATV flash through the USB port on the device, it allows you to use the USB port to expand the hard drive space using external hard drives, so the sky's the limit in terms of storage (I bought a USB splitter, and have three 2 terabyte drives plugged into Apple TV simultaneously now). Also, after I installed the ATV flash program, it allowed me to view all my ripped DVD's through my external hard drives. One thing I would note is that most external hard drives are formatted in NTSC format, and you have to reformat them to FAT32 format before the Apple TV will recognize them. Also, ATVflash installs a program called Sapphire that downloads all of your movie background info via the internet (original movie poster and movie summary, etc), so when you click on the movie prior to watching it, you can see the movie poster along with a full movie summary, length of movie, etc. The user interface for Apple TV is the best and fastest I've experienced so far (I had a Seagate Freeagent Theater HD media drive prior to this, but it was slow and tended to lock up, and had a very dull user interface). I also like the fact that I can access my iTunes music through Apple TV wirelessly through my router onto my home theater system without having to download the songs onto the Apple TV hard drive. Wifi streams TV shows and movies pretty seamlessly to Apple TV from iTunes on my desktop computer as well. All in all, I am really happy with Apple TV now and would definitely recommend it.