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: Completes The Digital Media Experience
Summary: 5 Stars
For some time I had looked at the Apple TV product and had wondered how I might use it with my already existing Tivo and Samsung BD players which all have ways to rent movies on them and Tivo already allowed me to play my music as well as view my photos from my Mac. That is until a friend of mine told me about the Apple Remote application for the iPhone which allowed me to control my iTunes music and volume right from my iPhone as well as Apple TV's ability to stream my iTunes music from my Mac using AirTunes. I also had another reason to look into using Apple TV product and that was I had shows that I was keeping on my Tivo and taking up valuable space but no way to archive them unless I wanted to put them all on DVD's using the Tivo Transfer and the Toast Titanium 10 application. Then I found out that I could archive and stream them from my Mac to Apple TV but I still had a challenge. Toast would only allow me to transcode them to the 640x480 resolution which is fine if I wanted to play that back on a 4x3 monitor or my iPod. I ended up finding an application called Pavtube HD Video Converter which can transcode Tivo files to be played back on a number of devices including Apple TV at 1280x720 which is the highest quality video that Apple TV can accept for streaming. After some trial and error I am now able to stream my archived Tivo HD and SD shows from my Mac to Apple TV over my wireless connection. Another benefit I found was that my family who are not very technically savvy have also really enjoyed using Apple TV for all the shared media as well.Customer Review: My Favorite Home Theatre Component!
Summary: 5 Stars
I've had the Apple TV for around 2 months now and I just love this product!
- The user interface is superb
- The HD rental feature is excellent (It's like I have a library of 400+ titles that I can browse and preview and watch on demand at any time. The video quality surpasses my HD Video on demand I am getting from Cox. The movie once purchased for rent, starts playing in around 30 seconds.
- The HD rental quality is better than DVD, although slightly worse than Blu Ray. But it's usually more convenient for me to rent via Apple TV than buy a Blu Ray disk. I'd usually have to watch an HD movie 5-7 times to get to the price of buying one Blu Ray disk.
- I also noticed there are tons of HD content for rent on Apple TV that are yet to be announced on Blu Ray. So,even if you have Blu Ray (like I do), it may be well worth it to get an Apple TV.
- I can play all songs from my itunes playlist and the audio quality is excellent. I can even save internet radio stations into my playlist and play them through my AV Receiver.
- Photo slide show feature is also very cool.
- Synching with itunes is a breeze.
I have not tried the new ipod touch remote yet.
This is easily the most used source in my home theatre set up.
One caveat though. Unless you have a fast internet connection, the Apple TV HD rental will be very slow. I have a 20mbps line and it takes 30secs or less to start playing from when I start.
Customer Review: Apple TV is almost perfect
Summary: 5 Stars
The Apple TV is nice addition to any home theater. Having a "movie store" in a box is a pleasure. The quality of TV has gone down these days with all the overrated and simply boring reality TV taking over. So, being able to go for the blockbuster or family friendly movies; commercial free, is my idea of almost perfect. Apple's take on the situation is easy and high quality. This version of the Apple TV has a build in hard drive (160GB) that stores your movies. This is an added boon in my opinion, as I like to move it around the house and take it with me on the road. I have heard that this one supports 1080p and the new one is limited to no HDD and only supports a 720 HD signal. Not sure why they would down grade the tech.
In short I love the simple interface. It connects to my computer Windows PC or Apple OS X; with no problems. I can browse through my iTunes library, look at pictures, stream internet radio channels and watch pretty much every new release when they come out. Sometimes the movies are delayed for rental for the companies to make a buck, but that happens with all services in my experience.
This product is solid and stable and I would suggest getting these before they run out. The new version seems to be light on features and is missing the storage.
I highly recommend the Apple TV first version, MB189LL/A.
Customer Review: Simple, Reliable, Beautifully Designed.
Summary: 5 Stars
We purchased our Apple TV last year when they first hit the market and have always found it to be a great way to share photos, audio and videos between our computers and our home theater room. After the announcement at MacWorld I've been anxiously awaiting the "Take 2" software update and in typical Apple fashion I was not disappointed. The update took about 3 minutes to download and install, since doing so we've watched the 1st season of Dexter (nearly the greatest writing in television history), Michael Clayton, Mr. Brooks, Breakfast at Tiffany's and watching The Assassination of Jesse James tonight.
The only downside I see to this product is that it's almost too easy to order movies, including Dexter we've spent almost $50 in less than two weeks, granted we no longer need our DirecTV at this point (mental note cancel dish service after writing this review and buy more Apple stock).
The interface is a classic application of usability excellence, the fact that Apple can provide such a vast amount of features and functions with a 6 button remote is brilliant. Makes me wonder why all other manufacturers feel the need to produce remotes that require an advanced degree from Yale to operate.
My feeling is that entertainment delivery has forever changed with the advent of Apple TV Take 2.
Customer Review: Wow, this is awesome
Summary: 5 Stars
They're calling it Apple TV Take 2. In other words, any review before February 12, 2008 is a review of the old model. A huge update--a complete revamp of the system was released as a free upgrade by Apple to make the Apple TV and entirely new device.
You watch the TV shows you want, the movies you want, when you want. We had Tivo and loved it, but Tivo can only record what the networks feed you. With Apple TV, if you want to sit down and watch one of those first episodes from Season 1 of MythBusters, you can search or simply navigate to The Discovery Channel, select MythBusters, Season 1, pick your episode, and begin watching it within a minute or so. All on your big flat-screen TV from the comfort of your couch, using your Apple remote. No computer needs to be turned on. You just need wireless Internet access. You can buy television episodes, movies, or now you can rent movies for about $3.
We cancelled our DirecTV when we bought the original Apple TV last year, but this new update makes live television obsolete. Add to that the ease of an Apple interface, and it's like having an iPod Touch for your TV. We're very, very impressed.
Apple iPod touch 16 GB without Software Updates