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Apple TV MC572B/A
by DaveJMcW
I love Apple TV. Is it pricey? Yes. Are there cheaper ways of doing what it does? Of course. But nobody packages it together in such a simple, uncluttered way the way Apple does.
Basically, Apple TV:
-brings internet connectivity to your TV, via HDMI.
- allows you to view your apple products and iTunes content via your ... TV.
Apple TV connects to your network either wirelessly via it's bulit in wifi, or through the ethernet cable (I use the latter for reliable streaming).
YOu can rent HD films from Apple (though they tend to be pricey at around £4.50 a go), or alternatively you can use it to watch netflix - something I do an awful lot. Watching YouTube also goes from being a solitary pursuit hunched over a laptop, to something everyone can enjoy together in the lounge on the big screen
Because you can view your iOS device on it, you can also use the BBC iPlayer via AirPlay. Apparently this will also be coming to Apple computers in the forthcoming Mountain Lion OSX Upgrade.
And lets not forget the beautiful, elegantly designed apple remote. (incidentally, you can also download an app for you iOS device that will control the AppleTV as well). This can also be used to control your macbook.
Although there is much more to be said about appleTV, I hope this has given you a real world insight into how it might be useful to you at home.
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Apple TV MC572B/A
by OJEtchells10
I always wanted this apple tv streamer for my living room but when the last one came out I saw it had bad reviews. When this one came out I wasn't waiting any longer and went to the high street to bag myself one. I turned it on.. Phew. Like all apple products it looks damn fine and has a seriously slick home screen.
The big ... difference between this apple tv and th last is that it supports 1080p HD movies, not that there are many on the iTunes store but it's a good feature to have as more and more HD content gets added to the store.
I would especially advise anyone with an iPad to buy apple tv as it works seamlessly with it. Using iCloud any thing you buy on your iPad, any photos you upload, any music you download goes straight to apple tv. But if that's not good enough airplay mans you can play any media form your iPad to your tv.
The disadvantages of this player I would say are it's lack of BBC I player and th fact that you are restricted on your tv to purchases from the iTunes store which tends to have a lack of UK media. This can though be sorted by getting a subscription to Netflix which is available on the apple tv.
Apart from this apple tv is everything I expected and more. Quick, brilliantly integrated with other devices and beautiful.
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Apple TV MC572B/A
by panandtilt
~~Product~~
Since obtaining our Apple ipad 2 last year and buying an iphone around a year ago we have become more impressed and interested in Apple products. So after hearing a friend talk about the Apple TV we decided to treat ourselves and ordered it directly from the apple store on-line. The service, by the way, was ... excellent and we received this little gadget within a few days. Apple TV is a small compact black box which can be easily connected to any modern TV with HDMI and capable of 720p 60/50Hz,2 . It doesn't look out of place in our lounge, in fact you hardly notice at just under 10cm squared with a height of nearly 2.5cm. It comes with the necessary cabling and instruction manual as well as a remote control.
System requirements are:
*Wi-Fi (802.11a, b, g or n) wireless network (wireless video streaming requires 802.11a, g or n) or *10/100BASE-T Ethernet network
*iTunes Store account for renting films
*Netflix account for streaming Netflix content
*For streaming media from a Mac or PC: iTunes 10.2 or later; iTunes Store account for Home Sharing
*MLB.TV subscription required to watch live and archived games
~~How to use~~
Not being that technically minded we were surprised at how easy it was to set up and control. Our itunes account (free to sign up) was beneficial because it allowed us to watch our downloaded itunes movies and listen to our music. Over Christmas we were able to listen to our music (all wirelessly I might add) and have a stream of our personal photos being shown via the apple TV onto our main TV screen, something which the visitors loved, but the kids hated!
The main thing about this little black box is the range of films, shows, documentaries, radio stations and TV series that you can rent from either itunes or Netflix at slightly inflated prices, there are literally thousands of them. We may now consider stopping the movie package we have with Sky and use this more instead.
~~My opinion~~
We have been very impressed with the Apple TV. Not only can you access a huge range of films and shows (rental fee required) but you can also stream your own music and photographs (JPEG, GIFF AND TIFF formats) onto your TV. It has good picture quality and if you love gadgets then this is one to add to your collection.
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