AppleTV Mini-Review
Now that the initial buzz about AppleTV has had a chance to die down I figured it would be a good opportunity to discuss my own impressions and experience setting up and playing with this new device. First off, one major misconception regarding the AppleTV is that it will compete with Microsoft’s Windows XP Media Center Edition software product. This could not be further from the truth. As many other AppleTV users have already discovered, this device is something much different and does not attempt to be all things to all people. Although the AppleTV has some very compelling features for those who exclusively use iTunes to manage their media library, folks who don’t use iTunes won’t find anything useful about this product.
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Unlike many of the die hard Apple fans I resisted the urge to drop $299 an AppleTV the first time I saw them in the store, a feat which was by no means easy! One of the major issues I initially had with the AppleTV was the horrible demo video playing on the units at the Apple Store. The video was extremely pixilated and did nothing to assure potential buyers regarding the output quality of the device. Since I had already read several reviews online which mentioned that they were not very satisfied with the overall video quality the demo video at the Apple Store seemed to only confirm this observation. Ultimately the desire for the ability to play iTunes content on my bedroom TV won out and I picked up one of the units anyway in spite of the horrible demo video.
Installation was disturbingly easy. No fuss, no complicated routine to follow and in less than five minutes I was up and running streaming content from my existing iTunes library. One aspect I really liked during the setup process was how neat and integrated this device is. There is no power brick, no extra wires, and no way anyone could mistake one port for another. Overall a very clean and simple device that even the novice user could setup with ease. Although many will likely use the HDMI connecter I was forced to use the component video out since the 27″ Olivia LCD TV I planned to use did not feature this connector. Once past the initial setup I promply adjusted the display resolution to a very clear HD 720p resolution with no problems whatsoever. Although 1080i did work with my TV I quickly found that 720p was significantly smoother and overall just looked better. I suspect this was more due to the LCD’s native resolution (720p) more than the AppleTV’s ability to adequately render things at 1080i.
Once configured, I began to put the AppleTV through it’s paces. Right off the bat I quickly noticed the high level of heat this device generates which prompted me to slightly adjust the placement so as to ensure proper ventilation. As everyone reading this already knows it is far too easy to pile stuff up on your entertainment center without an thought to heat problems so I would expect that placing items on top of the AppleTV might result in a negative thermal event. This potential problem can easily be avoided by placing the AppleTV next to the TV which is exactly what I did. Another easy way to keep the device from always being on and thus generating heat is to force it into sleep mode after each use. You can do this by simply holding down the play/pause button for several seconds until the screen goes dark and the LED light on the AppleTV goes out.
If you have ever used the Frontrow interface on any of the newer Macs then you will be right at home with the AppleTV interface. It’s clear, simple, and very easy to navigate, everything you would expect from an Apple product. Although the interface is very similar, there are several small differences which new users might want to make a note of. When you first boot up the AppleTV it will automatically drop you on the menu for all locally stored content on the device itself. This can be somewhat confusing since it only presents you with an abbreviated list of your content (stuff that was synced from your iTunes library). I initially had this problem and it took me a few minutes to realize that you needed to go to the “sources” menu and switch it to your shared iTunes library directly to enable full access to stream everything. I would have expected the AppleTV to simply blend the content from the selected source with whatever had been downloaded locally since this would have been both simpler and more logical rather than keeping things separate.
Interface aside, the issue of quality was my number one concern since what I had seen at the Apple Store did not give me the warm and fuzzy. Amazingly on the 27″ LCD TV at 720p resolution most of the content I tried looked great! I can’t claim that it would compare favorably with true HD content but it was no where near as bad as standard analog cable as some have claimed. Based on my own experience with the AppleTV I might suspect another reason for the negative reviews of the quality (HDMI connector?) than the device or the content itself. Maybe this is really an issue of what you are used to watching. Those who watch lots of HD content will quickly notice the lower resolution of the iTunes content where those who are moving up from analog cable or standard definition TV will very likely have no issues with the quality. Overall my own impression of the video quality was positive and even several of the lower resolution podcasts I tried seemed to be very watch-able with minimal “blocking” or other negative screen artifacts.
So what about the AppleTV’s performance with streaming media? Well, I can gladly report that I had not a single problem when streaming content from my Mac Mini to the AppleTV. Never once did I encounter any pauses, gacks, or audio sync issues which was very impressive since I typically only have my basestation set to 802.11g in order to support an older linux notebook. To be fair, I did not test the AppleTV with anything other than my Airport Extreme basestation so I can’t vouch for the performance on non-Apple hardware. However, based on what others are saying I suspect that just about any 802.11g setup will support the AppleTV just fine. I did briefly change my settings from 802.11g to 802.11n/a and saw absolutely no change in the performance of the AppleTV when handling streaming media.
One very nice aspect of the iTunes/AppleTV combination that I have already made extensive use of is the ability to insert my own video into my iTunes library and then stream it over to the AppleTV. To accomplish this I used Instant Handbrake to encode several DVDs at decent resolution which played perfectly on the AppleTV and then I added these videos into my iTunes library. This might seem like a waste of effort since the content was on DVD to begin with (why not just use a DVD player?) but by encoding it and adding it to my iTunes library I also made this content available to my main TV, iPod, and whatever other devices (like the AppleTV) I see fit to connect. This provides a very convenient single point of distribution that works on all my devices. Of course if you don’t use all Apple devices then you won’t get any benefit from this process!
Like I stated at the beginning of this review, the AppleTV is not for everyone. It does not have TV inputs, nor does it have any TIVO-like features. It does one thing very well which is to allow the viewing of existing iTunes content on a typical HD TV. Some have called the AppleTV an “iPod for your TV” which I agree is a fair assessment of how this device works. So who needs this device? I highly recommend the AppleTV to those who have made the jump from the traditional TV model (cable, satellite, etc) to the newer over-the-net model. For myself the AppleTV was a perfect extension of my already well established entertainment setup since it allowed me to watch all of my purchased content (and stuff I pulled off DVD) on my previously useless bedroom TV.
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Hey
Thanks for the good review.
I’ve seen the AppleTV running on 1080i, and it looked pretty good. So, I imagine your issue was related to the native resolution of the set, as you suggested.
There’s another good review of the AppleTV up at Media 3.0. Shelly Palmer writes about the difference in the way adults may see the Apple TV, and how kids may see it.
(Of course, kids are the future.)
Anyway, thanks for the review — and the Handbrake tip.
Matthew
great review and answered a lot of my questions.
i have a couple of more maybe with your experience you could help me answer them.
first i am not very good with all that resolution talk, before i get my hands on an appletv, i would like to know if the source of your encoding to h264 is important or not?
another word if am not encoding from from a dvd, but an xvid file, would i be getting the same resolution while streaming through apple tv, or resolutioin will always be better from dvd? if this is the case, does it mean that encoding from a HDdvd, the resolution on a LCD tv will be better than the standard dvd?
cheers
Nice Post! Thanks For The Info..