Apple T.V. Worth it?

I'm thinking of buying the Apple T.V. device and wondered who has experience with it.

I have the iPad HDMI adapter whereby movies, photos, apps, etc can be displayed on the big t.v., but the apple t.v. seems to enhance that (plus it comes with a remote).

Worth the $100?

I looked at apple tv and bought a roku xs instead - it can stream from my pc based plex media server, which streams from my freenas storage without issues - apple tv appeared to be a lot more "closed" - I would have done a mac mini - but couldn't justify the mac mini at $400 when the roku was $99 (they're $89 at the moment - $84 something on amazon) and I think I saw them at BestBuy for less than that.

Love ours. Use it almost daily.

I use mine mainly for netflix, I thought I may use it for airplay mirroring the ipad or using our MBP or MBA, but it doesn't really handle any high bandwidth stuff when using airplay. I think to really get all the benefits it brings, you'll want an iTunes media server, I just haven't gotten around to bringing one up. If you're just looking to play music off your iphone/ipad or stream from an itunes library sitting on a PC/Mac, then it works great.

Originally Posted by ND40oz

I use mine mainly for netflix, I thought I may use it for airplay mirroring the ipad or using our MBP or MBA, but it doesn't really handle any high bandwidth stuff when using airplay. I think to really get all the benefits it brings, you'll want an iTunes media server, I just haven't gotten around to bringing one up. If you're just looking to play music off your iphone/ipad or stream from an itunes library sitting on a PC/Mac, then it works great.

I like mine and that's pretty much what I use it for.

Just replaced VIZIO streaming device with Apple TV (3 gen) - so far - very happy.
All family hated VIZIO for slow interface and stupid remote. I don't have any issue with both. VIZIO let you control you DVR and TV with the same remote. Apple User interface is way better and quick.
Used for YouTube, Netflix and Hulu+.
Converted few movies to MP4, added to my iTunes libraries and was able to watch with very good quality.

It's really only useful if you have Apple products, like iPads, iPods, Macbooks, etc.

I use mine everyday to AirPlay stuff off my Retina Macbook or iPad. $99 very well spent.

It's pretty cool to use off your iPad because you can airplay movies right off of it without connecting it. I use AVPlayerHD, which can directly play mkv, HD 1080p files, etc without converting. Then AVPlayerHD has an Airplay button so you can control it with the iPad, but it will beam the picture directly on the TV, so you don't have to convert to MP4, sync with iTunes, etc

Originally Posted by MB330

Converted few movies to MP4, added to my iTunes libraries and was able to watch with very good quality.

Yup, makemkv and handbrake are a necessity if you want to watch your own stuff, otherwise you're stuck with just the iTunes store.

I use it for all of the above - Netflix etc, but it's also great for Internet radio. There are thousands if stations available and it's super easy to control. I really like it...

Apple TV doesn't have Amazon. Roku does.

There seems to be more content providers with Roku.

I have both. I purchased the Apple TV because the Roku XS did not do sub-titles on foreign movies.

Love our Apple TV. Use it with Netflix, Hulu+ as well as our own stuff on iTunes.

Can you expand the apple tv with "channels" - like you can the Roku? I didnt' thnk you could - but I haven't looked at it in a couple of years... maybe I should re-eval - I'm about to get another streaming box for the masterbedroom where we don't have one at present...

ROKU CHANNELS: SOURCE: https://sites.google.com/a/roku-channels.com/main/

1080p Showcase Private
32ZUX Free
50 Places To See Before You Die Free
50 Places To See Before You Die Free
50 Speeches You Must See Free
5ik.tv Private
ABC Australia Private
Accent Radio Network Free
ADIDAS CLIMACOOL RIDE Free
Aerocinema Free
afghan channels Free
AFL Australian Footbal League Premium
Aim Flicks Free
Aljazeera Private
AlloyTV Free
Amateurlogic.TV Free
Amazon Premium
amazon Free
amazon Premium
Amazon Shop by ENGO LLC Free
Ameba Free
anime Free
anmie Free
AnomaliesTV Private
Antena Latina Free
Antena Latina 7 Free
Archive Classic Movies Private
Archive.org Private
asianet Free
AvalonPC Private
AviaDoor Free
B8VVK Free
B8VVK Private
Badpuppy Private
Baeble Music Free
BBC Private
BBC Private
bbc Free
bbc Free
BeautyTV Free
BigStar.Tv Free
Bit-Channel Free
Blastro Free
blinkx.com Free
blip.tv Free
blip.tv home Free
blip.tv.tech Free
blockbuster Free
Blubrry Free
bollywood Free
BoMTV Channel Free
bravo Free
bravo Free
Break.com Free
Bright Star Free
BYUtv Private
canal 5 el lider Private
CartoonNetwork Free
CBC Private
CBS Free
cbs Free
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CCM Free
cctv 9 Free
CDNTwo Free
Chaneru Private
Channel 9 Private
ChannelLive.TV Premium
Charlie Rose Free
Christian Video Pix Free
ChurchNow Network TV Private
clcradio Free
CLOC (screensaver) Free
cnbc Free
CNN Private
cnn Free
cnn Private
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comedy central Free
Community Bible Church Free
Cowboy Classics Premium
Crackle Free
Crunchyroll Free
Daily Motion Free
Databazaar MEdia Ventures Free
DEAD SITE Free
DeadPointMag Free
Democracy Now! Pricate
discovery Free
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Dmedia IPTV Private
DreamTV Free
Drive-In Classics Premium
Dynno Free
Earth-Touch Free
Earth-Touch HD Private
Enlace Free
epix Free
epix Premium
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espn Free
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eu live Free
Eulive Free
ewtn Free
EWTN Free
EZTakes Premium
FACEBOOK Free
Facebook Photos Free
fandango Free
FilmFun5 - Trivia Free
Filmon Private
flickr Free
FlickStream TV Private
FlixFling Free
Flixster Free
Food Network Nighttime Private
fox Free
fox Free
fox news Free
FOX NEWS Free
fox news Free
framechannel Free
France 24 Private
freefullmovies Free
freefullmovies.net Free
freefullmovies.net Free
Funny or Die Free
FunSaver (screensaver) Free
FyreTV Private
G54GC Private
Gabby Free
GandK KidPaint Free
GBTV Premium
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glenn beck Free
Glenn Beck TV Premium
god tv Free
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golf channel Free
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Grace to You Free
H9DWC Free
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Heading Outdoors Free
HGTV Free
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History channel Free
HogoWorm Premium
Hondutv Private
HotFlix.tv BETA Free
HSN Free
http://stream.myjungly.fr/ADIDAS.m3u Free
http://tvtoolbar.org/TVg/indexbig.php Free
http://wwitv/portal.htm Free
http://wwitv/portal.htm Free
http://www.filmikz.eu/index.php?genre=2 Free
http://www.pjtv.com/ Free
http://www.youtube.com/user/HowellOsborneBand Free
Free
Hubblecast HD Private
Hulu Free
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Hungry Nation Private
ibnlive.com Free
IMAX Premium
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===================
Apple Channels:

yup - that's what I thought.

Originally Posted by wyb

Can you expand the apple tv with "channels" - like you can the Roku? I didnt' thnk you could - but I haven't looked at it in a couple of years... maybe I should re-eval - I'm about to get another streaming box for the masterbedroom where we don't have one at present...

Apple is adding App support to iTV soon.

http://appadvice.com/appnn/2012/12/a...e-tv-this-week

The remote that comes with the AppleTV is frustratingly small, but you can also use your iPhone or iPad as a remote as well. Also can use the keyboard on those devices to enter search boxes which is very easy to use. At the end of the day, its only $100, sooo why not.

Opted for Roku instead (we have two now). While we dig our Mac/Apple stuff, the Roku had more to offer us (seamless integration with Amazon Prime, Hulu, Netflix and our Plex server on our Mac). From anywhere in the house our Rokus give us access to pretty much all we could have with the Apple TV.

When and if Apple really does apps with Apple TV it might be great. But for now our Roku really does offer a tremendous amount.

Originally Posted by EddieNYC

Apple TV doesn't have Amazon. Roku does.

There seems to be more content providers with Roku.

I have both. I purchased the Apple TV because the Roku XS did not do sub-titles on foreign movies.

Roku don't have YouTube...

Originally Posted by MB330

Roku don't have YouTube...

What the hell is on youtube? Beyond kids eating it on skateboards...

Originally Posted by brkf

What the hell is on youtube? Beyond kids eating it on skateboards...

+1 - youtube is useless on the TV device imo.

Does Roku have AirPlay? If not then I couldn't live with it...

There are a couple of options - but music and photos only on this one:

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/streaming-t...s-android.html

and youtube via a channel app called Twonky:

http://gigaom.com/video/youtube-on-roku-twonky-airplay/

The beauty of roku is that it evolves as you find new stuff - the roku app for iphone updated today, but it is crashing in remote mode and we hid the proper remote somewhere to give angry birds a rest - and yep - we can't find the thing now... I may have to buy another one...

I think the AppleTV is worth it. I have both the gen 1 and gen 2, and would buy them again just for the remote feature with multi room on the receiver; great for changing music while out by the pool.

Originally Posted by Emilner

Does Roku have AirPlay? If not then I couldn't live with it...

Nope, it does not.

That being said, I just picked up a Roku for my parents because DishNetwork is starting to rollout their international channels via Roku. It's been cool to have endless apps and stuff, but it is missing the best part about the iTV, Airplay.

Originally Posted by brkf

What the hell is on youtube? Beyond kids eating it on skateboards...

You are kidding right??!!