James
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Registered: 1st Jun 02
Location: Surrey
User status: Offline
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Just picked up the latest one from the Apple store in Regent Street.
Anyone got one? They look pretty cool. Only £99 too.
http://www.apple.com/uk/appletv/
P.s. How cool is it shopping in the Apple store? I love how you can pay anywhere and they e-mail you the receipt etc....
Simple but effective.
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Nath
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Registered: 3rd Apr 02
Location: MK
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Cue Anti-Apple gaylords.
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Cavey
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Registered: 11th Nov 02
Location: Derby
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Cue pro-apple fan boys rimming the apple store 
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A2H GO
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Registered: 14th Sep 04
Location: Stoke
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No 1080p 
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Nath
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Registered: 3rd Apr 02
Location: MK
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by Cavey
Cue pro-apple fan boys rimming the apple store
He said it was 'cool' 
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James
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Registered: 1st Jun 02
Location: Surrey
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by A2H GO
No 1080p
I know but my research told me that the bit rate is so good that the difference between 720p and 1080p is negligible.
Plus it will be coupled with my 26" TV in my bedroom so on such a small TV it won't matter.
No HDD either but I have a 1TB NAS drive with iTunes server which will serve as the the storage medium.
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Cavey
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Registered: 11th Nov 02
Location: Derby
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"they look pretty cool" and 'shopping at the apple store was awesome'
need I say more?
For the record it seems a good device, and 99 isn't a massive amount
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James
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Registered: 1st Jun 02
Location: Surrey
User status: Offline
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I'm not an Apple fan boy. I do like Apple products but am happy to embrace alternatives. After some research, the alternatives didn't look as good. Plus £99 was a good price.
I even trialled LoveFilm on the PS3 yesterday but the rental selection was awful.
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James
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Registered: 1st Jun 02
Location: Surrey
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Also when I said they look cool, I didn't mean just aesthetically, I meant in general as a product.
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AndyKent
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Registered: 3rd Sep 05
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I'd be proper interested to hear how you find using it.
I was going to get a little HTPC hooked up to my new TV and wireless stream to it, but ATV looks like it'll do the job and cheap enough.
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James
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Registered: 1st Jun 02
Location: Surrey
User status: Offline
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I thought about waiting for Google TV. But there is no content service behind it. You have to rely on subscriptions to 3rd party services (like Netflix for those in the US). But none of these options looked particularly good.
I already know what the Apple content is like as I can access it via iTunes and I know their film/TV selection is very good.
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James
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Registered: 1st Jun 02
Location: Surrey
User status: Offline
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Also, I'm pretty sure that you can only stream if it's in the Apple format, but there are ways to convert DivX stuff to that.
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AndyKent
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Registered: 3rd Sep 05
User status: Offline
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Will you actually use the rental service a lot? I understand you have to download movies in full before you can watch them, rather than truly 'on demand'.
Ok if you've got a quick connection, might take 20 minutes to download, but on a slower connection you'd have to choose a film the day before you want to watch.
That puts me off a bit.
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James
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Registered: 1st Jun 02
Location: Surrey
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No you don't. My boss has one and says there is less than a minute of buffering, then it starts playing straight away. Even for HD stuff.
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Russ
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Registered: 14th Mar 04
Location: Armchair
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Ignore them James, I'm not an apple fan boy either 
Apple TV's are good if you just want to stream a few films to your bedroom, work well with some apps that allow you to turn your mac off remotely too
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AndyKent
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Registered: 3rd Sep 05
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So it is, think a few amazon reviewers threw me slightly 
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Russ
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Registered: 14th Mar 04
Location: Armchair
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by AndyKent
Will you actually use the rental service a lot? I understand you have to download movies in full before you can watch them, rather than truly 'on demand'.
Ok if you've got a quick connection, might take 20 minutes to download, but on a slower connection you'd have to choose a film the day before you want to watch.
That puts me off a bit.
takes about an hour on 2meg to download a 720mb movie, not too bad really, not sure of the file size of apple rentals though, most avi's are around this size though
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John
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Registered: 30th Jun 03
User status: Offline
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If it was 1080p I'd have had one, if they get access to the hardware decoding on it I might still get one, if it could play more formats it's a cheap way of having a tiny media streamer.
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pow
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 06
Location: Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire
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I like the idea, just pisses me off again how "locked down" it is
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John
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Registered: 30th Jun 03
User status: Offline
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It's jailbroken already, would be completely absolutely useless to me personally if it wasn't, you can't do much outside of it's exact intended purpose otherwise.
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James
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Registered: 1st Jun 02
Location: Surrey
User status: Offline
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Just set it up. Good on the whole with a few negatives:
No TV shows on the UK version
Prices are the same as US, e.g. $4.49 = £4.49, so we are getting ripped off
The buffering is slower than expected, it takes over a minute just to buffer a 3 minute trailer, although that is probably down to my internet connection
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Eck
Premium Member
Registered: 17th Apr 06
Location: Lundin Links, Fife
User status: Offline
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Nearly a fiver per film?
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James
Member
Registered: 1st Jun 02
Location: Surrey
User status: Offline
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£4.49 for a HD New Release
£3.49 for a SD New Release
Less for older films.
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oceansoul
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Registered: 19th Jun 06
Location: Sunbury, Surrey
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Cant you opt to pay in USD???
Would be cheaper surley, even with an "aboard" payment fee on your card?!?!?!
Also, i'd prefer to have a "real" recipt. Maybe thats just me :/
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James
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Registered: 1st Jun 02
Location: Surrey
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by oceansoul
Cant you opt to pay in USD???
Would be cheaper surley, even with an "aboard" payment fee on your card?!?!?!
Also, i'd prefer to have a "real" recipt. Maybe thats just me :/
It's basically powered by iTunes store so every time you buy/rent something, they e-mail you as receipt.
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