Apple TV / Wireless Digital Multimedia Receiver

I've been thinking about getting Apple TV for years, but I could never convince myself. Then Apple TV 2 came out for just 99, and I decided 'why not'. Very glad I did. Best tech I've bought for years. HD streams pretty flawlessly for movie rentals (I have mine hooked directly up to a modem, and usually 10-15mbs broadband speed). Love watching HD movie trailer. And the user interface - this being Apple - is superb. In terms or 1080p vs 720p as mentioned by another reviewer - I really struggle to notice the difference on my 50" Panasonic - 1080p from Blue Ray is amazing, 720p from Apple TV pretty amazing too. It also seems to upscale pretty well - I stream movies from my PC, and they look pretty darn good, despite being DVD quality, not HD. It's streaming movies from your PC where I really love Apple TV - once you've digitised your DVD collection, you can browse your entire movie collection by Genre, check out the running time, what the film's about, who's in it (assuming you've added these details to the movie with something like MetaX which works brilliantly).

Overall, it has its occasional flaky moment, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the 99 for this. Bought it from play.com as a pre-order, and superb service always...

This little receiver if full of promise. In reality its a little dissapointing. The box advertises Instant downloading ability for hd films and tv programmes...but this is not the case. You can watch standard definition films quickly - but I was really looking foward to seeing what a hd film would look like on my tv!
They just take so long to download (about 5 hours!!!) Standard definition are instant!
This IS good value though for what it offers. You can download a film or tv programme (rental or purchase) from itunes on your laptop (or direct from your apple tv) and then sync it to your tv..or you can sync photos...or watch Youtube!! It is so full of great promise and this is the beginning of great things to come

Not really possible to "make the best use of your HD TV" as this unit is not capable of outputting full 1080P. Even on 720P it suffers from a lot of stuttering, especially if someone else is using your wireless network to download anything.
But the interface is really good. An average score for an average product.

The small box is quintessential apple. Simple, sleek and annoyingly beautiful. It is a given that the tv box will never be quite the same again after you open it, attracting finger prints, dust, scratches and pretty much any other worldly product of living, to attach itself to your new purchase. It is however quite in keeping with the modern home theatre setups present in many homes.
After a month of use, I found the product both a great addition and also frustratingly limited.
The addition of iOS 4.3 has been a great improvement, being able to push media from your iphone to you desired large screen is effortless and reveals some rewarding additional interaction with your TV.
However, apple is capable of so much more. Streaming is an ever increasing technology people are wanting in their home, and this product does not lend itself well. BBC iPlayer is available on several platforms, but there appears to be no future upgrade to incorporate this. I also run a pogoplug, but the uPnP network cannot be accessed, leaving me to have to transport data from my NAS drive, over the network to an iTunes enabled PC and then over airplay to the apple tv.
This is not only frustrating but unnecessary. The device can be hacked to install the boxxee program and run uPnP and access both iPlayer and NAS drives. Why has apple not taken advantage of this piece of equipment, I am yet to understand.
And in a recent addition I can now have access to a baseball channel. In the UK we are well aware of the illusions of American sport being slow, overly complicated and boring. So why have they launched this service to me? I enjoy choice, but this device does not allow me to choose apps and I don't see any future apps being developed that have me excited.
I have always hated the apple philosophy of control, I relented on purchasing my ipod nano and my iphone 4, but eventually buckled and now own a few products and have been thoroughly pleased. The user interfaces and media experience is very enjoyable. But the apple tv seams like an upgrade/accessory to my products rather than a apple device in itself.
Until it is allowed to stream content direct from storage without a connected PC or suitable for On Demand TV then this product will just be an occasional push device to watch my youtube videos on the large TV.
For this reason my opinion of the apple tv has left me wanting more, and not in a good way. The school report would read 'capable of so much more if he was less distracted and could be better supported at home'.

Apple tv is one of the best gadgets from apple. It does everything you expect it to do and loads more. It's a must if you have an iPhone or iPod Touch as it works with it. You can stream music, videos and more from your computer or any of the 'iOS' devices that apple sell.
It's a great little gadget!