Measuring less than eight inches square and just over an inch high, the AppleTV box is undeniably sleek. With no buttons on the box itself and an iPod Shuffle-esque remote control, simplicity is the name of the game. The remote is easy to use but my big hands prefer something larger. Configuring the AppleTV is a piece of cake and it can be networked with a hard wire or wirelessly thanks to integrated 802.11n.
After discovering a bad wire which was causing intermittent connectivity issues, I was eager to evaluate the rental service. Catalog rentals are $2.99, new releases are $3.99 and HD costs an extra buck. To start, I downloaded the HD version of Warner’s August Rush with Keri Russell and Jonathan Rhys Meyers – a predictable but entertaining flick with some truly great music. The 720p video began downloading and was ready to watch a few minutes later. Although those few minutes seemed to last forever, it was certainly faster than waiting for a Netflix envelope. Video quality was extremely good but it didn’t quite achieve the detail visible on my 1080p Blu-ray Disc of the film. Apple certainly has new release titles covered but I’d like to see more HD as well as more catalogue and genre titles.
Television content downloaded much faster. Video quality was fine but I was disappointed by the 4:3 aspect ratio since Season One is widescreen on DVD. It seems as though video quality and aspect ratio varies from show to show but newer stuff (like Season Two of “Jericho”) looked great with primarily 480p widescreen presentations. As for YouTube, clips look a bit grainy, but there’s something to be said for watching this stuff without looking over your shoulder to see if your boss is coming.
The latest iteration of AppleTV definitely means business and should be viewed as a serious threat to competing Video-On-Demand boxes such as VUDU and the upcoming Netflix/LG device. yy
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I think the AppleTV is completely awesome! We take a lot of photographs and it's so great getting friends together and viewing on the big screen, as well as music, movies, etc. It's well worth the money!