Apple TV Review

I got Apple TV for Christmas, so it's been almost a month that I've been using it... figured now was as good a time as any to write up a little review.

The form factor is a plus, the device itself is a small black box which resembles a hockey puck and has ports in the back for the power cord, HDMI, optical audio, ethernet cable and a micro-usb. The only two I need is the power cord and HDMI.

The only other thing in the box is the remote control, which is a small, flat, metallic controller which has three simple buttons... unfortunately, the controller isn't the best and it's much easier to download the iPod/iPhone remote control app and use that.

Setup was hassle-free. It easily found and connected to my wireless internet. I signed on to my iTunes account as well as my Netflix account and within minutes I was testing it out.

Netflix worked well, the interface was easy to use. I watched through a couple movies and shows and although it worked great 90% of the time, every now and then it would stop and buffer, which is something that rarely happened when using my PS3. It seemed to happen more frequently on the Apple TV, so I'm hoping it was simply a case of slower than usual internet connection... I'll have to test it a bit more.

I also tried out the TV Shows/Movies feature by renting a free TV Show. The process was incredibly simple. I selected the show, waited for less than a minute for it to load, hit play and I was then watching a TV Show in HD quality. It couldn't be easier. I believe the prices may be a bit too high... a TV Show seems to generally be $0.99 for a rental and the movies are about $4.99. Figuring that RedBox and Blockbuster Express are just $1 a day for movies and websites like Hulu, ABC.com, etc... are free for TV Shows, it's hard to justify the prices. I guess if I'm really lazy it'll work out fine.

Apple TV also has Youtube built in, which is nice to have on my TV, but I've noticed that it takes a long time to load up videos that are over 3 minutes long... I got impatient waiting for a video that would probably load up instantly on my computer. Oh well.

Another great feature, which I'm hoping they expand in a future update, is AirPlay. Basically AirPlay allows you to instantaneously project a movie, tv show, music or photos directly from an iPod, iPhone or iPad straight to the TV. This is an amazing feature and I've already used it a ton to watch shows and listen to music I have on my iPhone and iPad. It lets you show your photos, but not your own videos, which is something I hope gets updated soon. It also doesn't allow you to stream 3rd party content, such as website video, etc... All in all though, it is a very nifty feature.

There are some other features of Apple TV which I haven't messed with too much like podcasts and Flickr, so I can't speak too much of those. I am hopeful that Apple will open up the software a bit and allow apps to be downloaded. It has been a much speculated feature that would make Apple TV a million times more powerful. [fingers crossed.]

Overall, I am very happy with Apple TV, if just for Netflix and AirPlay alone.