Anybody have an Apple TV ?
How much is the monthly fee?
Is it worth it? Should I wait awhile longer?
Any info would be appreciated.
I don’t think there’s a monthly fee. A friend of mine has one and loves it. I decided to use spare 'puters instead of buying one though because I wanted something more, so I went the Boxee route, but I hear great things about the Apple TV.
Lots of rumors about them either dumping it (in which case the price drops) or doing something cool with it and releasing a new version (in which case the price drops to clear inventory). But it stays the same if they leave it in limbo, heh.
FWIW, I think the answer to the OP question is really based on what you want to do with the box. If you’re looking to buy/rent TV and movies from iTunes, it seems like an inexpensive way to take ‘em the last 20’ to the TV. But if you’re looking to rip and store your existing DVD collection, watch video from “other” sources, or take charge of the recording and playback of your cable/sat/whatever connection, the ATV is pretty limited in those areas.
The drawback to the other (more homebrew) solutions is that they’re pretty difficult to build, install, configure, and use. I’d liken the learning curve to that of Eve Online – you can do lots of powerful things in an unrestricted environment, but you’ll have to climb a steep cliff to get started.
Thanks Thunderscreech, thanks Chuck for the input. I need to think about this.
if you choose to go the Apple TV route hacking it can add quite a bit of cool stuff… :rolleyes:
just saying
edited: to add I feel a little like a advertisment tonight but i think its a good option; just look into the Hp media smart server see if it would suit your needs.
promises to not mention it again tonight but it is pretty damn cool
If you’re interested in the AppleTV, I think now is as good a time as any to get one. I don’t think Apple is going to be making any major changes to the hardware. The product has become in their words a “hobby project”. They just dropped the price on it, and eliminated the “low end” version (which is just a difference in storage space)
If you’re willing to spend some cash, and still want Apple compatibility, you could fairly easily make a Mac mini into an ATV. Additionally, depending on how dedicated you are to the project, you could put together some hardware and make a sort of “Hackintosh” Apple TV.