Apple TV

[SDV]

I've cut the cable cord recently. Got an antenna and just ordered Netflix. I've done my research on the Roku, Apple TV, etc and have decided that Apple TV will work best for me because of my iPhone and MacBook compatability.

Anyone on here use Apple TV and can share some insight, tips, advice?

Thanks!

 

[Orangeslice13]

I would like to know also.

 

[BenGrimm]

Yep.

If your Mac is late 2011 or newer and running Mavericks, you will love the Mirror/Extended desktop feature. It will come in handy for streaming games.

If you have a buddy or family member who has cable ask them to hook you up with a login account. Then you can access ESPN, ABC, HBO and a few other apps that aren't single subscription based (Netflix, Hulu, etc)

 

[BenGrimm]

Also, be sure to download the remote app for your phone and iPad. I don;t use that often for basic navigation but it comes in handy for entering passwords and searches by giving you the full keyboard of your phone. You can even use the speech to text icon in the keyboard.

 

[BenGrimm]

One more thing... if you use shared photo streams on your phone it is neat to set them as screen savers. My wife and I have one of our kids that has over 500 pics in it. Just add pics to the stream from your iPhone, iPad, or iphoto on your Mac (if you use that) and it will start showing up in the screen saver rotation. When the screen saver comes on we will sit there and stare it and chat about the kids. LOL, We probably spend as much time watching the screen saver as we do actual content. Corny? Maybe. Its just a neat feature that we enjoy.

 

[Regulator]

I've cut the cable cord recently. Got an antenna and just ordered Netflix. I've done my research on the Roku, Apple TV, etc and have decided that Apple TV will work best for me because of my iPhone and MacBook comparability.

Anyone on here use Apple TV and can share some insight, tips, advice?

Thanks!

I recently purchased this as well and I'm ripping all of our girls' DVDs, converting them to mp4, importing them to iTunes and storing them on a dedicated computer at home that stays connected to the network at all times. Then the girls can stream their movies from iTunes via AppleTV and we're free of the DVD clutter.

 

[PKT_VOL]

The girlfriend and I have the Apple TV setup (with Netflix). It works for us.

 

[hmanvolfan]

Vinney - SO confused - YouTube

 

[SDV]

Great info burnt and others. I definitely need access to ESPN. Maybe I can use my mother in laws password. Thanks again!

 

[Obsessed]

Great info burnt and others. I definitely need access to ESPN. Maybe I can use my mother in laws password. Thanks again!

Surprised you are still married after dragging your wife all over the country.

 

[SDV]

Surprised you are still married after dragging your wife all over the country.

Haha. Well she's back home now, so she's happy

 

[govols/cc]

Great info burnt and others. I definitely need access to ESPN. Maybe I can use my mother in laws password. Thanks again!

It has an espn app or you can AirPlay through your phone. The hbo app isn't compatible through my provider with Apple TV but is my phone, kinda weird. If you're jailbroke you can use the MovieBox app to watch a ton of movies & shows.

 

[SDV]

It has an espn app or you can AirPlay through your phone. The hbo app isn't compatible through my provider with Apple TV but is my phone, kinda weird. If you're jailbroke you can use the MovieBox app to watch a ton of movies & shows.

Nice thanks

 

[Pulscifer]

Once I move out of my parents' house and the free cable ends, I'll probably go the ATV route. I rarely watch cable unless it's live sports. WatchESPN has most of that covered for me. Only problem is games on ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, TNT. How do you guys get around that?

 

[PKT_VOL]

Once I move out of my parents' house and the free cable ends, I'll probably go the ATV route. I rarely watch cable unless it's live sports. WatchESPN has most of that covered for me. Only problem is games on ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, TNT. How do you guys get around that?

In your case, use your parents' login for their cable and stream it either through your computer or your phone.

 

[Pulscifer]

In your case, use your parents' login for their cable and stream it either through your computer or your phone.

Good call. But about my question, for those who don't use cable, how do y'all watch live games. Stream from websites?

 

[PKT_VOL]

Good call. But about my question, for those who don't use cable, how do y'all watch live games. Stream from websites?

Depends on the game. All games on espn/abc can be accessed the same way as above through the espn app on Apple TV; for live (main) games, espn will want you to login via your cable password while trash games (most of UT bball last season) is available via the espn app on Apple TV without having to login.

Other games would have to either be streamed via a third party site (either via phone or computer) or some providers allow streaming over the Internet via their own site with login/password.

 

[govols/cc]

Once I move out of my parents' house and the free cable ends, I'll probably go the ATV route. I rarely watch cable unless it's live sports. WatchESPN has most of that covered for me. Only problem is games on ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, TNT. How do you guys get around that?

Get a good antenna. Except for TNT

 

[BenGrimm]

Good call. But about my question, for those who don't use cable, how do y'all watch live games. Stream from websites?

I'm assuming you want TNT for the NBA?

There is an NBA app on the ATV. I think it's single subscription but I could be wrong.

But like PKT said, there is always 3rd party streaming sites. You would be sacrificing HD in most cases though.

 

[Coug]

I recently purchased this as well and I'm ripping all of our girls' DVDs, converting them to mp4, importing them to iTunes and storing them on a dedicated computer at home that stays connected to the network at all times. Then the girls can stream their movies from iTunes via AppleTV and we're free of the DVD clutter.

The best device for streaming local media from any computer on your network to your tv is the WD TV Live. This device saves you from having to convert to different file types as it supports just about all of them. For streaming media from other services(ABC, ESPN etc.) it's still down to either the Roku or Apple TV, the two however are both lacking in broad file type support. Safe to say if you have a combination of the WD TV&Roku or WD TV&Apple TV you're pretty much set. Sadly none of the 3 offers everything you'd want in a media player. All 3 are in the same price range with Apple TV being consistently slightly more expensive than the rest.

 

[VolnTitan]

I have both appletv and roku. Prefer roku for sure.

 

[BenGrimm]

I have both appletv and roku. Prefer roku for sure.

Do you have other Apple products? I always tell my friends that arent Apple guys to get a Roku but if you have an iphone, ipad, and/or Mac the ATV offers more.

 

[VolnTitan]

I'm full apple household. Imac, macbook pro, ipad, iphone. I just think the choices that Roku has is better. I don't have mirroring with my imac or macbook pro(I have to use air parrot because the computers are older), but just find it just as easy to use Roku. Especially since it has a usb port on the side. Just plug the jumpdrive in and boom...movies.

 

[govols/cc]

I'm full apple household. Imac, macbook pro, ipad, iphone. I just think the choices that Roku has is better. I don't have mirroring with my imac or macbook pro(I have to use air parrot because the computers are older), but just find it just as easy to use Roku. Especially since it has a usb port on the side. Just plug the jumpdrive in and boom...movies.

Where do you get movies on a jump drive?

 

[BenGrimm]

I'm full apple household. Imac, macbook pro, ipad, iphone. I just think the choices that Roku has is better. I don't have mirroring with my imac or macbook pro(I have to use air parrot because the computers are older), but just find it just as easy to use Roku. Especially since it has a usb port on the side. Just plug the jumpdrive in and boom...movies.

To each his own. If you ever update your macs you will get more use out of the Airplay mirror/extend feature.

Roku does have a ton of channels and the universal search is a feature I wish Apple TV would get. They probably don't want to steer users away from iTunes though.