The remote was a special non-infrared device unique to the Roku, which means I could not use my universal remote with it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nIn the end, I returned the Roku after just one day.<\/p>\n
At this point, I wondered if I\u2019d ever find something that could do what I wanted, and I seriously expected I\u2019d have to buy a computer just to hook up to my TV. So it was with some trepidation that I walked into my local Apple store and bought an Apple TV (the 3rd generation model).<\/p>\n
![\"Apple](\"http:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2012\/09\/apple-tv-300x207.jpg\" "\\"apple")
<\/p>\n
As with the Roku (and other similar devices), you just plug it into the power and into your TV (and, optionally, into your network \u2013 although it has wireless built-in) and you\u2019re good to go.<\/p>\n
Right away, I was very pleased with what I saw. If there is one thing Apple knows how to do, it\u2019s design a simple, elegant, useable user interface \u2013 and the Apple TV is no exception.<\/p>\n
The remote is a bit hard to get used to, as it looks like the scroll wheel from an iPod nano, but it isn\u2019t \u2013 it\u2019s just a 4 way controller \u2013 but this was a moot point for me, as the Apple TV works beautifully with my universal remote.<\/p>\n
The Apple TV does exactly what I wanted it to do \u2013 it can play remote media, such as YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, or Flickr, and it can also play music, movies, and pictures from my local computer \u2013 all in full 1080p HD quality. And all this for just $99 \u2013 what a deal!<\/p>\n
Of course that\u2019s not to say the Apple TV doesn\u2019t have its downsides \u2013 because it certainly does \u2013 but they are at least much more bearable than the downsides of the other options.<\/p>\n
The biggest downside (at least for me) with the Apple TV is that in order to stream media from a local PC, you have<\/em><\/strong> to use iTunes \u2013 that is, you have to leave iTunes open on your computer all the time (or, whenever you want to be able to stream media to your Apple TV). And sometimes, even if iTunes is open, the Apple TV won\u2019t connect to it.<\/p>\nOn top of that, iTunes is very picky about what types of files it will play, especially when it comes to videos. If you\u2019re a Windows user and you have a lot of AVI files (as I do), be prepared to have to re-encode all of your videos into MP4 format, because iTunes (and the Apple TV) pretty much will not play anything else.<\/p>\n
Also, iTunes is\u2026 not that great about letting you organize videos (not surprising, as it was originally designed as a music program, not a video program). It can be done, but it\u2019s slow and awkward \u2013 pretty much par for the course when it comes to iTunes, though.<\/p>\n
That said, the Apple TV is a nice little media device, and it also has a few neat tricks up its sleeve \u2013 for example, if you turn on AirPlay, you can use your Apple TV as a remote set of speakers, so you can stream something from iTunes or your iPod Touch\/iPhone directly to your Apple TV. Since I hooked up my home stereo (via optical cable) to the Apple TV, this means I can now fulfill part of my childhood dream to have music playing throughout my home.<\/p>\n
You can also use \u201cAirPlay Mirroring\u201d to mirror your iPhone\u2019s screen to your TV through the Apple TV \u2013 although you do need to be using at least an iPhone 4S for this to work, otherwise you\u2019ll only be able to display some things (videos and photos). If you have a Mac and the latest version of OS X, you can use this to make your TV a remote second monitor \u2013 which is a pretty neat trick, if you ask me! (Sadly, there is no ability to do this from Linux or Windows, although for Windows there is a 3rd party program that can kind-of make it work, although there is some very serious lag to the display.)<\/p>\n
Still, of all the media playback devices I\u2019ve found and tried, the Apple TV is the best balance of function, form, and price\u2026 so much so that after a few months with it, I went out and bought a 2nd one for my bedroom TV!<\/p>\n
These days, every new TV or DVD (sorry, Blu-Ray) player seems to have some sort of media playback options built in \u2013 but oftentimes these are afterthoughts, poorly executed and with horrible UI that is never updated or improved. The Apple TV, at least, is purpose-built for what it does, and has a typically Apple-ish polished UI that actually is updated (and even if it isn\u2019t, it\u2019s so well done to begin with \u2013 it\u2019s like the iPod; if you get the basics right the first time, you don\u2019t need to keep \u201cfixing\u201d it).<\/p>\n
The Apple TV\u2019s combination of (almost) perfect function, small size, good UI, and low price, make it the perfect choice for home entertainment \u2013 or, at least they do for me, anyway. If you\u2019re looking for a media device, you might want to give the Apple TV a try\u2026 you might just be surprised.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019ve long struggled to find the perfect media device for my home \u2013 something that can bring together the vast collection of digital media that I have saved mainly on my desktop computer. For a while, I thought Microsoft\u2019s Windows Media Center Extender idea was going to be the answer. So I bought one (made… Continue reading The Quest for the Perfect Media Player – or, Why I Love my Apple TV<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"webmentions_disabled_pings":false,"webmentions_disabled":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[202,199],"tags":[95,319,198,320,97,321],"class_list":["post-4088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gadgets","category-my-opinion","tag-apple","tag-apple-tv","tag-hardware","tag-media-center","tag-software","tag-tv","entry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pimUj-13W","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2546,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2009\/05\/04\/windows-media-center-extender-follow-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":4088,"position":0},"title":"Windows Media Center Extender Follow-Up","author":"Keith Survell","date":"May 4, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"It's been over a month since I brought a Linksys-branded Windows Media Center Extender into my home. How is it holding up? Is it cutting the mustard? Was it worth the price? Maybe, but only if you bought it on sale.","rel":"","context":"In "Gadgets"","block_context":{"text":"Gadgets","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/technology\/gadgets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1875,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2009\/03\/26\/trying-out-a-windows-media-center-extender\/","url_meta":{"origin":4088,"position":1},"title":"Trying out a Windows Media Center Extender","author":"Keith Survell","date":"March 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I found a good deal on a Linksys DMA2200 Media Center Extender, and so I bought it. Here's my thoughts on it after setting it up!","rel":"","context":"In "Gadgets"","block_context":{"text":"Gadgets","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/technology\/gadgets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"dma2200","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2009\/03\/dma2200.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2861,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2009\/11\/05\/i-love-living-in-the-future\/","url_meta":{"origin":4088,"position":2},"title":"I Love Living in the Future","author":"Keith Survell","date":"November 5, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"We are living in the future, and it is awesome!","rel":"","context":"In "Internet"","block_context":{"text":"Internet","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/technology\/internet-technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"netbook + wifi + streaming radio + home stereo = awesome","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3506\/4077156843_c653bc97a5.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2951,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2010\/02\/23\/living-with-windows-7\/","url_meta":{"origin":4088,"position":3},"title":"Living with Windows 7","author":"Keith Survell","date":"February 23, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Keith's review of Windows 7 after living with it for almost a month.","rel":"","context":"In "My Opinion"","block_context":{"text":"My Opinion","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/personal\/my-opinion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2890,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2010\/01\/30\/new-year-new-computer\/","url_meta":{"origin":4088,"position":4},"title":"New Year, New Computer","author":"Keith Survell","date":"January 30, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I finally upgraded to a new computer running Windows 7!","rel":"","context":"In "personal"","block_context":{"text":"personal","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/personal\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The system properties window from \"Yotsuba,\" my new computer!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2010\/01\/system-properties-window-windows-7-300x282.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":802,"url":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/2006\/10\/13\/desktop-madness-vol-18\/","url_meta":{"origin":4088,"position":5},"title":"Desktop Madness Vol. 18","author":"Keith Survell","date":"October 13, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, it's the long-awaited (you have been waiting, haven't you?) return of Desktop Madness. You didn't really think I'd given up on it, did you?","rel":"","context":"In "Pictures"","block_context":{"text":"Pictures","link":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/category\/pictures\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4088\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Linksys](\"http:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2012\/09\/media-center-extender-300x182.jpg\" "\\"media")
<\/p>\n![\"Roku](\"http:\/\/www.starkeith.net\/coredump\/wp-content\/uploads\/\/2012\/09\/roku.jpg\" "\\"roku\\"")
<\/p>\n