In-depth review: Apple's third generation 1080p Apple TV and Software Update 5

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 56
    mangomango Posts: 9member
    You know what annoys me? That I can't pay to watch individual NHL games. Instead, I have to pay for an entire season. As a result, the NHL won't get my money. I think they'd earn more if they gave use more choice.
  • Reply 22 of 56
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Prof. Peabody View Post


    I would love to use my AppleTV for Internet radio but it's almost impossible.



    All you get (and it's been the same since iTunes was first created), is a super long list of a billion radio stations sorted alphabetically. This only works if you want to listen to a random radio station each time. It's just not worth the time it takes to navigate to the one station you want to listen to out of the 4 billion presented to you, especially with that remote and the long, long long scroll through the single list.



    We need the ability to set favourites and create a button for them. Actually the whole UI suffers from that in that you can't edit the buttons that appear or move them around at all.



    Netflix is the same. You can't save anything to watch later, just watch now or spend twenty minutes finding it again the next time you want to watch it. All of these UI's seem almost like afterthoughts to me, which I find kind of shocking considering the stakes.



    I 100% agree. You have to wonder if Apple intentionally cripples the radio, Netflix, and other options that compete with their ability to sell content through iTunes.
  • Reply 23 of 56
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mango View Post


    You know what annoys me? That I can't pay to watch individual NHL games. Instead, I have to pay for an entire season. As a result, the NHL won't get my money. I think they'd earn more if they gave use more choice.



    This is a gripe to take us with the NHL and not Apple. I pay for the whole season and love it.
  • Reply 24 of 56
    I have the latest Apple TV on our big screen, and the previous model on our bedroom TV. When watching streaming Netflix, I didn't see any option to search for or watch 1080p content. Is it just automatic whenever such content becomes available?
  • Reply 25 of 56
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by coffeetime View Post


    I have the latest Apple TV on our big screen, and the previous model on our bedroom TV. When watching streaming Netflix, I didn't see any option to search for or watch 1080p content. Is it just automatic whenever such content becomes available?



    if iTunes or netflix has it available, and the device is capable, then it usually shows 1080HD in the description
  • Reply 26 of 56
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mango View Post


    You know what annoys me? That I can't pay to watch individual NHL games. Instead, I have to pay for an entire season. As a result, the NHL won't get my money. I think they'd earn more if they gave use more choice.



    None of the major sports leagues in the country lets you buy a single game to watch. As a penguin fan exiled to houston the full season package has been fantastic and I'll be reupping next year
  • Reply 27 of 56
    myapplelovemyapplelove Posts: 1,515member
    Dan in what sense is it a pro that a very basic remote app makes up for a less than basic remote? Since when are missing features substituted (arguably not that well) by ios apps a plus? At best this should be "neutral", -1(remote) +1 (remote app) = zero, but a pro, how?
  • Reply 28 of 56
    myapplelovemyapplelove Posts: 1,515member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Prof. Peabody View Post


    I would love to use my AppleTV for Internet radio but it's almost impossible.



    All you get (and it's been the same since iTunes was first created), is a super long list of a billion radio stations sorted alphabetically. This only works if you want to listen to a random radio station each time. It's just not worth the time it takes to navigate to the one station you want to listen to out of the 4 billion presented to you, especially with that remote and the long, long long scroll through the single list.



    We need the ability to set favourites and create a button for them. Actually the whole UI suffers from that in that you can't edit the buttons that appear or move them around at all.



    Netflix is the same. You can't save anything to watch later, just watch now or spend twenty minutes finding it again the next time you want to watch it. All of these UI's seem almost like afterthoughts to me, which I find kind of shocking considering the stakes.



    For sure. It seems no one has bothered with radio at apple since its inception. I guess they rather sell more music via iTunes. In terms of the ui, I think it's basically crap and dysfunctional, the worst to have come out of apple lately, by far, high in place for one of the worst uis they ever released.



    May I suggest you use the great tunein radio app to stream to the atv, although it hardly makes sense to stream from the iPad, when the functionality should be there on the atv itself.
  • Reply 29 of 56
    machaymachay Posts: 11member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Prof. Peabody View Post


    I would love to use my AppleTV for Internet radio but it's almost impossible.



    We need the ability to set favourites and create a button for them. Actually the whole UI suffers from that in that you can't edit the buttons that appear or move them around at all.





    Favorites can be created for Internet Radio on ATV. Scroll the list and press/hold select and it will ask to add to Favourites. The list then appears at the top of main list. Works really well, albeit not a short cut button, but a much shorter list.
  • Reply 30 of 56
    isheldonisheldon Posts: 570member
    For the sheer reasoning that there is very little benefit to upgrade as the ATV2 can get the same dreadful UI- I would call this a rare fail for Apple in that there is no compelling reason to do so. Unless I missed something.



    The fact that you cannot view airplay/mirroring in 1080P except for streaming movies that would theorectically already be in the cloud to access is a major fail.
  • Reply 31 of 56
    isheldonisheldon Posts: 570member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacHay View Post


    Favorites can be created for Internet Radio on ATV. Scroll the list and press/hold select and it will ask to add to Favourites. The list then appears at the top of main list. Works really well, albeit not a short cut button, but a much shorter list.



    You would think that directive would be stated at the point you access the radio stations is too much to ask for?

    I loathe the Mike n Ike icons.





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  • Reply 32 of 56
    eightzeroeightzero Posts: 3,052member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by propaganda View Post


    This is a gripe to take us with the NHL and not Apple. I pay for the whole season and love it.



    I'm kind of sitting on the fence on the NHL Season Pass. Fortunately, I now get an HD CBC feed, so I get HNIC via my cable box. I rather like the CBC HNIC feed, as the announcers know the game, they have good interviews and after hours shows, as well as intermission shows that are good. I rather suspect this is not on the NHL Season pass feed? Any HNIC content via that?
  • Reply 33 of 56
    mofromofro Posts: 10member
    I think adding Bluetooth would have added tons of functionality, especially with remotes (controllers) or headphones. Controlling through wifi is laggy as heck and IR is well, can you say 80's.
  • Reply 34 of 56
    rasimorasimo Posts: 61member
    I'm waiting for an Apple TV version of the Time Warner Cable app...
  • Reply 35 of 56
    isheldonisheldon Posts: 570member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rasimo View Post


    I'm waiting for an Apple TV version of the Time Warner Cable app...



    YOu have a lot of patience as that is a match made in hell.
  • Reply 36 of 56
    eightzeroeightzero Posts: 3,052member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by johnnyb0731 View Post


    None of the major sports leagues in the country lets you buy a single game to watch. As a penguin fan exiled to houston the full season package has been fantastic and I'll be reupping next year



    The sports content would seal the deal for me. I'd gladly pay reasonable costs for single games or events. Like $3 to watch Tour of Flanders this weekend off the NBC Sports feed. Oddly enough, there is an iPad App from last years Tour dr France that did this - but the airplay feature was jacked up.
  • Reply 37 of 56
    filburtfilburt Posts: 398member
    While the review touches just about every nooks and crannies, everything is just glossed over like a comprehensive brochure.



    Nothing in how mirroring 1080p over WiFi might introduces lags, if any. Nothing about whether Netflix indicates viewed or partially viewed contents. I was hoping for more honest and balanced review from someone who actually used the product for few days.
  • Reply 38 of 56
    Can anyone speak to any noticeable speed difference in the ATV2 and ATV3? If I am not interested in the 1080P aspect of it, but rather speed for airplay and such, I know it picked up the 2nd antenna but does that make a difference or does it feel the same? I love our ATV2 but would kill for some more speed just in menus and the like.
  • Reply 39 of 56
    eideardeideard Posts: 428member
    Solve the radio problem in iTunes. Over time build a playlist of just the stations you prefer.



    The Apple TV will see it as a playlist on your home computer. I've done it that way since the ATV1.



    Oh - if no one's mentioned it - my original settings for the Apple TV moved right over to my Harmony One - and work fine.
  • Reply 40 of 56
    The problem with the Apple TV is that it's audio codec support for 5.1 audio is really bad. I bought the AppleTV last week, and was really disappointed to learn this. It does not support DTS. And Dolby is a hit or miss for home streaming. I couldn't stream any video file with 5.1 Dolby audio from my home computer. Spent hours playing around with 'Subler', but couldn't get the AppleTV to output surround sound. It always comes out as stereo.



    There are tons of threads on Apple support forums on this. Some said it will only output it using the optical cable, and not HDMI. Tried that too. No luck. Played around with setting on the Apple TV, but still no luck. Some say, even though it doesn't decode the stream, it should be able to send it to the Receiver untouched. But that just doesn't happen for me.



    Finally, I gave up. Really disappointed by this. Read the numerous forums on this topic. Apple needs to open up compatibility a bit more.
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