Review: Apple TV 2G

Today I received my Apple TV in the mail. This is the second generation Apple TV, and it costs just under $100. As with most of the stuff Apple makes, it's sexy. And the $100 price tag is pretty impressive and un-Apple-like. I've had a full-on media center PC in the past, but those are big and clunky and unwieldy in all ways; the Apple TV goes in the opposite direction.

However, spec-wise it's honestly not all that hot. Here are its shortcomings:

  • It has no hard drive of its own (to speak of). This isn't a big deal for me because I plan to stream everything anyway, be it from Netflix or my PC.
  • It only does 720p HD video, so no 1080p. Again, not too big of a deal for me — honestly having watched 720p and 1080p, at the distance I view my TV at I can't tell much of a difference. Here's a chart showing how far away you have to be to notice 720p vs. 1080p vs. 1440p.
  • It can't adjust the volume; I have to use my TV (or stereo) remote to do that. This, I admit, is a major peeve of mine. During playback, the up and down buttons aren't doing anything anyway, so why not make them adjust the volume? Maybe I'm missing something; it seems so obvious that it should have this.
  • It can't view Hulu. Or anything else other than YouTube. This is annoying to me, but I'm not sure if it's a deal-breaker. Most series, I watch on Netflix. But then again, stuff comes out on Hulu more quickly, and a lot of stuff just isn't on Netflix.
  • It can't play many video formats. This is also somewhat annoying, but there might be some workarounds for this in the near future. Though likely those workarounds won't allow for smooth playback of HD material. The other option is to re-encode videos in a format that iTunes likes, though that requires Quicktime Pro ($30).
  • It has no keyboard, which makes typing text a huge pain. However, it does work with the Remote app, so you can use your iPhone or iPad as a remote, and use their keyboards. I would be very, very annoyed with text entry if I didn't have an iPhone or iPad.

Okay, so what does it have?

  • Cheapness. Can't complain at $100.
  • Simple to set up. You plug in an HDMI cable, and the power cable, and you're ready to go. It just works.
  • Small, sleek form factor. My friend came over today and I showed it off to him, and he couldn't even see where the box was until I pointed it out to him.
  • A tiny remote and simple user interface. Very simple; even your grandma could use this thing, once she figures out that the Menu button is sort of like an exit/back button.
  • 720p HD video. Videos streamed from the PC and Netflix look nice and crisp. The latter noticeably more crisp than from the Wii, which doesn't do HD.
  • Built-in WiFi. Hey, some devices these days (ahem, XBox 360) don't include this.
  • Integration with iTunes. You've got access to your desktop's music, movies, etc.
  • Optical digital audio out. All newer receivers have it; so you don't have to hook up tons of wires to get sexy 5.1 surround sound.
  • Built-in video rentals. This would be cool if the rentals were cheaper. Most more recent movies are $5, and older movies seem to run about $3, with some at the $4 mark. Halve those prices, and you've got me interested. I mean, RedBox rentals are only $1 per night, after all.

Overall from the first night of using it, I like it. It's responsive, Apple did a good job as always with the UI, and it's overall a much more pleasant experience than watching Netflix over my Wii. I have yet to even tap into a lot of the potential, like the movie rental thing, and I'm sure in the near future someone will jailbreak it which will open up a world of possibilities. However, the Apple TV does have some serious competition coming out in the next few months, such as the Logitech Revue.

The Logitech Revue, which will run Google TV, is much sexier than than the Apple TV tech-wise. But it's also three times the cost, at $299. On the other hand, it has none of the shortcomings listed above that the Apple TV does. Also, it hooks up to your cable connection and acts as a TV guide and DVR. Except I ditched cable TV, so neither function is useful to me. It can do live hi-def videoconferencing, which sounds awesome… except it costs $150 for the webcam (you can't just use any old webcam), and I think that much like the iPhone 4's FaceTime feature, this is a neat gimmicky feature that I would never actually use. But overall the Revue is really more like a mini-computer than the Apple TV, which provides a lot more possibilities. I am very interested to see what other Google TV set-tops come out around Christmas.