Would I like Apple TV?

[vwlfan]

Thinking of getting it and getting rid of most of the cable stations I pay for but never watch.

Is it easy to set up?

Thanks

 

[OKW Lover]

Setup is a breeze, as you would expect with an Apple product.

But don't think you'll use this in place of regular TV. You'll wind up paying to watch specific episodes of shows you like and you won't get news/weather stations.

 

[k5jm]

I have both an Apple TV and a Roku. If you are wanting to get rid of Cable, get the Roku. More channel selections and content. The Apple TV is great for Itunes, Netflix and Ipad Screen sharing. The Roku and the ATV are almost identical in size. You can add storage with a USB Hard Drive, USB Key, or Micro SD to a Roku. I love both of my boxes. I would also look for some discounted Apple TV's now that the new new one has been announced. The Gen 2 should be going for much less in the Apple Refurb store.

 

[sayhello]

Apple TV is great as a supplement to "broadcast" TV. You can rent movies and old TV shows in Netflix or iTunes. You can watch YouTube and Vimeo videos. There are, I think, 3 sports channels you can watch also.

Where Apple TV really excels for me is if you have an iPad, you can use AirPlay to stream lots of stuff from your iPad to your HD TV via Apple TV. There's a VLC Streaming app that actually lets me stream pretty much any videos I have on my PC to my TV via the iPad to the Apple TV. It works really well. (The only problem I have with it is the lack of 1080p, but the new Gen 3 Apple TV has that!)

So it could, conceivably, replace premium cable stations, depending on what you watch. It would not replace normal, "broadcast" TV, because, as OKW Lover says, you won't get things like the news, or local broadcasts. And I believe there would be a delay watching regular TV episodes, assuming they are available on iTunes or Netflix.

Also, be sure your TV has an HDMI input, because that's the only kind of connection Apple TV takes.

Sayhello

 

[Golf4food]

I have both an Apple TV and a Roku. If you are wanting to get rid of Cable, get the Roku. More channel selections and content. The Apple TV is great for Itunes, Netflix and Ipad Screen sharing. The Roku and the ATV are almost identical in size. You can add storage with a USB Hard Drive, USB Key, or Micro SD to a Roku. I love both of my boxes. I would also look for some discounted Apple TV's now that the new new one has been announced. The Gen 2 should be going for much less in the Apple Refurb store.

We just dropped DirecTV and after researching options we went with a Roku 2 XS instead of Apple TV, even though we have iPhones and an iMac. Just more versatile right now. Might get an AppleTV down the road as well, but for now the Roku does what we need.

 

[OKW Lover]

If you're still considering an Apple TV, the price for the refurb ATV2 is down to $69 in the Apple Store online.

 

[Cyrano]

The content in the UK is not great so I cannot see the Apple TV replacing our SKY box. However it is great for what iTunes and iPad/iPhone mirroring