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Re: Got an AppleTV. Pretty cool!
PeterChenoweth #215822 07/21/08 05:17 PM
Joined: Sep 2002
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The Apple tv's are a really cool little product. I would probably consider getting one myself but I am just not sure on the reliabilty on those units. I have yet to hear alot of talk of them failing but the ones I worked with in the past got incredibly hot and did not appear to have any way of dissipating heat. I am a bit weary of dropping a few hundred on something that I dont expect to last more than a couple years \:\(

Re: Got an AppleTV. Pretty cool!
Haoleb #215832 07/21/08 06:02 PM
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I will vouch for the heat. It definitely is a hot little device.

After the data transfer, it was *very* hot. Hot enough that it was immediately uncomfortable to touch. Hot to the level that if my amp were that hot I'd shut it down. After sitting unused overnight I expected it to be cool again, but was surprised to find that it was still quite warm.

As an IT guy, I'm well-aware of the dangers of overheated computer equipment. It does not appear to have any sort of fan (none that I could hear, anyway), and so I think it is just passively cooled. Though there are no vents on the top of it, so it's hard to say how effective it is. Apple is usually pretty good at designing stuff, so I hope they did their homework on this. I'm not overly worried about it dying due to heat, but I will definitely follow its instructions to *not* place anything on top of it.

I have a live ethernet cable already run to my AV Rack for my DishDVR receiver (was for Tivo, ages ago). As a test, I was thinking of throwing a cheap switch on the end of it and hooking up the AppleTV to that, so that I could disable its WiFi. Just to see if that would cool it down a bit. After all, that heat is coming from the power it's drawing from the wall, and awfully wasteful...


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Re: Got an AppleTV. Pretty cool!
PeterChenoweth #215841 07/21/08 07:35 PM
Joined: Oct 2006
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I know this is not ideal for you, but for others..

If you already own an XBox or PS3, there is a FREE solution that includes video playback, but again you need a PC running.

tversity.com

Wasn't super easy to get working but easy enough for most anyone to muddle through if you don't mind going back to their web page for some FAQ reading. I am now using it as a server to stream all my music, pictures, DVD movies and concerts, Jeep run videos, etc... via the PS3 in order to play them on my TV and Axioms. I was just using Windows Media Player for this but switched to TVersity for two reasons.

-- WMP only worked with my MP3s but TVersity will automatically transcode my FLAcs to PS3 acceptable WAVs so they remain lossless.

-- WMP doesn't transcode native DVD files so you have to manually convert any video files that are not natively supported in the PS3 (like DVD's VOB files). TVersity will automatically transcode (transcode = on the fly, real time conversion) any kind of video file so that it can go directly to the PS3 without first manually recoding it to a new format.

All the transcoding is figured out automatically for you , so you don't have to be a media file expert to get them to work. This is a nice feature for many because there are so many file types it can be very confusing.

It has some other neat features that I don't use so much like podcasts and YouTube access. It also acts as a PVR if you connect it to your cable box but my BEV receiver already does that for me.

For you Bluray people, the new Nero product, version 8, does all this transcoding work as well AND handles Bluray but you have to pay for that software. I'm also unsure about HD audio support but maybe it is there?

TVersity is a great media server for zero dollars if it suits your setup, like having a PC turned on.


With great power comes Awesome irresponsibility.
Re: Got an AppleTV. Pretty cool!
Murph #215861 07/21/08 09:47 PM
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Love my AppleTV, it's dedicated mostly for the kids stuff. I also have it connected to Flickr's photo album for screen saver.

Love the remote control w/ the iPhone, VERY cool. I think with the remote control app, an iPhone/iPod Touch, and a few Airport Expresses, you could easily replace a SONOS system for much cheaper. The Airtunes app is relatively easy to configure. Just hook up multiple Expresses to powered speakers or various amplifiers in your house and voila, you've got a whole house music server that's controlled by a nice wifi remote with decent GUI. I'm also pretty impressed with Airtunes, there's virtually no latency between rooms (granted I'm using all of the new 802.11n versions). I can play music on one room and in the same music in another room is pretty much synced, you couldn't hear any delay at all. That in itself is VERY impressive if you've ever worked with wireless equipment.

Yes, the AppleTV does run quite hot. Mine sits in cabinet that is opened during use. Never had an issue, I've had my unit since the first release. I use mine w/ wired ethernet so downloads aren't so slow.

Last edited by oldskoolboarder; 07/21/08 09:53 PM.
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