If you’re a TV and or Movie buff and you’ve never heard of Apple TV, you’re missing out. Apple has had (for a couple years now) been selling a unit called ‘Apple TV’ that allows you to view your computer media on your high and/or standard definition television. Movies, television shows, high quality movie trailers (streamed directly from apple.com), podcasts, photos and more; all viewable at the touch of a button. You’re even able to purchase or rent movies & television shows directly through your TV using the iTunes store; it’s really cool.
Your Apple TV unit connects to your television either by HDMI, DVI or High/Standard definition composite cables, and to your home network (wirelessly, or directly via ethernet). For Mac OS X users, you’ll be happy to know that the interface much resembles (if not replicates) the Front Row application experience. For Microsoft Windows users, don’t you worry; Apple does a great job of making this little piece of technology as easy to use as your microwave.
The unit comes in two sizes, 40GB & 160GB, which allows for local storage, accessible regardless of your computers status. You manage the media on like you would any other device connected to iTunes (iPod, iPhone) and select what you want to synchronize. If for some reason, you have more media than Apple TV allows you to store (which I do), you’re forced to stream the rest of it live, through iTunes (meaning your computer must be connected at the time of viewing).
The remote that comes along with it is one you may also recognize if you’re a Mac user; the same remote that came stock with the old Macbook and Macbook Pros comes along with your Apple TV for easy to use enjoyment of all your home content. No struggling with hundreds of complicated functions – It’s easy, and it’s fun.
Now to finish it off with a little honesty – I download all my movies and television shows using Bit-Torrent, convert them, and store them in iTunes for easy browsing. At this moment, I have more than 94 seasons, from 15 different tv shows, and close to 200 movies available (for those of you who are curious, that’s more than 1000 hours of video) to view at the touch of a button; no waiting, no loading, and best of all – free of charge. If you’ve got a passion for TV or Movies, this is definitely something you should be spending money on.
