# ATV2 vs ATV3



## satchmo (May 26, 2005)

I'm debating on the merits of this new Apple TV. 
If I only have a 720p TV, its it worth getting the ATV3? 

I realize my connection speed will dictate a lot, but will the new processor in the ATV3 make a difference if I'm streaming only 720p content?

I suspect I'll go 1080p at some point, and spending an extra $30 for a new vs refurbished ATV2 is really not a big deal. Just curious more about performance.


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## Joker Eh (Jan 22, 2008)

you answerd your own question. If $30 not a big deal then get the best/newest. I am sure Apple will release something that will say only compatible with Apple TV 3rd gen. Then you would be out of luck if you wanted such feature.


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## i-rui (Sep 13, 2006)

for only a $30 difference i don't see any reason not to future-proof yourself and get the 1080p version


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## tdu (Sep 15, 2008)

I am content with 720p quality wise. And I have never had any performance issues with my ATV2 so I will likely just stay with it.

The thing is, I have been playing around with a WD Live Plus box, and there is a lot I like more about it. It plays more files, has more applications on it. It does everything my jailbroken ATV2 does, but I can also plug flash drives and hard drives into it. And all for the same price. The only reason I haven't moved over to it completely is that the ATV2 has been a workhorse the whole time I have owned it. It performs quite well. I'll only know how well the WD performs after I get a chance to test it more, and I just haven't had time.


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## joltguy (Apr 15, 2005)

I'll probably stick with my 2nd gen Apple TV for now. I'm really happy that Apple made the software update available, but I'm surprised/disappointed that this (major) update _still_ doesn't include support for iTunes Extras. It seems like such an oversight!


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## ertman (Jan 15, 2008)

Its all really going to depend on whether you are going to want 1080p in the near future, as well as what 'Joker Eh' says. Also, is budget more important?

I would get one, only if they new how to do Local content efficiently.


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## tdu (Sep 15, 2008)

tdu said:


> I am content with 720p quality wise. And I have never had any performance issues with my ATV2 so I will likely just stay with it.
> 
> The thing is, I have been playing around with a WD Live Plus box, and there is a lot I like more about it. It plays more files, has more applications on it. It does everything my jailbroken ATV2 does, but I can also plug flash drives and hard drives into it. And all for the same price. The only reason I haven't moved over to it completely is that the ATV2 has been a workhorse the whole time I have owned it. It performs quite well. I'll only know how well the WD performs after I get a chance to test it more, and I just haven't had time.


I thought I had better revise this. The one thing the WD box won't do better than the Jailbroken ATV2 is XBMC. Once configured with plug-ins, it offers a pretty crazy feature set on the AVT2. But out of the box, there isn't even a comparison in my opinion. The WD live does way more.


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## ertman (Jan 15, 2008)

tdu said:


> I thought I had better revise this. The one thing the WD box won't do better than the Jailbroken ATV2 is XBMC. Once configured with plug-ins, it offers a pretty crazy feature set on the AVT2. But out of the box, there isn't even a comparison in my opinion. The WD live does way more.


Also, the WDTV live doesn't play iTunes content, I hate DRM. I get it, but its an obstacle for pirates and punished the owner. the WDTV-Live is pretty good, but have they fixed the aggregated Videos (TV and Movies)? I would also suggest to you an AppleTV with XBMC, no direct storage, but nice file support.

Its kind of unknown whether the OP is streaming local content or streaming internet content? and whether or not that is all they want to do with it.


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## tdu (Sep 15, 2008)

ertman said:


> Also, the WDTV live doesn't play iTunes content, I hate DRM. I get it, but its an obstacle for pirates and punished the owner.
> 
> Its kind of unknown whether the OP is streaming local content or streaming internet content? and whether or not that is all they want to do with it.


I take it iTunes video store content is DRM? The music will play as far as I know...

One other thing about my experiences with the ATV2 and playing files on other machines on my network. It's been horribly unreliable for me. Whether I have the ATV2 hard wired, or on WiFi, it loses contact with the iTunes shared libraries all the time. The crazy part is it rarely ever lose a connection using the Firecore ATV2 Black media player. I constantly get the 'no shared libraries message' when I try to access my iTunes libraries though and I have to restart the ATV2 in most cases to get them to show up again. And even that won't always work. It did this before it was jailbroken, and it did it after it was jailbroken. I have tried so many tips online that it's ridiculous. The ATV2 interface is without a doubt better... when everything works.

Basically, before I jailbroke and used Firecore, all I could reliably use the ATV2 for was iTunes rentals, Netflix, and the other internet functions. Firecore's Media player has been the only way I can reliably play files from my other computers.


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## jezzy (Dec 30, 2011)

I picked up the WDTV Live a few years back, it works great. Has played everything I've tried with success. It's just the interface.. even with the movie sheets, etc.. it's just plain ugly when compared to the ATV interface (plex/xbmc..) 

I got a ATV 1 to tinker with this past xmas, installed the CHD card.. useless with my 1080 collection, so flipped it and just ordered the ATV3. Fingers crossed that its as good or better than the WDTV!


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## kkapoor (Jan 17, 2006)

If you have an ATV 2, I see the the ATV 3 as a minor to insignificant update. Especially, given that the new software is available on ATV 2.


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## tdu (Sep 15, 2008)

jezzy said:


> I picked up the WDTV Live a few years back, it works great. Has played everything I've tried with success. It's just the interface.. even with the movie sheets, etc.. it's just plain ugly when compared to the ATV interface (plex/xbmc..)
> 
> I got a ATV 1 to tinker with this past xmas, installed the CHD card.. useless with my 1080 collection, so flipped it and just ordered the ATV3. Fingers crossed that its as good or better than the WDTV!


The ATV interface is definitely nicer looking by a huge amount. That being said, the list view the WD Live uses for displaying files uses screen space much more efficiently. EG multiple columns of files vs. one on the ATV. With a larger screen TV, it makes broswing files easier. But, it sure doesn't look as pretty.


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## Svivie (Apr 1, 2011)

I am debating getting the new ATV3. I have 2 ATV2's at my place, and I use them both regularly. But I don't really know if the update to faster processor/1080p will really make me want to upgrade. I think if it came with some other new and/or exclusive features I'd be more inclined.


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## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

I'm holding off until iTunes Canada decides to carry 1080p content. I really hope we get Movies in the cloud too.


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## mjollymo (Dec 5, 2009)

Seems we have TV shows in 1080p. I grabbed the pilot episode of Awake which is a free download. Really impressed with how that episode looked on the tv. 

Hope it's not too long a wait for 1080p movies.


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## Scribbles (May 29, 2010)

I'm sticking with ATV2 as my "hi-speed" is a nice marketing label, and I need to buffer up a few minutes for 720p to run smoothly. Also, my 720p HD shows clock in around 1.4GB and while the reviews state the compression is really good on the 1080p stream, I expect a 1hr could easily be 2GB.

If I still had my ATV1 or none, I would go ATV3 as it has been reported you can throttle back to 720p on the stream in your preferences.


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## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

Good find. HD shows are available in 720p and 1080p.


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

keep in mind ATV does more than stream iTunes content...if you have 1080p content on your mac it'll play at native rez too, no?


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## chimo (Jun 9, 2008)

I just picked up the ATV3 at lunch. Hopefully, I will get time to compare it to my ATV2 this evening. I have a 1080p TV.


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## chimo (Jun 9, 2008)

Menus are much "crisper". I tried some 1080p previews from iTunes. Some looked very good - near BluRay. I'm not certain but it "seems" a little faster on the menus.


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## mjollymo (Dec 5, 2009)

I think I will pick one up tomorrow. I have been waiting for iTunes to go 1080p for quite some time. May not have 1080p movies in iTunes yet, but that won't stop me from starting to convert some of my movies to a iTunes friendly format.

Seems I am going all-in with the apple ecosystem!


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## mjollymo (Dec 5, 2009)

Seems 1080p movies are starting to filter into the iTunes store, for example the LOTR trilogy is in 1080p. I also did some searching, and apparently Canadian users with the new Apple TV can see the option to rent in 1080p HD directly from the device, even though the iTunes store still only shows 720p as an option. 

Sounds like it is slowly starting to roll out!!


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## mgmitchell (Apr 4, 2008)

How do I "upgrade" to ATV3? On the Apple site? Spend another $130? I have ATV2, but experience the same weird sharing issues a previous poster mentioned in this thread. Always have to unplug the bloody thing from the wall, re-plug, and wait for the reboot. Seems silly. Might be a version issue, a codec problem, who knows? Frustrating, for sure.
/M.


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## tdu (Sep 15, 2008)

mgmitchell said:


> How do I "upgrade" to ATV3? On the Apple site? Spend another $130? I have ATV2, but experience the same weird sharing issues a previous poster mentioned in this thread. Always have to unplug the bloody thing from the wall, re-plug, and wait for the reboot. Seems silly. Might be a version issue, a codec problem, who knows? Frustrating, for sure.
> /M.


It's a completely different piece of hardware so yes you would have to spend money on a new one.


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## satchmo (May 26, 2005)

So I'm toying with the notion of picking up some kind of streaming device for my TV and I know currently, an ATV3 is kind of limited without a jailbreak solution.

However the impending arrival of Mountain Lion, will allow AirPlay of your desktop to any iOS device such as an ATV3. 

Since this essentially is mirroring what I have on a desktop, would one need an ATV 3 jailbreak to access everything one can currently get via an ATV2?


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## tdu (Sep 15, 2008)

satchmo said:


> So I'm toying with the notion of picking up some kind of streaming device for my TV and I know currently, an ATV3 is kind of limited without a jailbreak solution.
> 
> However the impending arrival of Mountain Lion, will allow AirPlay of your desktop to any iOS device such as an ATV3.
> 
> Since this essentially is mirroring what I have on a desktop, would one need an ATV 3 jailbreak to access everything one can currently get via an ATV2?


One main reason I jailbreak my ATV2 is so that I don't have to have a computer running all the time to access my files. I store everything on a NAS drive, and with the jailbroken ATV2 I can access it.


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## ertman (Jan 15, 2008)

satchmo said:


> So I'm toying with the notion of picking up some kind of streaming device for my TV and I know currently, an ATV3 is kind of limited without a jailbreak solution.
> 
> However the impending arrival of Mountain Lion, will allow AirPlay of your desktop to any iOS device such as an ATV3.
> 
> Since this essentially is mirroring what I have on a desktop, would one need an ATV 3 jailbreak to access everything one can currently get via an ATV2?


I don't have an ATV, I am also waiting.

Depends on what you are trying to do with it. I am not sure what you are planning to do with it, or your control scheme, there might be some complications with your plans.


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## jezzy (Dec 30, 2011)

my atv3 has been sitting collect dust until the JB comes out.. for now the wdtv does what I need it to do. sadly it's taking a while for the JB.. patience will pay off I'm sure..


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## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

Really? You can pretty much add almost anything into iTunes.


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## ertman (Jan 15, 2008)

dona83 said:


> Really? You can pretty much add almost anything into iTunes.


Ok how about lossless copies of my media, including highdef content? I haven't heard iTunes handling this yet.


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## tdu (Sep 15, 2008)

ertman said:


> Ok how about lossless copies of my media, including highdef content? I haven't heard iTunes handling this yet.


Ya really, I think there are more codecs you can't use with iTunes than you can. Especially when it comes to video.

Not a problem if you are starting from fresh encoding a library, or don't mind transcoding and existing library. But jailbreaking is an easier solution.


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## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

Unless you're grabbing pure high def video OTA or other uncompressed sources, are you trying to make lossless copies of your Blu-Ray discs? :lmao:


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## ertman (Jan 15, 2008)

dona83 said:


> Unless you're grabbing pure high def video OTA or other uncompressed sources, are you trying to make lossless copies of your Blu-Ray discs? :lmao:


Go on....?

I would say making a copy of any prerecorded high def content (doesn't have to be commercial) could run into issues that are most quickly and losslessly solved with an mkv, a non-supported format.

But don't forget you also have to have a computer on to access your files, where a jailbreak can get you around this.


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