# My Apple TV Review



## emalen (Oct 10, 2004)

Hey All,

I thought I'd write up a quick blurb about my thoughts on my recently purchased APPLE TV (after one week of use)

In a word. I LOVE IT!

Positives: (Note I've got a US iTunes Account so I'm able to rent and buy from the US store)

- Last night I rented Michael Clayton via my Apple TV. I was amazed with the quality of the standard definition movie, and at $3.99 for a new release, it's more affordable than both Blockbuster (which I think is $5 something the last time I went into the store) and Rogers on Demand ($5.99). The movie also looked better than had I played it on my seven year old Toshiba DVD player.

- YouTube. I love YouTube. As a self proclaimed TV Addict (shameless plug: the TV addict) I love the ability to watch some of my favorite shows that are on YouTube on my TV. Is the quality great? No, but it's quick, easy and far better than watching on my iMac.

- Podcasts. This is where regular TV stations should get worried. The quality of video podcasts is growing exponentially and HD shows from the likes of revision3, ABC, CNN etc are great.

Negatives:

- While I do think physical DVDs (and HD/Blu Ray for that matter) are a dying breed, I wouldn't have minded a regular DVD player on the APPLE TV. If only because the Apple TV looks so sexy (yes, clearly I'm a mac fanboy) and would look far nicer under my TV if I could throw out my bulky seven year old DVD player)

- Remote. While the little white remote is classic Apple in its simplicity, it makes for a slightly annoying interface. It would be awesome if I could use my MacBook's keyboard to type on my Apple TV.


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## CaptainCode (Jun 4, 2006)

Are you using gift cards for the US iTunes account? If so can you outline the steps to use it on the Apple TV? I signed out of my Canadian account on the Apple TV and it just wants me to enter a US account not any gift card code so I guess I have to create the US iTunes account from the computer using the gift card or something. Still trying to figure out how to do it.


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## satchmo (May 26, 2005)

emalen said:


> - While I do think physical DVDs (and HD/Blu Ray for that matter) are a dying breed, I wouldn't have minded a regular DVD player on the APPLE TV. If only because the Apple TV looks so sexy (yes, clearly I'm a mac fanboy) and would look far nicer under my TV if I could throw out my bulky seven year old DVD player)
> 
> - Remote. While the little white remote is classic Apple in its simplicity, it makes for a slightly annoying interface. It would be awesome if I could use my MacBook's keyboard to type on my Apple TV.


Too bad someone hasn't hacked the MacBook Air Super Drive to work as a standalone player. Don't know if it's the same size as an AppleTV, but if it was, it would sit nicely on top of it.  

BTW, there are a ton of Apple TV hacks here, including one where you can use a keyboard.


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## CaptainCode (Jun 4, 2006)

I got my US iTunes account worked out. You have to buy the gift cards first and then redeem them and create the new account that way.


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