Apple TV Redux

Two months ago, I wrote an article on how I was disappointed with the Apple TV, based upon my experience in the Apple Store (the one in Corte Madera, CA). Well, things have changed and I decided to give the device another opportunity to welcome itself into my home.

After performing more research (web and in person), I was able to define the following tangible benefits for purchasing the device:

1. Media hub for the family. We only have one TV and a simple Home Theater-in-a-box (HTiB) solution. These both sit in the family room. We have limited storage space, so leaving all of our media (CDs/DVDs) accessible is difficult, especially when you have hundreds of music CDs and a bunch of children’s DVDs.

2. Sharing our photos with friends and family. In a home, folks congregate around the kitchen and the family room. To be able to display family photos and have some good discussion/laughs around the content is just fun.

3. Having an opportunity to have all of our music at the touch of one remote. With over 500 CDs collected over many years, this is handy. It is the ultimate Jukebox.

4. Sharing movies with our daughter. I am not advocating support for the DMCA or for piracy, although I do believe in fair use. Being able to enjoy existing movies and have them at your fingertips without having to use the original media is very handy indeed.

5. YouTube. Now, this is just a bonus. It’s easy, mindless entertainment. Not much more to say about it.

So, on Saturday, I purchased the 160GB AppleTV. I got it set up on Sunday and it has been a sheer pleasure. Last night, my wife and I spent a half an hour watching a photo slideshow of our daughter’s second year of life. It was an absolute joy to watch my wife smile while she watched our daughter’s life transform before her eyes.

Of course, I can’t say that the overall product setup was painless. For the most part, it was straightforward. And yet, integrating it into my home theater proved challenging, including:

Audio

The AppleTV has a digital optical output for audio (outside of the standard composite connections). My Sony HDTV also has an optical out. My Denon HTiB only has one optical input. So, I had to connect the AppleTV via standard composite cables. Thus, I lose out on the digital output.

This is an unfortunate circumstance, although I can’t sacrifice the HDTV output. I am looking into a switcher for optical outputs. I just wish Apple had also supplied a coax digital output (preferred in my book). Oh well.

Remote control

I use a Logitech Harmony 720. This is a great device and is pretty reasonable for smart/programmable remote. It took me a few hurdles to get the AppleTV remote programmed into the Harmony, although once it was done, it removed my need for the additional AppleTV remote.

Folks tend to complain about the lack of volume support. I don’t see this as an issue because I use a separate receiver. And, if you connect the AppleTV to your HDTV (or TV for that matter), the main TV has the volume control.

Setup

My system is relatively unique in that I use a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device for my backup and storage of media files. I point iTunes and iPhoto to this NAS and then I have the AppleTV sync from there over a Wireless G network. Thankfully, it all works. It is just slow.

UI

I like the Front Row experience, although I am concerned how it will scale once I add additional media to view. The iPod’s interface/scroll wheel works well. The up/down menu navigation on the AppleTV gets a little tedious. I am curious to see how Apple plans to address this in the future.

Conclusion

I have owned the device now for two days. I will hope to learn more as we continue to use the device at home. If anyone has any tips (none that will violate the warranty) on how to solve the audio connection issues, I am listening.