I want one, but for a few hundred more you can get a mac mini which will do what the apple tv does and more. Of course, you’d have to worry about disk permissions, upgrading ram and all the other stuff that comes with a regular computer.

“TV on demand” through my cable TV provider seems like a better deal… for the time being. If AAPL teamed up with someone like GreenCine.com or even Netflix and got a movie subscription thing going, then Heck Yeah I would get one today. So far though, subscriptions don’t seem to be cool with iTunes. I Also think that iTunes needs to be able to rip DVDs onto people’s ‘puters like you can with CD’s, if I could do for my DVD library what I did for my CD library and have all of my media content on one slick little MacMini and stream it to an AppleTV, that would be pretty sweet. I know I can use third party software to do that now but I’m all about KISS (Keeping It Simple Stupid) these days.
One more thing, I think they should have named it Applevision.

TV? TV sucks big time where I live. As does the internet connection. In the time it takes to download a whole movie in decent quality I can go to the store, rent a DVD, cue at McDonalds, change my mind, drive to BK, change my mind, go to KFC, change my mind again, head back home, bake a Pizza myself and skip the “piracy is evil” trailer, whatch the movie, rip it and bring it back.

So no, I wouldn’t want an Apple TV.

Additionally, the Apple TV doesn’t play my Vinyls. Although I’m sure someone will remodel one to make that one happen … where is my 7″-ROM?

Anyway. No, thanks.

I’ve had “media center” PCs for several years. First, a linux box, then a short stint with windows xp media center, then finally settling on a mac mini when the first generation came out.

For awhile I was using other features, like the web browser, occasionally checking my email, etc, but its primary focus has always been music, videos, and pictures. The mini I have is aging, and doesn’t smoothly play the new videos I download from iTMS, so I’ve been thinking about getting a new mini. I think instead, I’ll get an AppleTV. It does everything I need it too, it’s simple, and I’ll spend the few hundred bucks I save on an additional external hard drive for media storage and backups!

untll it can mirror my screen so that I can run other apps on my tv or internet content it is pointless for me.

I’m not really sure I see the appeal unless you’re an Apple user (of which I am only rarely).

The XBox 360 has been able to do everything the Apple TV does, as far as I know, for a year (with the exceptions of playing iTunes purchased media, perhaps). And by year’s end it will have IPTV.

Oh, and it can, you know, play games too. Forgot about that part.

If the AppleTV is going to work for me I need Apple to let me redownload all the video content I’ve bought them in 720p, which would take a lot of bandwidth even for the few shows I watch. They didn’t offer me a higher quality download when they switched from 240 to 480, so I’m probably stuck with what I have. As someone who doesn’t watch a lot of TV or have a big cable package, I could see myself switching at some point to AppleTV and just buying shows a la carte. I won’t be in line to buy one until the content catches up with the device, though. Some of my favorite shows aren’t on iTunes yet, and I’m sort of torn on movie content.

I decided to get one. It should be here Friday. There are plenty of other PC’s that do the same thing, but it’s how simple this will be to use and set up. The remote has 6 buttons I think. The rest is all done through the software with the Front Row interface. I started ripping my DVD’s to get them out of the living room. Looking forward to seeing it in person…

I am much more excited to see Joost in my house if that indeed ever comes to reality.

well i like it, and its seamless with pc’s and mac’s, but i have had less and less time to sit at home in front of the TV and my slingbox is now playing a larger role while i’m on the road.

it’s cool!!~but,it’s supposed expensive.right??
i really want it.

I don’t understand this product. Before I read anything about it, I assumed it would at least have some form of DVR capability on it, but from what I’ve seen it’s only real draw is watching tv shows that you bought through iTunes. A nice idea, but for $300 I’ll continue to watch tv on tv, and itunes purchases on my Studio Display. I understand why people want one, but when you can watch things on your tv from a macbook pro with a $10 dollar cable I just don’t see the need.

didnt the Slingbox do this, cheaper, and a lot better, like 2 years ago? That thing projected all over the house, so it worked on *every* tv you owned.

and yeah, a 360/ps3 does this better, with many more features, in my opinion.

other than being a nice match for the mac mini, i haven’t paid any attention to this device. my imac g5 doesn’t even have enough ports for the peripherals i really NEED

They look good to me, but I’m inclined to hold off until there’s a model with a bigger HD. 40gb is no where near enough.