About 2 months ago, I ditched cable tv. One of the key factors in doing that was the powerful combination of Netflix streaming and the Apple TV. Apple TV is a small box that you can connect to your TV through a HDMI cable in order to stream content from select web sources or from your home computer.
The Apple TV, version 2 was released in 2010, is less than 4 inches x 4 inches and less than 1 inch tall. It comes Wi-Fi enabled or can be connected directly to the Internet using an Ethernet cable and can connect via HDMI to most high-definition TVs. It is capable of 720p video output maximum.
The Apple TV will connect to your iTunes library through the Home Sharing function allowing you to wirelessly stream any content in your library directly to your television. You can access iTunes directly from the Apple TV to stream movie or tv show rentals to your television as needed. Additionally, there are several services that can be streamed to the Apple TV such as YouTube, MLB.TV, NBA.com League Pass and Netflix. The user interface is straightforward and once you have completed setup of the device, you can jump right in. The setup mainly consists of connecting to your home Wi-Fi network, logging into your iTunes account and logging into Netflix if you have a streaming account. Once done, you are on your way.
In my home, I have three Apple TV devices plugged in and with the 3 DVD and streaming plan with Netflix, I can be streaming different shows to each box at the same time. The ability to stream shows and movies from Netflix to any tv in the house using Apple TV has allowed me to dump my cable provider’s $100+/month services. At $99, the Apple TV will help pay for itself in just a few months in the savings on cable tv alone.
There are some drawbacks to the Apple TV to be aware of. There is no power button. To reset the box, you have to hold the down arrow and menu buttons on the remote or pull the power cord from the back of the device. This is important to know as the Apple TV will go into sleep mode (depending on the settings you choose) and sometimes will not reconnect to the wireless network upon waking. I have found that by restarting the box (by remote or power cord) always solves the problem, but it is annoying.
Based on the ease of use, relatively low cost ($99), small size, ability to stream content from my computer or Netflix and relatively few drawbacks, I give the Apple TV 4 Mick Happies.
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