Apple TV2 Review

So I've had some time to try out my new Apple TV Take 2. All I can say is I really like it and it was worth it for me if only for one thing...the ability to finish watching my video podcasts or TV shows after my nightly commute home from work.

So here is my setup: About 5 years ago I built a HTPC. I tried lots of different front ends but at that time there was really only SnapStream & MythTV. My cable company did not have PVRs available then so I basically built my own and went with SnapStream's BeyondTV. It worked great and continues to work great although now I have 2 cable box HD PVRs that handle most of my recording needs for the family. The HTPC holds our entire music collection, is a MAME PC (I built a custom arcade controller for that as well) and handles all my podcast subscriptions for sync to my iPods for my daily 3+- hour round trip commute to work.

The downside at the time was I had to manually re-encode TV programs to put in iTunes for sync to my iPod. Well the last major release from SnapStream introduced automatic conversion to iTunes compatible format and subscription via podcast feeds. So basically I subscribe to my own recorded TV shows. This was the absolutely best thing they could of ever added and was tailor made for me. Any one who has ever been in my office knows I'm a bit of a motorcycle nut, specifically sport bikes. I own and ride one, I go to the races almost every year (work permitting) and I watch a ton of races on TV. The problem was my wife is not quite the fan of watching as I am. So now I watch all the television programming she doesn't care for on my commute home from work (I would watch in the morning as well but it's something of a taboo on my commuter bus having a brightly lit screen at 5:00 AM).

So this works great, incredibly so, and all I have to do is drop my iPod in the dock and then put it in my bag for the next day. There was just one little hiccup and this is where my new Apple TV finally (sorry for the long background) comes into play. Most of the time I get thru one & half TV programs on my commute and a lot of the time I hate waiting until the next day to finish watching the race. I used to have to come home and finish watching on my iPod instead of the TV because my son would be playing video games. Now he has his own TV but let's face it if your Dad let you play on a 50" HDTV connected thru a Pioneer Amp with 5.1 surround wouldn't you use that instead all the time. I guess I've become a softy or even maybe a little guilty for having been in the Military and gone all the time but I just can't ask him to quit in the middle of a game.

Well now I don't have to and I get to watch on my 46" LCD HDTV in the bedroom. That's where I hooked up the Apple TV2 and it sync's with the same HTPC. Now I get home drop the iPod in the dock and while it sync's what I've watched or partially watched and get the new stuff for the next days trip it's identical on the Apple TV. After I've unpacked, kissed the wife, chat about our day, see how many Enemy KIAs my son has in COD4, and get in my sweats I fire up the Apple TV and finish watching my program from the commuter bus exactly where I left off. There's usually only 10 or 20 minutes left which is just about right while dinner is finished being prepared. Exactly what I've been wanting all these years. This alone was worth the $215 bucks I paid (I know, but I get a discount when I shop at the apple store).

Last night we rented our first two movies and it really is as easy as it seems and I'm doing it with a wireless connection. No problems at all. I still think the price is a bit high but for ease of use and to watch those questionable shows we are not sure we want to buy on DVD it's great. It's so easy and great that I'm going to have to get one for my non-techie parents. They like to rent movies and with the inclusion of Flickr access it will be easy for them to see my photos right on their TV (to heck with internet digital picture fames).

Yes I like it and would recommend it for sure!