id_deleted
join:2003-05-01
Salt Lake City, UT
4 edits | It's obviously why apple stock is getting whipped so bad.
Ideas like this are simply stupid. A $5 HDMI cable and my HDTV is my PC monitor running at 1080p resolution. They simply market these things to the technically challenged, and they are doomed from the start to be just as obsolete as all the webtv boxes that are now in the trash dumps.
Dont be a sucker, if you want a broadband experience on your HDTV, do it the right way and hook a broadband connected computer to it. I am typing this post on one, a 47" LCD HDTV hooked to a PC via HDMI, and I can play Crysis Warhead at full enthusiast specs on it if I want. Try that with one of these stupid apple hardware jokes. |
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Count Zero
MD2Be
Premium
join:2007-01-18
Warner Robins, GA
 ·AT&T DSL Service
 ·Cox HSI
1 edit | Obviously this product isn't aimed at you.
I'm betting this device costs a lot less than your TV + computer combine and offers a much nicer (or at least streamlined) interface for streaming media than your computer does.
If it was meant to be a gaming platform it probably wouldn't be directly attached to a TV and would probably include more of a controller than the Apple remote /iPhone/iPod Touch |
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id_deleted
join:2003-05-01
Salt Lake City, UT
4 edits | Well, you already lost that bet. Me and about a million other HTPC users will drop by tomorrow to collect. 
I can stream any video on the net, and I can download the latest blockbuster in mkv blu-ray format directly to my hard drive and watch it in full screen 1080p high definition (alt.binaries.hdtv.x264 for example).
My interface choice ranges depending on my mood, either Vista Media Center or I just click and play it in Media Player Classic HT. Vista Media Center not streamlined? Ha.. Using VMC is much easier than trying to manipulate through some apple TV garbage. In fact, if you think using your computer even how it is right now to be harder than using some TV based interface, perhaps I can interest you in WebTV, it was a really big hit. LOL
You will enjoy paying nearly a dollar per song from iTunes, while I enjoy the free, much better sounding, high bitrate mp3's that I record directly from HD Radio stations with my HD RadioPC system. The "lock you into paying for something that everyone else can obtain for free" is Apples whole business model.
The stupid apple hardware is not upgradeable, so even if it could keep up with my system today (which it cannot), it will never do so in the future. I can simply pop for a new video card or motherboard and I'm instantly state of the art again. You think apple is ever going to license the next popular streaming media format; they wont even pay to license realplayer! I just download a software update and I'm good to go.
I could put together a system just as good as mine for less than $3000, including the 47" LCD HDTV and a $235 internal LG 6x blu-ray "burner" (you cant even find a decent stand alone blu-ray "player" for that price). But, that’s not the point; everyone here has some type of computer already. Why spend the money on the stupid apple hardware just to reproduce capability you likely already have? Apple is just praying on the misinformed. Do a little google search on the term "HTPC" before you buy their junk. |
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BK
join:2001-09-10
Wheaton, IL
·Comcast
·EarthLink
| Yea id_deleted this clearly isn't targeted people like you and me who have a HTPC. This is for those people that buy a Mac Pro with 8 cores and 16 GB of ram to check their email and watch youtube 
no but seriously I could see this having a niche, a small one, for the rich people that like to buy new toys (and still didn't learn from the whole apple TV useless-ness) |
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id_deleted
join:2003-05-01
Salt Lake City, UT
1 edit | Oh, you must mean the "dumb" rich people then. LOL
Of course if they are rich, it may just mean they are smart enough to get that way, and therefore they are not going to buy into to a foolish piece of overpriced hardware. Even the most technically handicapped weathy folks can make the right decisions when real information about better alternatives is forced upon them. |
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Count Zero
MD2Be
Premium
join:2007-01-18
Warner Robins, GA
·AT&T DSL Service
·Cox HSI
| Why put a whole computer in your living room when you just want to use it to watch movies and other media? That makes no sense to me, it's a waste of money and a waste of electricity. I suppose you don't own an XBox 360 or Playstation 3 because they aren't upgradable either? Your PEE-CEE is probably a lot kewler because it has blinking blue and red lights in it.
Maybe if your whole setup is in one room it would make more sense to just run a cable from the computer to the TV, but for other people their computer is close to 100 yards from their TV (following wall contours anyway). I had an HTPC years ago, it wasn't as slick as you pretend they are. |
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id_deleted
join:2003-05-01
Salt Lake City, UT
4 edits | Pretend? I can assure you my HTPC system is much more than "slick". I doubt you could even comprehend what a system like mine is like.
While I agree that hooking up to some old TV via an S-video port like you probably did "years ago" is less than impressive, an HDTV running your desktop at 1080p pretty much rocks anyone.
The only valid reason I have ever heard for not moving your PC into an entertainment area is that it would look "out of place", but a simple and fairly inexpensive change to a different case solves that one.
This case is a pretty nice example, and I cant imagine anyone would complain if they had to put that in their AV rack.
The function of the Apple equipment we are discussing in this thread is not just to "watch movies and other media", it is basically Apples attempt to integrate a WiFi equiped broadband connected computer into an HDTV while locking the user into their own proprietary hardware and software.
A comparison to a stand alone game console is also irrelevant, were you satisfied playing your nintendo 64, or did you trash it and upgrade to a 360 when they came out. Are you going to trash your $5000 apple junk when it cannot keep up with the new tech? A typical game console is obsolete for playing the newest game releases within 2 to 3 years, something the console manufacturers "might" just have planned. I doubt that could be considered a good thing when it applies to a $5000 - $6000 investment, but history has shown that the technology it uses will also become obsolete in less than 3 to 4 years; do you still use unencrypted 802.11b wifi on your home network? |
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Count Zero
MD2Be
Premium
join:2007-01-18
Warner Robins, GA
·AT&T DSL Service
·Cox HSI
| You probably put flashing blue lights in your PCs too huh?
Seriously, that case looks like it's quite large, and it costs half as much as the AppleTV and doesn't include the motherboard, graphics card, processor, RAM, hard drive, or operating system (or am I right in guessing that particular component doesn't factor into your spreadsheet?).
Lets be honest - for a lot more money and effort you can put a PC in your AV rack and then you can play video games too - but at the cost of a less than intuitive UI and having to upgrade t3h video card every time you want to play the next quake game.... or you can buy an Apple TV for $229 and an XBox for another $299 and have a much better audio/video/gaming solution. |
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id_deleted
join:2003-05-01
Salt Lake City, UT
4 edits | Well like I said, Apple TV and game consoles are not what we are talking about here in this thread. We are talking about an HDTV that physically integrates personal computer capability using a proprietary model. It represents alot more functionality then either watching Apple TV or playing on a game console offers. Its unlikely that it will function as a gaming device of any sort, and it will not even do its intended functions well for very long considering how fast technology changes.
The fact that Apple would very much like to lock you into purchasing song tracks for a buck a piece is also very relevant.
As far as the case example, I refer to it as an upgrade, not a component purchase for a new system. Its a solution for those with an existing computer that would look out of place in their entertainment room, nothing more. Not sure why you found that hard to understand?
If you cannot comprehend the difference between an HTPC and an Apple TV box then I think we are done with this discussion. |
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Count Zero
MD2Be
Premium
join:2007-01-18
Warner Robins, GA
·AT&T DSL Service
·Cox HSI
1 edit | How are we NOT talking about the AppleTV here? That's the WHOLE point of the Apple branded HDTV... it's an HDTV with an AppleTV built into it.
And how is technology going to make an Apple integrated TV obsolete? In the long run I truly imagine physical media will be the ultimate loser and eventually everything will be streaming - whether from Apple's servers or the home computer. As long as 720p and 1080p are considered good enough then a TV with a built-in Apple TV that can handle those formats will not be 'obsolete'. Do you think in 3 years you'll be ditching your HDTV for a 1440p TV set? I seriously doubt I will be.... |
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jaminus
join:2004-10-14
Arlington, VA
| reply to id_deleted
Re: Bah
You are absolutely right. As cheap as PCs are getting these days -- under $400 for a C2D with 2GB of RAM and HDMI out -- there is no reason why companies are pushing useless set top boxes when PCs make so much more sense.
Typing this from a wireless keyboard 12 feet away from my 52" 1080p LCD connected via HDMI with 1:1 pixel mapping, I have little reason to ever go back to a conventional computer monitor. |
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