So i returned the FireTV last week becuase of issues of the remote not working well.

This week I bought an AppleTV. I owned the 3rd Gen Apple TV too.

Impressions:
It feels way faster.
The new remote is good.
Siri on the TV is many times faster than on the phone.

I still hate the sign-into local provider and supply an activation code that you have to do for every channel. If they could move that to the AppleTV itself in a web view and keep your credentials live for a period of time it would be easier.

Fast forwarding in the HBO App is great not. You can skip the 2 minutes of previews and credits before John Oliver starts to talk much easier.

An app called Video Explorer, Media Player for Apple TV (NAS/PLEX) is free and it will connect of SMB/Apple shares and Plex and play videos from them. It's OKAY, some issues - but I think that it shows that in the future it has the capability to be a mini-htpc.

Anyone else get one?

There's a port but it's for devs to flash the console.

The 2nd gen got hacked and you could use external storage - but I doubt it'will be a supported feature from Apple.

Now a wireless hard drive could be possible like it is on the iPhone and iPad - but would be universally supported by all apps. http://www.apple.com/shop/product/HFSQ2ZM/B/sandisk-connect-64gb-wireless-media-drive

Now - COULD this be a super cheap computer replacement with a keyboard (not supported) and a web browser (not supported) and Google Apps or iWorks Apps (not supported.)

The did release a free PLEX client yesterday.

in pretty much every way.

it has a few quirks that make it clear this shouldn't have been released ye,t it's like two firmware updates away from being complete.


and until they release the actual video service apple is trying to build, it's basically one half of a whole.

if you need a new apple tv box, buy the new one.

but if you don't, just wait. you'll be able to get one later, and until the tv service launches you don't need it.

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

NM

generally speaking I'd say it's still the same, if you're using an iphone/ipad/mac the apple tv is the one for you. if not, you can probably get a fire TV stick, or a roku 3 for cheap or something

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

Some bad (covered in like every review)

1)Remote is symmetrical, can't tell which end is up in the dark.
2)Remote is not great for games.
3)Entering passwords is still clunk using remote AND the remote app doesn't work anymore and no keyboard support.
4)No Apple Music app
5)No Podcast app (or 3rd party podcast apps yet.)
6)App store does not have category pages yet - so there's no list like "Streaming video content" or "Games"
7)Track pad on remote is touchy - if you know the remote off the chair or touch it in any way it usually does something you don't want it to.
8)No web browser at all - can't write this post using it.

Some bad-ish things:
1)No 4k - which would be nice considering the iPhone 6S has 4k I don't have a 4K TV (just a monitor that's 4K.) Expect 4K in a few years and an upgrade too.
2)Bright white light on the front.

Good news: The software based bad things could be changes with future updates.

I'll bet in 6 months a lot of this is "fixed."

But it plays Netflix, CBS, Hulu etc just fine.

The fast forward/rewind on most apps is vastly improved.

The games could be okay - they look great but the remote hampers the fun with bad controls.

I haven't had it crash or just not work. I can always watch my videos so I don't think it's unfinished - but I do think it might get better in the near future.

They updated the Remote app and it still won't work.

I just don't think it's ever gonna get great apps.

It's a better streaming box than the previous Apple TV, and that's all good, but I doubt developers are ever gonna get creative with this thing and that's a real shame.

if I have to pick the thing up, it's not saving me the time or the effort. I use voice control on my xbox and on amazon echo because I don't even have to look at it for it to work. it's the lowest effort-to-effect way to do something.



www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

Something happened overnight, and now I need to restore it with iTunes, but it requires a USB-C cable. It's weird that they wouldn't design it to use the same cable that everything else uses.

You sure it's that hosed that you need to restore via USB-C?

I ordered this one a while back: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016XK6O82?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

But they have even cheapers ones now: http://www.amazon.com/Charging-Reversible-MacBook-Supported-Devices/dp/B00VJDSMF2/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1452577485&sr=1-2&keywords=usb+c+cable&refinements=p_36%3A-499

I left the cables disconnected all day today, and it's still blinking when I reconnect. Having to restore this early into it is whatever. I just hate they don't package the right cable for that task.