Apple TV... who has one?

I had one... HAD being the main word. I normally really like Apple products of late, but the Apple TV was disappointing. Spend the extra money and just pick up an Mac Mini. You will still be able to do everything the Apple TV can do, PLUS you also have a full computer to do anything else you like, and you will be able to run anything you like and watch anything you like. I have a Mac Mini controlling my entire entertainment center now. The Mac Mini does NOT have HDMI out, but if you simply go and get a DVI to HMDI cable from bestbuy... 20 bucks, It will plug into your HDMI TV just fine. In my case I have a Samsung 47 inch LCD... there is even a port on the TV for plugging in the sound from the mini sound jack, so it works flawlessly. The computer even recognized the TV upon plugging it in and set the correct 1080p resolution.

Well, I know there is a way to set up a server for movies... say 2tb of storage and rip all your DVD movies and play them straight from your server with AppleTV. Looks very interesting. Is that possible with the mac mini? And the Apple TV is only 229$ now. Mac Mini is a lot more money, and since I have a power book already I just use that for my mac apps. What did you NOT like about Apple TV so much? What was the biggest disappointment?

I have one.

Gonna be giving one away at some point too.

http://www.engadget.com/2005/01/25/h...-media-center/

You can do that with an Xbox360 and a PC as well, plus you get a kickass gaming console as a bonus.

Thats what I did also and it is great!

Any good links that show me how?

Well, one, I don't like the fact that the apple tv limits the formats you can play. You stuck using what they let you or "hack" the apple TV. Also, I want to be able to do more than just watch movies.. I wanted to be able to access email, do some surfing on the net, maybe play some computer games, etc. I also have a PS3 in my system. I still use the Mac Mini for all my entertainment. I use the PS3 for the Blue Ray and to play games on... but the Mac mini is a TOTAL solution. For storage, I have a lacie terabyte drive attacted to the mac mini, Plus it's also on my network and has gigabit access to 2 other lacie terabyte drive, 2 PC's and another 1000 gig of mixed drives, my Imac and My Macbook Pro!. PLUS I can control the whole thing right from my Iphone. I have a Linksys wireless keyboard and mouse sitting by my couch, and when I feel like it I simple switch the source on my TV and Im surfin the web etc... Rocks. ALSO the apple tv has no DVD drive... so if you plan on watching a DVD you still need another device... The Mac Mini fills this need also.

Of course it cost more... but really... it gives you MUCH more.

Its ok. For an Apple product, it was kind of a dud... but its also very hackable.... theres all kinds of third party hacks for it now, including running MythTV.

But.. Apple is releasing a whole new revamped interface for the AppleTV that should be out in a week or so. It includes being able to rent and stream HD movies directly from the iTunes store.. no PC required. Plus tons of other stuff.

To all you guys about to get rid of your AppleTV... wait till the free update is released, before you do.

It's basically self explanatory once you have the 360 up and running. You just go to the media tab in the 360 and it will let you setup the connection between it and your PC in there.

Basically whatever media you have on your PC you can access with your 360. There are some exceptions as to file formats, but most of the stuff out there you can play. I believe they recently added divx support as well.

There is a forum post at teamxbox dot com. I don't want to link to it here since it is another forum, but just go to the xbox hardware discussion forum and there is a post called "how to stream files to your 360 guide"

That should cover the basics in there.