Well, its finally come to this...I'm making a positive thread about something Apple. Quick background on the reason for this thread, for those that don't keep up with my ramblings - I've gone through TWO Fire TV Cubes and both ended up being failures (Netflix did not work properly, HDR to SDR changeover was broken, black screens for no reason, etc). I still wanted to a dedicated streaming box, rather than using my Xbox...and like the saying goes, I WANT IT NOW.
As it turned out, I had a Best Buy gift card I had forgotten about so the cost of entry for the (crazy expensive) Apple TV was just $50, which was a driving force for giving this a try.
I am vocal when it comes to my dislike for Apple products but I was willing to give this a chance based on glowing reviews, and I'm glad I did. Getting right to it, this is a quality product and I have little to no complaints about it. The only problem I had, and this is more because I am not part of the Apple ecosystem, was actually getting myself registered on this thing, which required not only that I create an Apple ID BUT I also had to install itunes on my desktop in order to make it so I can "purchase" apps. The whole process is fucking ridiculous but aside from being annoying, was straightforward.
A big reason I decided to try the ATV was because it supports both Dolby Vision AND Dolby Atmos, something not every streaming box does (especially DV). And those are delivered flawlessly - no weird issues with HDR to SDR, no Atmos glitches, it just works. The OS was another reason I was willing to give it a try - its very smooth and stupid simple to navigate. Once you get the hang of the touchpad remote, navigation is very simple and mostly intuitive (even more when you learn button shortcuts). I still think Roku's OS is better, but only slightly.
That leads me to overall performance, which is fantastic. Apps load very fast, picture quality is fantastic (as it should be) and audio is spot on, with rich dynamic range. I have absolutely no complaints when it comes to this thing delivering the goods.
So basically, thats that. This is my first Apple product and it absolutely does not disappoint. I'm not ready to jump over to an iphone, but this definitely changes my perspective on Apple products.
As it turned out, I had a Best Buy gift card I had forgotten about so the cost of entry for the (crazy expensive) Apple TV was just $50, which was a driving force for giving this a try.
I am vocal when it comes to my dislike for Apple products but I was willing to give this a chance based on glowing reviews, and I'm glad I did. Getting right to it, this is a quality product and I have little to no complaints about it. The only problem I had, and this is more because I am not part of the Apple ecosystem, was actually getting myself registered on this thing, which required not only that I create an Apple ID BUT I also had to install itunes on my desktop in order to make it so I can "purchase" apps. The whole process is fucking ridiculous but aside from being annoying, was straightforward.
A big reason I decided to try the ATV was because it supports both Dolby Vision AND Dolby Atmos, something not every streaming box does (especially DV). And those are delivered flawlessly - no weird issues with HDR to SDR, no Atmos glitches, it just works. The OS was another reason I was willing to give it a try - its very smooth and stupid simple to navigate. Once you get the hang of the touchpad remote, navigation is very simple and mostly intuitive (even more when you learn button shortcuts). I still think Roku's OS is better, but only slightly.
That leads me to overall performance, which is fantastic. Apps load very fast, picture quality is fantastic (as it should be) and audio is spot on, with rich dynamic range. I have absolutely no complaints when it comes to this thing delivering the goods.
So basically, thats that. This is my first Apple product and it absolutely does not disappoint. I'm not ready to jump over to an iphone, but this definitely changes my perspective on Apple products.
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