Price drop alert, Apple TV 160GB $100, 40GB is no more (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/14/apple-tv-price-slashed-40gb-model-dropped/

Checking price grabber it seems all the usual suspect online merchants haven't updated yet, and Apple has refurb 160s for MORE than what a new one goes for.
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/ipod/apple_tv

I'm actually looking to nab a couple of the new old stock 40s before they are gone if I can get them for under $150 or so, if anyone finds any deals on those as they get cleared out please post it.

 

[DaveF]

As someone who looks at the AppleTV and just scratches my head in confusion, I'm sure this will help sales. Well, I guess if it was about $50, I'd buy two and use them as music streaming devices in the living room and bedroom. But as a TV junkie with big TVs and TivoHD's, I don't understand out what the AppleTV wants to be when it grows up.

So, I remain curious how people use their AppleTVs. And how is does its thing better than other gadgets.

 

[Sam Posten]

I want one for podcasts on my bedroom TV and the other as a media center extender for my main HT.

 

[JohnRice]

So Dave, you are saying an AppleTV is worth 1/2 the price of an AirPort Express?

I got an ATV used (here on HTF) to use specifically for streaming music on my main HT. It has it's own monitor (an HP 20" widescreen LCD) so I can just turn on my receiver and call up any music I want to listen to. Yeah, it's kind of a limited use, but music is at least as important to me for my HT as movies, sometime more important, and the AppleTV makes for a great way to listen to anything I want from my catalog of about 2,000 albums in a few seconds. The entire thing cost about $250 with monitor, which I think is quite the deal. The nice thing is, there is other stuff it can do. I just wish I could use it to stream movies from NetFlix, then I would actually connect it to the main monitor, in addition to the HP, so I could use either. So, I sometimes just listen to music, with the main monitor off, and I often watch sports on the main monitor while listening to music, which I can queue up and select independent of what I am watching.

It is a seriously cool setup. BTW, I have experimented with lossless compression, but ended up doing all music from CD with LAME in HQ mode at 320Kb/s. The sound is excellent, even with my incredibly unforgiving Thiels. Besides, I have all the CDs and if I want "no compromises" playback, my best solution is to play the actual CD on the absurdly good CD playback system, which cost 10x the ATV system.

I haven't actually done that in a while now, as I have been pleasantly surprised by the sound quality I get form the ATV, going optical to the receiver, of course. I doubt its D/A converter would impress.

 

[DaveF]

Originally Posted by JohnRice

I've noted elsewhere that I can't figure out the purpose of the aTV, but it remains a curiosity to me, and I enjoy hearing how others use and enjoy it. And they're usually uses that I can't fathom, like watching muted sports with background music

It's because the AppleTV is so close to something that I'd really like that I'm chronically intrigued by it; but the one or two things it doesn't do make it completely useless to me. It's just a big techno-tease!

 

[JohnRice]

Originally Posted by DaveF

I've noted elsewhere that I can't figure out the purpose of the aTV, but it remains a curiosity to me, and I enjoy hearing how others use and enjoy it. And they're usually uses that I can't fathom, like watching muted sports with background music

The HP 2009m monitor is not $200. It is regularly on sale for $130, and I also had a $30 discount card, which OfficeMax seems to send me every other week. So, $100 for the monitor and $140 for the ATV, equals less than $250.

And, it's more like listening to music, with sports playing in the background. The fact is, 99% of sports don't really need sound to follow. Apparently listening to music (meaning, listening to music, not just having it play in the background) is something you can't fathom. I don't share that view.

I have noticed on several occasions that you seem to condemn the ATV as worthless because it is not a high def HTPC. Show me a high def HTPC for slightly over $200 and you will have a point. It is an inexpensive, fairly basic piece of streaming hardware.

 

[JohnRice]

In fact, the HP2009m 20" wide monitor is on sale, as we speak, for $129.95.

http://www.officemax.com/catalog/sku.jsp?productId=prod2380240&freeText=2009m&csRedirectSearchString=2009m&csRedirectSearchResultCount=1&csSearchTag=true&_requestid=3476751

Probably through 9/19

 

[DaveF]

That's me: it is useless without being an HD DVR or disc player system. I seriously considered one as a video jukebox: hacked to playback DVDs. But it's too expensive and time-consuming to accomplish for my taste.

As for other uses, it didn't make sense compared to other services or devices. (I don't listen to enough music at home to justifiy $330, or even $230, to pipe music to my stereo. Not when I could connect my iPod with a $5 cable. And now my Tivo does it as a free bonus.)

I don't mean to demean anyone who bought an AppleTV. I've got no religious issues with the device or its users.

I just look at it and think, "Add Tivo-class DVR software!" or "Add Blu-Ray!" or "Price movies and rentals reasonably!" and I'll be all over it.

 

[JohnRice]

Dave, you claim not to, but you certainly appear to be on a mission to convince everyone you can that the AppleTV is some sort of affront to the electronics world. I don't think I have seen a single thread regarding it here where you didn't gleefully come in touting its worthlessness, even after people have explained why they like it. It's not an HTPC, it doesn't claim to be an HTPC, it isn't priced like an HTPC. You'd think the thing cost a thousand dollars the way you rail against it. It's very curious. Reminds me of a line from a book I read, "It wasn't enough to offer herbal tea, everyone had to drink it."

Anyway.......