We mentioned this in the "cutting the cable" thread, but since I have cable AND Apple TV, I figured I'd give it its own thread. I got my Apple TV a week or two ago. It's pretty cool. I run my Netflix off of it. I think that renting movies/shows on it is rather expensive, but it's nice to know it's there if I ever need it. I use my iPhone as a remote (download the free remote app) to control the Apple TV. It's great b/c it's easier to type on the iPhone keyboard rather than chosing letters and clicking with the remote that came with the Apple TV. I just finished the first season (only 7 episodes in the 1st season) of Breaking Bad. It's starting to get really good. Anyways, the AppleTV is worth the nominal $99 price tag. Also, if you don't have a game system like XBox or Wii to run Netflix through, then AppleTV is a must.
i counter with roku, much cheaper and also plays netflix and amazon and such, and also can use phone as remote.
Meh, so many things can do what the apple tv does and you dont have to subject yourself to the obnoxiousness of the apple store.
why not just run it off a laptop and connect with the HDMI. That's what I do. Run Netflix, Hulu, Youtube movies, all through my laptop to the tv, with an HDMI cable.
First, I've gone away from a laptop. I don't own one. Secondly, I find that when you stream video through a laptop it makes it work like hell and shortens the life of your computer. It's not really what it was designed to do. Finally, the boxes for appletv and roku are pretty inexpensive. I've been thinking of getting one for a while. I may do Roku due to the HBOGo thing.
Yeah, in hindsight, I probably should have gone Roku. I just did the AppleTV b/c I own every other Apple device and figured it was a safe bet. I think Roku has more to offer (for now) based on what Martin says.