Apple TV

For anyone who's thinking of buying an Apple TV: DON'T!

At least not yet. It has a l-o-n-g way to go. The folks who brought you iPods and those sleek, beautifully engineered Macs really blew it this time.

Not only did it take over 4 hours to set it up on a brand new Sony Bravia 42" with HDMI (over a wireless network with a strong signal)-- which Apple said would "guaranteed" work like a charm -- but 2 levels up at Apple Support they didn't know why it didn't work or what was wrong. I finally got it to work on my own (after 4 hours on the phone with Apple)-- and Apple's explanation was "it" (ie, this particular Apple TV set) "had to learn".

I just kept resetting and resetting, and replugging and powering on and off, and eventually it worked.

I used a Bravia, since I had feared a first time setup on an old Sony Wega was bound to fail. Apple had warned me it would not work. Apple was wrong again. It worked. And it was easy.

But my biggest objection: too expensive and too much trouble for so little payback. I just don't see the attraction. The obvious thing this piece of equipment should do is download and play movies like a TiVO -- and Apple didn't want a fight with the motion picture industry and/or the cable industry - so passed on this for now, at least. The only movies you can get on it are those from iTunes (or those you create on your computer).

It's $300 for a 40GB drive. And everytime you sync it, it wipes the drive clean. So, if you want it to add your newest photos or movies/slideshows you've created - it won't simply add new content, but will wipe the slate clean and rewrite. So if you use an external drive, the drive ALWAYS has to be attached -- and you have to WAIT.

Personally, I have better things to do with my time and money. If you want help or more info on Apple TV, streaming and sync options - or other computer help, services, or training, please email us or see more information SamRoitman.com