Is Apple TV as good as a HTPC?
If you are in the market for a Home Theatre PC, or any type of home theatre media solution, you might be considering the Apple TV. This article will not go into the technical specifications of the Apple TV, but rather if it is a better choice than a HTPC for your home media solution.
Just for the record I think that I should point out that I am a bit biased. I don’t really like Mac products much. I know some people find their interface really nice and sleek, but it’s just not my style. That being said after using the Apple TV I found that I quite liked it, and it is really good at what it does.
There are quite a few good points about the Apple TV in comparison to a HTPC. The first thing is it’s cheaper. Buying a Home Theatre PC can get quite expensive, especially once you start customizing all the parts. In this you get a box that is already prebuilt, so you don’t have to worry about it. It also looks really good. The box is really nice and small, and looks really sleek when it sits near your Home Theatre. It comes with an Apple remote, and these are really cool. The remotes are really simple and intuitive to use (think iPod style), and along with the simple Mac interface on the Apple TV, using it is really easy.
It really depends what you want to do with your HTPC. The Apple TV is extremely simple to set up and easy to use. It is very intuitive to do things on it, like listen to music, look at photos, and watch movies. It also works very well with iTunes, being able to easily stream and sync music and TV shows. You can also subscribe to podcasts and watch YouTube videos, which is a lot of fun.
You can also rent movies through the Apple TV, and have 30 days to start watching them. This is awesome as it means no more going to the video store. Think about when it is cold and rainy, I can just sit on my couch and pick a movie, not having to go out in the awful weather to get a DVD.
A major downside of the Apple TV is it has no TV tuner so it can’t act as a PVR. You can add a TV tuner to another computer, and stream to the Apple TV. This means you can use iTunes to get the recorded TV off another computer onto the Apple TV automatically. So the Apple TV makes a good front end system if you have another computer to connect to it that can do all the work.
The Apple TV also only displays up to 720p resolution, so it can’t get full HD content. You either have to downscale your movies (this can be hard for the non technical minded), or download lower quality iStore movies.
It also can’t do much of what a normal HTPC can do. You can’t surf the net, play games, and do other things that a normal computer can do. It also isn’t upgradeable. If you run out of hard drive space, or want to add a DVD player or Blu-Ray player, you can’t. You’re stuck with what you have.
To me an Apple TV is great if you are not technologically able to deal with a HTPC, or you don’t want the hassle of a HTPC, but a home theatre PC really is a lot more flexible, and can do a lot more then the Apple TV.
It is a good solution if you are only buying for what it does – as a streaming box. Just remember it doesn’t do nearly as much as what a HTPC can do, and is not a full media solution. It is a good choice if you want something simple and are combining it with a DVD burner or a Personal Video Recorder.
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