Refurb Apple TVs available at online Apple Store

Amber, you must not have noticed that I was being sarcastic. It is no news that (refurbished) Apple TVs are at the online Apple Store. They have been for quite a while now. The ZOMG was part of my sarcasm.


TUAW just posts dumb things to get money, because they get paid per post. I still come by because sometimes they have some cool posts with cool software, but way too often there are just dumb posts.

F waiting. :) I'm all about grabbing a chance when I can.

Question for the room -- does anyone have, or has anyone heard of having multiple AppleTVs spread around the house? I'd like one for the bedroom as well as one for the living room/main entertainment center. Does this work? Does this cause unforeseen complications due to the two AppleTVs duking it out for my viewing pleasure?

My XBOX 360 Worked fine out of the box? Setting it up was easy. Connect 360 is only $20. Connect 360 is a single double click install into the pref pane. The H264 encoded movies look great and the XBOX 360 blade interface, while not as nice as Apple TV or the Mac isn't hard to navigate. I feel the two systems at the same price point (299 w/o getting a refurb) + $20 for connct 360, getting a gaming system seems like a better value (unless you aren't into games or are waiting around for Apple TV to morph into Pippen II - Which I suspect it will). My experience has been positive. The one caveat is that Microsoft WiFi adapter is $100 (total rip off) while Apple TV has it built in. Just something for you who aren't making insightful comments about my mother taking it up the ass to consider.

@gamerjunkie,

Maybe because us Apple folk like things that *work out of the box?* and would rather spend time watching TV than futzing with settings and Xbox360's and stuff until they finally sorta-kinda-work?

With the AppleTV, it's literally "plug in 2 cables (power and HDMI), connect to my iTunes library (mind-numbingly easy), and a couple clicks later, I'm watching Heroes (or whatever)."

With the X360, first of all, there is NO native connection to the Mac. So I either had to buy a Windows Media Center box (no thanks!) or find some sort of software hack that will let it work. Fortunately there is Connect360. It wasn't too hard to set up, but it involved an extra piece of software, an extra expense, and extra time in setting it up. Oh, and of course, it only streams WMV formatted videos. And here I am with all of my DivX/XviD/MPEG-4/H.264 videos. No workie.

And don't forget that the Xbox360 media browser interface is a pile of steaming crap when compared to the elegant UI of the Apple TV.

Lastly, let us not forget that the X360 only recently started supporting the *real* video Codecs (MPEG4 and H.264); before that it only supported the crap WMA/WMV.

Again, no thanks.

Nathan, it's a frustrating game to play, but I'd wait for now. It's practically guaranteed there will be an upgraded version in the future. Make a little wish list in your head of what problems you'd like to see resolved, and how much you're willing to pay, and then keep an eye out for upgrades. We have no idea what kind of schedule Apple is going to have with this product, so for now, we'll have to be patient and step back a few paces from the bleeding edge.

w00t, thanks for the tip, just bought one for myself :)

Not to divert from the anger, but are there any rumors of another phase of AppleTVs? AppleTV 2.0? Bigger HD? I'm dyin' to buy one, but I don't want to fall into the old mold of buying then having a newer, bigger version released weeks later.

Anyone?

http://macnewsonline.com/wp/2007/05/21/youtube-comes-to-the-apple-tv/

Hmmmmmm

The Apple nerds just will buy anything overpriced from Apple. Even though it sucked at everything else except play iTune store music.

Face it, menu and other hacks to get iTV to play non-Apple codec media is a Pita and they will still do it because they are Apple brand name whores.

So many other better, cheaper, and greater solutions means nothing to them.

The refurb store sells out quick. I discovered when I was waiting to buy a black MacBook that they generally sell out of the good stuff by Monday afternoon, and they usually don't restock until the next Monday. And I didn't figure out what time Monday, but I know I was there too early at 9 Central once, so it's probably 9 Pacific, which makes sense.

Of course, 2 weeks after I bought my refurb, Amazon had the same model, new, for the same price after a rebate. And Amazon doesn't charge tax. Sigh! They just didn't have the rebate while I was waiting to buy :(