Comments on: First Impressions of the New Apple TV http://techland.time.com/2010/09/28/first-impressions-of-the-new-apple-tv/ News and reviews from the world of gadgets, gear, apps and the web Thu, 16 May 2013 15:58:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: jaredb2010 http://techland.time.com/2010/09/28/first-impressions-of-the-new-apple-tv/comment-page-1/#comment-13074 Thu, 07 Oct 2010 12:46:48 +0000 http://techland.com/?p=47706#comment-13074 DO you have to have your own HDMI cable or does it come with one?

]]> By: Peter Ha http://techland.time.com/2010/09/28/first-impressions-of-the-new-apple-tv/comment-page-1/#comment-12958 Mon, 04 Oct 2010 18:36:53 +0000 http://techland.com/?p=47706#comment-12958 That’s great news, Rick. But I never said you had to use the optical port for anything.

]]> By: rickus123 http://techland.time.com/2010/09/28/first-impressions-of-the-new-apple-tv/comment-page-1/#comment-12954 Mon, 04 Oct 2010 16:36:22 +0000 http://techland.com/?p=47706#comment-12954 Peter,

I just got my Apple TV over the weekend, and I did not need to connect an optical cable to my stereo at all. For others who are interested, my setup is as follows:

AppleTV connects to Panasonic TV via HDMI cable
Panasonic TV connects to Yamaha Receiver via optical audio cable. (This connection existed prior to my AppleTV purchase to send TV audio through my stereo speakers.)

When I play music through AppleTV’s onscreen interface, I can play music (or movies/shows for that matter) from my shared iTunes library (residing on my MacBook Pro), with Home Sharing enabled. Music plays through my stereo. All music control is through the Apple TV interface (via the included Remote or the iPhone ‘Remote’ app).

An alternate way to play music is by controlling the music from iTunes running on my MacBook and using the new iTunes option to send the output wirelessly to multiple speakers. This is done via a new icon/button in the lower right corner in iTunes that allows you to select AppleTV as an output option (other AirPlay speakers should show up in this list also but I cannot verify that.) Music control is through iTunes or with the iPhone ‘Remote’ app. Note that my TV has to be on with the HDMI port active that has the AppleTV connected.

So I’m not sure why the optical audio port exists or in what configuration it would be needed. One possibility is that I could send music from my MacBook’s iTunes to the AppleTV speakers without needing to turn on the TV first, but I don’t have an extra optical around to test that.

–rick

]]> By: Peter Ha http://techland.time.com/2010/09/28/first-impressions-of-the-new-apple-tv/comment-page-1/#comment-12864 Fri, 01 Oct 2010 19:48:23 +0000 http://techland.com/?p=47706#comment-12864 @pez no you can’t.

]]> By: pezphoto1 http://techland.time.com/2010/09/28/first-impressions-of-the-new-apple-tv/comment-page-1/#comment-12838 Thu, 30 Sep 2010 16:09:06 +0000 http://techland.com/?p=47706#comment-12838 I’m not much of a techie. I have an old school tube TV which is attached to a new Xbox 360. I don’t have HDMI on my tv obviously…but do you know if I can plug the Apple TV into my Xbox and run it to my TV that way?

]]> By: Peter Ha http://techland.time.com/2010/09/28/first-impressions-of-the-new-apple-tv/comment-page-1/#comment-12824 Wed, 29 Sep 2010 22:33:13 +0000 http://techland.com/?p=47706#comment-12824 I’m assuming the stereo is pumping out the jams for the TV, so, no, you don’t need to hook up the optical to run music from iTunes. You just need to have the TV on, I guess. Does that answer your question?

]]> By: rickus123 http://techland.time.com/2010/09/28/first-impressions-of-the-new-apple-tv/comment-page-1/#comment-12800 Wed, 29 Sep 2010 17:07:01 +0000 http://techland.com/?p=47706#comment-12800 You mentioned that only an HDMI cable is required, even for audio. I assume this setup would “route” iTunes audio through my TV (where the HDMI cable is connected). If I want to route iTunes audio (not movies/shows) to my stereo, I need the optical audio cable, right?

]]> By: Peter Ha http://techland.time.com/2010/09/28/first-impressions-of-the-new-apple-tv/comment-page-1/#comment-12798 Wed, 29 Sep 2010 14:55:33 +0000 http://techland.com/?p=47706#comment-12798 @crichton it does. Here’s my review http://bit.ly/adGtrf

]]> By: crichton007 http://techland.time.com/2010/09/28/first-impressions-of-the-new-apple-tv/comment-page-1/#comment-12797 Wed, 29 Sep 2010 14:52:36 +0000 http://techland.com/?p=47706#comment-12797 Does it stream items from an iTunes library?

]]> By: Peter Ha http://techland.time.com/2010/09/28/first-impressions-of-the-new-apple-tv/comment-page-1/#comment-12769 Tue, 28 Sep 2010 19:45:59 +0000 http://techland.com/?p=47706#comment-12769 @jimati You can stream netflix right from the Apple TV since it’s built-in. There are no USB ports.

]]> By: Peter Ha http://techland.time.com/2010/09/28/first-impressions-of-the-new-apple-tv/comment-page-1/#comment-12767 Tue, 28 Sep 2010 18:57:04 +0000 http://techland.com/?p=47706#comment-12767 HDMI out is both audio and video.

]]> By: jimatl http://techland.time.com/2010/09/28/first-impressions-of-the-new-apple-tv/comment-page-1/#comment-12766 Tue, 28 Sep 2010 18:47:47 +0000 http://techland.com/?p=47706#comment-12766 will this allow me to stream netflix movies from my mac to my tv via apple tv plug-in? Can I plug this in to a USB outlet on my cable box or does it go directly into tv?

]]> By: calcanuck http://techland.time.com/2010/09/28/first-impressions-of-the-new-apple-tv/comment-page-1/#comment-12765 Tue, 28 Sep 2010 17:50:15 +0000 http://techland.com/?p=47706#comment-12765 Does the HDMI out also handle audio or “must” you use the optical out for audio? I ask as my receiver only has one optical in which is already in use.

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