I'm looking to pick up a device for Netflix streaming, choosing between an Apple TV box for $119 or a Wii for $149. Is there an obvious choice? I can see my family getting some use out of a Wii but I'd opt for the Apple TV if the quality of streaming is somehow better, as that will be the core function of the device. Thoughts?
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Netflix - Apple TV or Wii?
- Thread starter Deeky
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santaliqueur
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The Apple TV is a great device, even if only used as a Netflix-only device. I use it a lot for Air Play, which is amazing. Apple TV for sure, unless you were already going to buy a Wii.
I wouldn't go with the Wii, if NetFlix is going to be the primary use for it. It's got some pretty good games, but The Wii is not going to give you HD video with your NetFlix streaming. You might also want to look at the Roku streaming player. They just very recently released new hardware.
jeremyshaw
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Zepher
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Logitech just lowered the price of the Revue to $99, and that includes a fancy wireless keyboard with trackpad on it.
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/smartTV/revue
you can also control it with your Android or Apple smartphone.
edit: didn't realize I was in the apple section, thought I was in the home theater area.
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/smartTV/revue
you can also control it with your Android or Apple smartphone.
edit: didn't realize I was in the apple section, thought I was in the home theater area.
Stone Cold
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Yeah, skip the Wii, strictly 480p. I wouldn't settle for anything less than a PC for my TV. $150 for a used PC, or for something put together at home with a new PS, CPU, MB, and RAM, would be plenty.
as much as I like the xbox recommandation, you still need XBL gold to watch netflix
I forgot that detail!
jeremyshaw
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it's not, however, it does have one thing noone else has (yet?), 5.1 HD Audio (Netflix).
Wait a minute...the previous post says Netflix is streaming 1080p and you're saying it's also streaming HD audio? The combination of those two things sounds awfully close to suggesting that Neflix is streaming full HD, a la blu-ray. I seriously doubt that. I would believe its streaming DD/DTS 5.1 (compressed) and compressed (beyond blu-ray) 1080p.
HD audio is Dolby True HD and DTS Master Audio, both lossless formats. And saying 1080p doesn't say much about the amount of compression applied.
dr.stevil
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get the apple TV.
Having used a Wii for netflix in the past, it works but it doesn't work very well. The IQ sucks and I wasn't a big fan of the interface.
With apple TV, you can jailbreak it and give yourself a lot more options (plus airplay, if you have other apple products)
Having used a Wii for netflix in the past, it works but it doesn't work very well. The IQ sucks and I wasn't a big fan of the interface.
With apple TV, you can jailbreak it and give yourself a lot more options (plus airplay, if you have other apple products)
jeremyshaw
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Ah, sorry, I forgot there is an actual HD Audio spec, not that Surround Sound = HD Audio
I have a PS3, 360, Wii and Apple TV. For family use I would recommend the Apple TV. It's simple to use and has a very clean and friendly GUI. If you have iOS devices in your house, or media on iTunes then it's a no brainer.
The PS3 has the most functionality but it's for tech geeks. It has an impossibly clumsy GUI. You stick that in front of your significant other and hook it up to your home cinema system and you will get the, "what the fuck am I supposed to do with that?" look. Also the remotes are bluetooth only and need additional hardware to accommodate into universal remote systems.
The PS3 has the most functionality but it's for tech geeks. It has an impossibly clumsy GUI. You stick that in front of your significant other and hook it up to your home cinema system and you will get the, "what the fuck am I supposed to do with that?" look. Also the remotes are bluetooth only and need additional hardware to accommodate into universal remote systems.
Brilliant. Thanks for all of the responses. I'm not actually looking for a game console, but for an additional $30 I was considering the Wii ... but I need me the hi-def streaming, so that's really all I need to know! Family friendly UI seals the deal. I'd never hear the end of it from my wife, otherwise.
$119 is Canadian Futureshop pricing, btw (plus the cost of some cheap HDMI).
Apple TV it is! Thanks again!
$119 is Canadian Futureshop pricing, btw (plus the cost of some cheap HDMI).
Apple TV it is! Thanks again!
I'm using PS3. Full HD 1080
Not for streaming netflix.
I'd look into the boxee box so you can stream, well, everything. Supports 1080p. And for your own movie collection at home it can also do 1080p and DTS-MA HD and Dolby TrueHD.
You could use an old PC as well. I have two HTPC's that I built and they can play and stream everything. Didn't cost that much either.
You could use an old PC as well. I have two HTPC's that I built and they can play and stream everything. Didn't cost that much either.
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Let us know how you like it!
I would have gone Roku if the wife hadn't already bought 4-5 seasons of TV shows on itunes. Apple TV integrates incredibly well with itunes now that you can stream your purchases from the cloud.
Yeah, I suggested it. I'm thinking about buying the new model. I really wish the NFL would get on board, like some of the other sports leagues have, so then I can just get rid of cable completely.
Definitely Apple TV 2 over Wii for Netflix use. For any use, really, other than Wii gaming.
Whether or not there are better options than ATV is another question, but you can't go wrong with a $100 device. Especially if you have iOS devices to take advantage of AirPlay.
Whether or not there are better options than ATV is another question, but you can't go wrong with a $100 device. Especially if you have iOS devices to take advantage of AirPlay.
You can get that on other devices without the need for an apple tv. I have it on my HTPC inside windows media center.
But Apple TVs are $99 each. So you can put them throughout the house, connect some Behringer MS40 through S/PDIF and have yourself a cheap, compact whole house audio solution. Hook up cheap small flat panels (when Woot has them on sale or whenever) and you have whole house video too. Plus H-Squared has this cool wall mount for it.
It's just a very good solution.
It's just a very good solution.
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Only if your only concern is getting apple purchased video on your tv. Other than that there are much better solutions that support far more for streaming and local content. And range from cheaper to maybe $80 more. If I need music upstairs I have computers there. And I have my stereo downstairs. So i'm covered there. With my HTPC, Tivo and ipad I can stream pandora or spotify or my music library anywhere.
I don't know why i'd put small flat panels all over my house when I have an ipad and a variety of computers. Seems redundant. Nope, just need the one TV upstairs for the kids and then my projector downstairs with a nice big screen.
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I would like to know more. Could you throw out an example or two?
Right now, I'm using the HTPC connected to every screen solution as you do. But having synced play throughout the house is really attractive to me. I thought Apple TVs were the only cheap solution for that right now and I was going to put down money for a few as soon as the 1080p upgrade comes out.
And it's not just about Apple purchased content for me. Easy enough using Handbrake to convert my DVDs or whatever to MP4.
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WDTV boxes start pretty cheap. And refurbs are even cheaper. You'll have to look at them for the one that meets your needs as they have several different models. Roku upgraded their boxes but I haven't read up on their capabilities yet.
Netgear NeoTV 550 and Boxee box are great alternatives. They play just about any rip you could possibly make. Boxee has more streaming options than any other box out there. However both are more expensive than an apple tv. But they do far more.
There are many other types of boxes as well. I would link you to the proper subforum on avsforums.com but the site seems to be down at the moment.
You already have an HTPC. When setup properly you should be able to play every video format there is and stream all types of video from all sources and even have it work with airplay, pandora and more. You can also get the HD audio formats too, something the apple tv can't do. All from media center, all with a remote. Never need to touch a mouse to do it.
I don't know about sync'd play. Not sure what you mean by that exactly. Same thing playing on all the tv's in the house? I know I can play the same movie on two different HTPC's at the same time. Or maybe you mean you can leave watching one thing on one tv and then go to another room and pick up where you left off? I know that's part of the video format you are watching. M4V supports bookmarking like that.
What I mean by synced play is that I hit a button and whatever I'm playing is broadcast/simultaneously playing throughout the house. Apple calls it AirPlay. So I can wander around and my music is running simultaneously through all speakers. Same for movies. Go to the kitchen or bathroom; no need to pause. The movie is playing everywhere.
Right now, I'm only running two big screens. I want to move in a direction of having speakers in all major rooms of the house. Building HTPCs for every room is total overkill for that. Not just because of the price, but also because of space, noise, and power consumption.
Again, if there's anything comparable to Apple TV for that I'm totally open to checking it out. But as far as I know, the Apple TV is the gold standard for simultaneously broadcasting your content throughout the house. Especially since they are so cheap.
Right now, I'm only running two big screens. I want to move in a direction of having speakers in all major rooms of the house. Building HTPCs for every room is total overkill for that. Not just because of the price, but also because of space, noise, and power consumption.
Again, if there's anything comparable to Apple TV for that I'm totally open to checking it out. But as far as I know, the Apple TV is the gold standard for simultaneously broadcasting your content throughout the house. Especially since they are so cheap.
You can't simultaneously stream video over AirPlay to multiple devices. You are also limited by wireless bandwidth so no true 1080p. You'd have to encode the crap out of something to get 1080p to stream over the limited bandwidth but then you've reduced the quality too much.
Another option is DLNA devices. Many devices, phones and tv's have this built in so you may not need a device connected to a tv to play to it.
Maybe this will have some good info
http://lifehacker.com/5700741/the-airplay+alternative-guide-to-streaming-your-media
Another option is DLNA devices. Many devices, phones and tv's have this built in so you may not need a device connected to a tv to play to it.
Maybe this will have some good info
http://lifehacker.com/5700741/the-airplay+alternative-guide-to-streaming-your-media
AppleTV 2 can't output in 1080p anyway. Hopefully the next version solves this.
I didn't know you couldn't AirPlay to multiple video destinations. Boo on that. Streaming 1080p (not on an Apple TV obviously) works fine over wireless though. It's only a handful of megabit per second. Now I have to rethink my plan. Maybe the Apple TV update will address it.
The Lifehacker XBMC article is nice but I see nothing in there about pushing A/V to multiple boxes in sync. Even if Apple TV will only allow me to do it for music, that's still so slick.
The Lifehacker XBMC article is nice but I see nothing in there about pushing A/V to multiple boxes in sync. Even if Apple TV will only allow me to do it for music, that's still so slick.
Full 1080p bluray rips don't stream well over wireless. There is a new wireless protocol coming out next year that will allow this. One company is selling a router now that they say can do it, don't remember who. The issue isn't so much bandwidth, it's latency.
Like I said the only way to do it is to re-encode the material so that it really isn't 1080p anymore. Oh it may still have a 1920x1080 resolution and technically be 1080p but so much data was stripped out in the encode that it's nothing like the original. Might work fine for smaller TV's but it's really selling the HD short. Might as well be a DVD at that point. But those will stream over wireless N.
I do all my own bluray rips. 1080p, reencoded to h.264 in a MKV container with the original HD audio track. The encodes are indistinguishable from the original and I do check some scenes frame by frame to compare. Also watch them on a 145" screen so I can see if there's quality loss. Can't stream them over wireless. But luckily I have my whole house wired. People do tend to overlook the audio. HD audio sounds amazing. I would say that IMO it's mort important than the video.
I also have a central server to store my 500+ BD rips. I still don't run music off it. Just works better to plug in an ipad where I need it.
Apple TV nor DLNA support the formats I use. I'd have to re-encode everything for an AppleTV or transcode on the fly for DLNA but then it's lost quality and certainly the audio I have. No longer worth it IMO.
Do you really need to send video to multiple tv's at the same time? You can really only watch one at a time. Sounds neat but is it really practical? Even if airplay supported that there is no way there is enough bandwidth to stream to multiple devices simultaneously.
I'm not sure airplay will allow simultaneous music streams at once. I think you have to select one device in the list of airplay devices and push it there. I honestly don't see the need to do it in every room of the house but that's just me. I turn on my stereo downstairs, plug in my ipad/ipod touch with the headphone jack and stream pandora and I can hear it all over the downstairs. If I needed music upstairs I have my computer on one side of the house with really nice speakers. I have some smaller speakers I can dock with my ipod in the bedroom. Nothing needs to be in sync and I can still have music where I need it.
I guess if it was really important to have music in every room and be in sync i'd just run speaker wire. Would be pretty easy to do upstairs as I can get into the attic, run the wires and then route it downstairs to my stereo.
The lifehacker article doesn't cover simultaneous streams. But does cover other ways of getting your content to different devices. DLNA is nice in that regard because it's built into so many devices. I don't know if it can support simultaneous streams.
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Apple TV 2 is awesome but only if you jailbreak and install XBMC on it. Playing 720p mkv videos on it works like a charm over wired network (my house has cat 5 ran through it). The netflix interface is actually pretty good on it as well.
I hate apple for the most part, but I do like the apple tv experience ive had so far.
I hate apple for the most part, but I do like the apple tv experience ive had so far.