Apple TV MB189LL/A with 160GB Hard Drive

Apple really needs to advertise and explain this better. This is an awesome device that does many things, but it's easier to understand if you think it's really only has two different functions:

1) This is to rent HD movies. Give a new HD TV something to make it shine. Of course Blu-ray has won the format war, but what's next format war? Skip war and just streaming video. No DVD mess and the players to buy. Yes the selection is still small (just started a month ago) but it will soon build to include new films as they are released. Beware of old movies are released as HD. 

Rent "Blazing Saddles" in HD will not impress you. So, the only REAL new HD movies are the ones in theaters now and will soon be released for rental. We really kept our Netflix account to rent the majority of older movies and TV shows that we still love. Rent HD movies for $ 5 is a cheap night of entertainment. I have a 6.0 Mbps internet connection and HD movies ready to play in about 1-2 minutes. You watch the movie as the rest of the download. I never stutter during playback.

2) The Apple TV is really like an iPod. It is controlled by a very simple remote control with one menu button, a play/pause button, surrounded in a circle by the forward and rewind buttons, and the volume control (`+ and -` buttons also used for navigation). You are going to wish all remote controls were that simple.

Navigating the Apple TV is like navigating an iPod. You can store video, music, and photos. There is a slideshow feature for your pictures that will display your pictures on your TV with background music of your choice. The background music can be chosen at random from your music library.

Though as simple as an iPod to operate, the Apple TV is itself a stripped-down Mac mini, running a version of Mac OS X. When you plug in the Apple TV to your TV, you will not need to do any configuration. It's basically plug-and-play. Audio and video cables (not included) connect it to your TV. There is an HDMI output.

Of course do some other things like watching You Tube, but if the two above what features you need, then this is for you. Simple "couples friendly" remote is too big.

PS - one more reason - the movie $ 0.99 a week. Apple has begun to offer movie rentals $ 0.99 per week. We've Escape from Alcatraz, The Ghost and the darkness, The Dead Zone and others. Not a blockbuster, but certainly worth $ 0.99 and make you familiar with the experience of renting the easy way.View Price

BlueRigger High Speed HDMI Cable with Ethernet 6.6 Feet (2m)

3-6 ft is the optimum length to connect most electronics. I am actually using 3 ft. cables whenever the connected devices happen very close to each other because, when it comes to cables, shorter is almost always better

Just in case someone may feel guilty for not paying more for a premium brand, it should be stated that at length - 3-6 ft., you will get good service from a no-brand cable as you would from a super-expensive rip- offs. An HDMI 1.3x cable should be able to carry, error free, all the signal your electronic equipment may put out. In fact, you can buy one or 2 extra wires 'cheap', just in case. At this price they are easily affordable.

Signal attenuation is less over a more expensive cable. - TRUE, BUT that's irrelevant on a 3-6 ft. long. HDMI consortium stated that even the cables that are not 'certified' as 'Category 2' or 'High Speed' will meet the requirements on the length of 6 ft. or less. At 3-6 ft., it would be a waste to consider alternatives 'expensive'. In addition, the new devices have sufficient processing power and are sensitive enough to properly interpret even the more ambiguous 'numbers' they receive. Incidentally, the vendor claims that this specific item WAS certified as 'category 2' and HDMI 1.3a.

Expensive cables are engineered better and their contacts are less likely to break. - TRUE, BUT how many times is one going to plug / unplug an HDMI cable in and out of an HDMI socket over the cable's lifetime? 5 times? 10 times? Claims 'better engineered' has no practical importance. If your cable works on 'day one' odds are that it will be left at the back of the box for months or years before unplugged and plugged it back in. If this cable is purchased for home use, the 'better engineered claims should not be a concern primary.

More expensive cables are 'future proof'. - NOT TRUE. Claims are made that, if you buy the more expensive wires you will not have to buy new ones when 'new standards' emerge because the more expensive wire will support them. This is not true at 2 different levels. First, your cheap cable was purchased to work with some very specific devices which need HDMI 1.3 and will never support the 'new standard'. The new standards will be supported by new electronic devices but, as long as you keep an existing one, you will still need this cable to connect them. 

Second, the emerging HDMI 1.4 specs call for new features such as an Ethernet channel and audio return channel, both of which can not be supported by the existing HDMI 1.3 cables so, no matter how much bandwidth the existing expensive cables may support, it does not matter because you still do not will be able to use them if you want to take full advantage of HDMI 1.4 device so ... there goes your investment is $ 5 or Your $ 200, depending on your having purchased a 'cheap' or 'above the line' HDMI cable.

Here are the HDMI 1.3 specs supported by this cable and the more expensive alternatives.

Maximum signal bandwidth (MHz) 340

Maximum TMDS bandwidth (Gbit / s) 10.2

Maximum video bandwidth (Gb / s) 8:16

Maximum audio bandwidth (Mbit / s) 36.86

Maximum Color Depth (bit / px) 48

Maximum resolution over single link at 24-bit/px 2560 × 1600p75

Maximum resolution over single link at 30-bit/px 2560 × 1600p60

Maximum resolution over single link at 36-bit/px 1920x1200p75

Maximum resolution over single link at 48-bit/px 1920 × 1200p60

sRGB

YCbCr

8 channel LPCM/192 kHz/24-bit audio capability

Blu-ray Disc video and audio at full resolution

Consumer Electronic Control (CEC)

Support DVD-Audio

CD (DSD) support Super Audio

Far Color

xvYCC

Auto lip-sync

Dolby TrueHD bitstream capable

DTS-HD Master Audio bitstream capable.View Price

Apple EarPods with Remote and Mic

Pro -

Much better bass response than previous earbuds.Convenient.No more rubber trim peeling.Excellent 3 button remote / mic for easy access to Siri or Voice Control, play / pause, etc.

cons -

Treble can sputters / clamped at high volume,Mids sound a bit dry, overwhelmed by the harsh treble.Earbuds, so there is no insulation.Good values ​​in headphones for $ 29, but not with the remote / mic

Summary -

An excellent update to the product everywhere. Ears of millions of people who are not going to upgrade anyway are in for a treat, but if you feel comfortable with the over-the-ear-canal or style of the headphones, the style will block more outside noise. It's not the most detailed sounding earphones or the cleanest either, but for a set of earbuds, they are great, and good at $ 29.

reviews -

The bass on these headphones are pretty decent, it's at a perfect level and it does not over do it like other headphones do.The earpods are very comfortable and when it comes to running with them, I actually ran 4 miles yesterday over at the central park and they never fell out.

The controls work perfectly, not only on my iPhone, but on my iPad as well. To use Siri I simply hold the middle of the volume rocker, to skip a song just click it twice and to go back click 3 times. To pause and play or even answer a call just click the middle once.

I'm very pleased with the earpods, it's about time someone came out with something different. hopefully this will Become the new standard.View Price

Roku HD Streaming Player

With cable and satellite bills rising, most people do not want to get out X dollars a month just to watch five shows on a regular basis. While there are many options out there, two of the most popular is the Apple TV and Roku.

Setup is easy. You plug in the HDMI cable (or a component cable, if you have a non-HDMI TVs, Rokus has other advantages all over the Apple TV), plug in the power supply, and you start setup. All you have to do is create an account at Roku.com and enter your credit card information (do not worry, you will not have to buy most of the channel or the show, you just have to have the information stored on If you buy one channel you download paid or download something from Amazon OnDemand. I personally do not find a big problem, but I can understand why people would be bothered by this). 

Once you are done with the initial setup (which takes about 10 minutes, give or take), the box will automatically download multiple channels for you: Amazon OnDemand, Crackle, Netflix, HuluPlus, and Pandora. Also, the Roku HD remote - in contrast to LT - there are three shortcut buttons for Netflix, Crackle, and Pandora, which is very nice to have.

Content: You go to the store Channel (home screen) and from there download the desired channels are available.There are dozens upon dozens of channels, ranging from popular to obscure. You can get sports, technology, news, clear film and TV, and more channels. Plus,

Roku good about updating new channels regularly (though now most of the channels being added are religious stations). Unfortunately, the Roku HD does not have a simple search function, so you'll have to scroll through the channels manually. 

Today, while the relatively small number of channels, it's more of a nuisance than a real problem, but as more channels will be added in the future, Roku will have to add search functionality if they want to get people to buy. Again, remember that some of the channels do not require a monthly subscription or require you to pay to download the channel, so look before you leap. However, many are very good, there will be something for everyone. Plus, unlike with cable, if you do not like the channel, you can delete it (although for a monthly paid service to remember to call them and tell them to cancel your subscription).

Image quality: as mentioned everywhere, maximum image Roku HD will broadcast is 720P/1080i. In other words, it is HD, but not full HD. Now, while almost all TV shows still broadcast in 720p, it's not a big deal - even on a TV bigger - and if you have a TV under 42 inches you probably will not notice a big difference in picture quality between 720P and 1080P as well, but for the last Amazon OnDemand movie or a TV larger (ie 50 inches),



You might want to shell out for Roku 2 XS (which is about $ 100) to take full advantage of your TV picture quality. However, I must say the quality of the picture on the box is very good. I have a PS3 with a Hulu Plus as well, and honestly Roku HD picture is much better: a lot sharper, a little less "digital look", and just plain good (for the record, I have a 32 "LED from LG).

Internet: because the Roku HD is a single-bandwidth, and as you just need a lot of horsepower goes to get the most out of digital streaming video, you will need a reasonably fast internet connection. I found that if you download speeds of 1.5 Mbps, for example, you'll have a hard time watching it on the Roku HD. I have 30 Mbps, so for me streaming easily EXCEPT when I want to get on my machine. Then the audio problems that sometimes arise. It's even worse on some channels than others, Netflix has never had a problem, but Hulu can become unwatchable at times because the sound quality deteriorated so badly. This seems to be a problem in most of the Roku device, so be forewarned. Honestly, it does not happen often, and lately when it does happen, usually only for a few seconds while the video buffers, and then it's fine, so do not worry it's not a deal-breaker.

By using roku you can nmenghemat approximately $ 60 - $ 80. What else can you expect from this particular product.View price