APPLE TV

[Xjmt]

Does anyone here use Apple TV? Do you know anything about Apple TV? TimeWarner has increased charges by another 8% for the third time within the past 8 months and Apple TV is one place we're looking to make a change. Any thought, suggestions or advice would be appreciated.

[Xjmt]

How about Hulu TV. I hear there's a Hulu TV + does anybody know anything about that?

[Xjmt]

OK. Apple TV is this little black box you hook up to your flat screened HD TV. It works with the same wave your cordless computer uses. You can have both cable and Apple TV on the same TV. Some things are supposed to be free but even with charges many are either monthly or per viewing both which come far below the almost $70 cost for our current cable TV. Now to decide whether to downgrade the cable to less channels. That would of course depend on the cost. Or dump cable altogether.

Then the really difficult part comes in trying to find somebody who represents your cable company (TW in my case) so they can be told, "You're fired."

[Xjmt]

Hulu + and Hulu are in Apple TV as is Netflix. With everything else available there it looks like about a gazillion choices. Only thing is tonight's TV shows will have to be seen tomorrow night. Less advertising if any.

[Xjmt]

Must have a high speed set up from your ISP. ATT advertises blazing fast speeds but should also advise "where available" because we don't have high speed. We MAY be able to move up one speed. Also the prices ATT advertises are INTRODUCTORY prices only. Your regular charges will probably be somewhere between $5 and $10 higher. Hence we are looking to drop our land line which they are resisting. Gotta try and save money somewhere.

[Xjmt]

Advertised speeds say "up to" maybe 3 mps but 0 to 3 is "up to" according to ATT. You will also have to know just where your phone line comes into your home. Tough If you're in a high rise I guess. Anyway they finally found it <after a 2 day search> in the garage conveniently located behind the car and some garage type stuff right next to the cable TV entrance.

[Xjmt]

Apple TV carries a number of services which means you have to be careful in choosing what you want to see. Both Hulu + and Netflix carry some of the same TV programs but Netflix seems to charge for all of them while they'd be free on Hulu+. Yes, same episodes. Lots of old stuff on Hulu+. Today for lunch I watched one of the original, B&W Roy Rogers TV episodes. All 22 minutes.

[Henry J]

But does an Apple a day keep the Doctor away?

Henry

[Xjmt]

Not if you must use ATT.

[Xjmt]

Changed our minds about keeping/getting rid of the land-line so they knocked a bunch of money of the U-verse service.

[Xjmt]

It seems not all of a 'last night's' shows are available the next evening. Colbert Report <for instance> is viewable the next evening but The Daily Show with Jon Stewart doesn't appear for an extra day or so. I use those as examples because they are broadcast back to back on the same evenings. Other shows seem to suffer that lag also.

Interesting side note now that we have ATT U-verse my fax machine doesn't work. I can't seem to use a regular phone line as a jumper from the ATT modem to the phone lines because the heads are different and the old lines won't fit the new configuration.

Gotta get out and see if I can fine phone lines with two different connections. While at that I may also look for a new coaxial cable for the indoor antenna I have for the Apple TV. My older coaxial cables are too big. I'd also like to get one with male and female sockets on either end.

[brian]

You need a line filter for any devices that use audio (phone, fax), to filter out the data band. Your U-verse modem should have come with one filter. You'll need one for each jack in the house (not a huge deal for phone, but it will really mess with fax).

[Xjmt]

Thank you Brian. They disconnected all my line filters when they installed U-verse. They're still around so I'll reinstall one for the fax and hope for the best which I'm sure will be perfect.

[AnneB]

It's interesting to read all your comments, JT. We have Charter and are probably in the minority because we like it. Other than being expensive, we have had no problems with the service and little trouble with service. You can get rid of the automaton on the phone by saying "agent" until she sends you to one, and so far they have all been in this country. (I always ask) But mostly I use the live chat on their web site. My internet speed is upwards of 30Mbps and I love the DVR.

[Xjmt]

Anne, I am so flippen' jealous of your service! I remember hearing of Charter only once and at that time all I thought of was a restaurant I once went to named "Charter". It was a chain but each restaurant in the chain had a different name and theme. Charter was sea food up in Connecticut.
But I think you're going too far with the English speaking service department. OH REALLY?!?! Nobody believes that!!