Apple TV is the perfect gift

Need a great stocking stuffer or that perfect big gift in a little package? Give her an Apple TV! It retails for $99.00 and is the show stopper gift for a holiday or birthday.

Apple TV allows you to access Netflix, YouTube, Flickr, MobileMe, and iTunes Store content in high-definition directly on your television. How does it do that?! By connecting to the Internet via your home wired or wireless network! Simply set up accounts for each service from a Mac or web enabled device then join your Apple TV to an existing account for each service and you’ll be enjoying movies, TV, photos, and music in no time!

If you already have movies or TV shows downloaded to your Mac or PC’s iTunes you can point your Apple TV to your computer’s iTunes collection and then watch the movies from your Apple TV! The Apple TV allows you to join multiple computers to it. In our home we have two computers with iTunes collections and our Apple TV sees both collections! In addition to movies and TV shows, you can also access your iTunes music, podcasts, iTunes U, and photos from the Apple TV‘s Computers menu. Just make sure that you have iTunes 10 or newer open on the computer your iTunes collection resides on so the Apple TV can display the content!

The Settings menu on the Apple TV allows you to control the Screen Saver for when your Apple TV has been idle for a pre-determined amount of time. And before you change your television source from Apple TV back over to your DVR, DVD player, or other viewing device you can choose the Sleep Now option in Settings to put your Apple TV to bed until you’re ready to use it again. That saves power, preserves the life of the Apple TV itself, and it’s always good to tuck your devices into bed.

A cool feature that’s coming soon: If you have content on your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad that you want to want to see on your TV just start viewing the content on your mobile device then tap the AirPlay icon and choose Apple TV. Streaming to your television begins immediately!

Make sure to purchase an HDMI cable for your Apple TV

The Apple TV itself is a sexy, sleek little black box that sits near your TV just like your cable or dish box does. A simple-to-use Setup Guide with pictures is included with the Apple TV to navigate you from unpackaging to watching your favorite movies. A Troubleshooting section is included for any of the common hiccups new Apple TV users might experience. Make sure to purchase the HDMI cable to connect your Apple TV to your high-definition television. We bought the HDMI cable offered by the Apple store for $29.95. Note: If you don’t have a high-definition television set you need to purchase one to go along with your Apple TV!

If you have a home theater sound system you can connect it to the Apple TV using its Optical Digital Audio Port. SubWOOF! There is also a Micro USB Port which is only used for service and diagnostics — sorry, no direct external USB device connections! Add those to the computers you have joined to your Apple TV instead!

The tiny Apple TV remote

Using the Apple TV remote control is a little confusing at first because it’s so simple. It has up/down/left/right arrows, a “select” button, a Menu button, and a Play/Pause button — that’s it! So what do you do when you want to navigate backwards from the screen you’re on? You press the Menu button, of course! Easy to get used to, but if you’re scared of pressing buttons I promise you that you can’t break anything on your Apple TV by pressing these buttons so go ahead and experiment.

One tiny (pun intended?) complaint I have about the Apple TV is that the remote is so small that it will get thrown away, dragged off by your child or pet, or irrevocably lost in a pile of papers before your Apple TV dies. Apple knows this so they offer an Apple TV remote app on their iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. Simply download the Rowmote (99 cents) or Rowmote Pro ($4.99) app from the App Store to control your Apple TV the exact same way the remote controls it.

Also, a time and relationship saver tip: If you’re trying to watch Internet content from your Apple TV but it keeps stalling/freezing don’t argue with your significant other about why it’s happening, just go reset your DSL modem and the wireless router. Clears the problem right up!

It’s a very good idea to purchase AppleCare with your Apple TV so that if there are any problems with it Apple will cover repair or replacement under warranty. The 2-year AppleCare plan is only $29.00.

Purchase your Apple TV from Amazon or directly from the Apple Online Store.

Posted by Poppy for Buy-Her.com.

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I love that there are no commercials, which means I can watch a 30 minute show in about 20 minutes or an hour long episode in about 45 minutes.  Never mind what that says about how much programming we’re actually getting on TV these days. And I love that I don’t have to wait an entire week to see what happens next.

But mostly I love that this gives me a chance to fall in love with TV series I might have missed (probably because my DVR was already jam packed) when they first aired.  Because what I need more than anything in life is another TV obsession.  Clearly.

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Posted by missbritt for Buy-Her.com.

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