I have tried not to rant about anything in this blog, mostly to try and stick with a problem-solving scenario but lately there has been something that has really made me lose my hair – the AppleTV. When I purchased this unit, I was expecting it would change the way I watch TV, and it certainly did. After using the AppleTV for less than 6 months, I am on the verge of never watching anything on TV again, that’s how badly scarred I have been left from this experience.
The OS X version that runs on the system is really slow, and it takes a long time for it to respond to the remote. As of now, when you pair the AppleTV v1.0 with iTunes, it immediately disappears from devices and the connection is lost. This is the most frustrating issue with the AppleTV: no matter if it is paired via wireless or through a wired connection to the network, it will suddenly disappear from your list of devices (I had to switch to Ethernet once the wireless of the AppleTV died on me completely). The ways of getting it back to work usually involve restoring the AppleTV to factory settings, upgrading to version 2.0 and re-pairing the AppleTV – something that can easily take 30 minutes depending on your Internet connection and your patience (trust me, I am not the only one facing these issues)
The AppleTV is an “OK” device at best when it decides it wants to work. The constant disconnects has turned me into the worst fan that it will have, and I want to take this opportunity to urge you to stay AWAY from any incarnation of the AppleTV, even at version 2.0 it is buggy and will only drive you nuts. I really should have bought an XBOX and use that for media, most likely I’ll but a 360 in the future and completely forget about Apple when it comes to watching anything on my TV.
