[Nuance]

+1
I have to use a PC at work, but prefer my mac on my free time.
Nuance, please enlighten me regarding a non-functional Iphone4? Unles you are referring to the the drop of the signal if the antena elements are conected with left hand, I am suprised. That problem, btw, is common for most of the smartphones (according to apple  )

I am referring to the signal issue, yes.  And I assure you, the death grip signal dropouts aren't frequent of all smartphones.  Apple can't even admit they screwed up and instead of fixing the issue claim its a common problem among smartphones (a lie) and give out free bumpers rather than fix the issues. Not cool.  I wont even get into the overheating issues they have with the imacs and mac minis (I work in IT and deal with Mac and PC failures frequently).  This is totally off topic, but they have had and still do have quality control and customer service issues.  PM me if you want to continue the convo,  as I don't want to derail the thread any more than I already have. To each their own I say. As long as you're happy. 

Jim, you have great taste in phones.  The EVO 4G is awesome, especially now that its running Froyo (Android 2.2).

[Art_Chicago]

I am referring to the signal issue, yes.  And I assure you, the death grip signal dropouts aren't frequent of all smartphones.  Apple can't even admit they screwed up and instead of fixing the issue claim its a common problem among smartphones (a lie) and give out free bumpers rather than fix the issues. Not cool.  I wont even get into the overheating issues they have with the imacs and mac minis (I work in IT and deal with Mac and PC failures frequently).  This is totally off topic, but they have had and still do have quality control and customer service issues.  PM me if you want to continue the convo,  as I don't want to derail the thread any more than I already have. To each their own I say. As long as you're happy. 

Jim, you have great taste in phones.  The EVO 4G is awesome, especially now that its running Froyo (Android 2.2).

well the thread is about new appletv, so i think it is ok to discuss pros and cons of apple products.  I personally have not faced yet the  reliability issue of macs yet nor iphone or ipod. My choice is based on my experience with PC vs. Mac or iphone vs another smartphone (not android, though). There is no overheating issue with a macbook. AppleTV gets warm, but if the user follows the instructions, there is no issue either. As for the signal loss, you have not seen the Apple's presentation on it. They do not claim anything, they tested certain smartphones of the leading companies and taped the results. check it out. If they lied in the presentations, then they should expect paying giants fines to those producers.
To each their own, but I have chosen my own from my experience and yes I am happy with my choice. Thanks.

[Nuance]

Edited because this is getting goofy.

You like what you like based on your experiences, and I like what I like based one mine.  Go with what you like, and enjoy.

For what its worth, I like Apple's stuff when its working correctly (same goes for PC).  I just don't care for Apple's attitude and customer service woes (we've had a lot).  In the end, chose which better fits your needs.  If you want that new, sexy look, Apple is the kind.  If you want to be able to customize, go PC.  Both are good at what they do when they're working properly. 

[Art_Chicago]

ok, if you saw their smarthone presentation, then as I understand you said in the previous message that they "lied"  meaning they made up all the results for the signal loss in the smartphones by Samsung, Nokia, blackburry and others??? I think that is silly alright.  who do you think they are?  Can you imagine all the accused producers decide to take it to the court and win the case? That "fake" would be a bit risky from apple's point of view.
As for overheating, again I have not faced it, but I admit I did not care enough and  I have not studied the statistics. However, I cannot see if the problems were so significant, how apple would sell so many iphones, ipods, or ipads.  BTW, I "hated' macs just about 18 months ago until I bought one!
 
Later then, and hopefully this thread is still good tomorrow.

[cacophony777]

Didn't mean to start an Apple vs Windows/Linux/etc thread 

I just saw the new AppleTV as an interesting substitute for something like the Wadia dock for getting digital out from ipod/iphone.

Currently I just use a CD player, but I have an ipod touch, so perhaps:
ipod touch -> [wireless] appletv -> dacmagic -> integrated amp -> songtowers

[Art_Chicago]

Didn't mean to start an Apple vs Windows/Linux/etc thread 

I just saw the new AppleTV as an interesting substitute for something like the Wadia dock for getting digital out from ipod/iphone.

Currently I just use a CD player, but I have an ipod touch, so perhaps:
ipod touch -> [wireless] appletv -> dacmagic -> integrated amp -> songtowers

yeah, but how about using a SB touch instead 
sorry for stealing the thread, it is just so much fun...

[Nuance]

ok, if you saw their smarthone presentation, then as I understand you said in the previous message that they "lied"  meaning they made up all the results for the signal loss in the smartphones by Samsung, Nokia, blackburry and others??? I think that is silly alright.  who do you think they are?  Can you imagine all the accused producers decide to take it to the court and win the case? That "fake" would be a bit risky from apple's point of view.
As for overheating, again I have not faced it, but I admit I did not care enough and  I have not studied the statistics. However, I cannot see if the problems were so significant, how apple would sell so many iphones, ipods, or ipads.  BTW, I "hated' macs just about 18 months ago until I bought one!
 
Later then, and hopefully this thread is still good tomorrow.

Other websites have created counter videos to prove Apple's "death grip" video was ridiculous.  These other sites hold the phones in a realistic manner, just like someone would out in the real world and show that Apple's new phone has a serious flaw, while other smartphones might only lose a bar on rare occasions.  We can talk more about this over PM's if you'd like, but let's stop over-running the thread with this stuff.  This is suppose to be about the AppleTV.   I also edited my previous post because I don't want to argue like this.  We're grown men and debating nothing more than our opinions.  That is what is silly, don't you think? 

[jsalk]

No data caps with that sharing plan?!

No, it is unlimited (at least for now).  They charge $30 per month extra to enable this service.  However, I have found a nice little app that will allow you to hook up a notebook via USB without paying anything extra.  You can obviously only run one device at a time, but you don't have to pay extra since Sprint thinks it is the phone making the requests.

Tethering is why I went with this phone.  The iPhone has this feature as well, but ATT will not support it.  That, coupled with the future promise of 4G speeds made the Evo on Sprint a very attractive alternative for me.  It is probably not for everyone, but I am extremely pleased with my choice.  I have an iPod Touch so I am fairly familiar with the iPhone user interface and I have to say I prefer Android 2.2 - not by a lot, mind you, but I do prefer it.

- Jim

[pslate]

I am not a regular on the Salk circle but this thread intrigued me. Apple TV is very attractive at $99. I wonder what Google TV's settop box will do audio-wise as well. Anyhow do you guys think it makes any sense to use the HDMI for video and use the optical out to an external dac?
Paul

[Art_Chicago]

Tethering is why I went with this phone.  The iPhone has this feature as well, but ATT will not support it.  That, coupled with the future promise of 4G speeds made the Evo on Sprint a very attractive alternative for me.  It is probably not for everyone, but I am extremely pleased with my choice.  I have an iPod Touch so I am fairly familiar with the iPhone user interface and I have to say I prefer Android 2.2 - not by a lot, mind you, but I do prefer it.

- Jim

Jim, regading the tethering, I think ATT supports it now, 'cause
I have picked 2 Gb data plan for iphone 4 with tethering for extra 20 bucks/month (good thing my company pays for that!). Now I have not used my cell phone for tethering (as an access point to i-net from another devices) yet, so I cannot verify.

Art

P.S. I just checked the att webpage, att seems to support tethering. It does require iOS4, which can be installed on iphone 3G  as well.

[jsalk]

Jim, regading the tethering, I think ATT supports it now, 'cause
I have picked 2 Gb data plan for iphone 4 with tethering for extra 20 bucks/month (good thing my company pays for that!). Now I have not used my cell phone for tethering (as an access point to i-net from another devices) yet, so I cannot verify.

Art

Thanks for that.  For a long time, ATT fought Apple over this issue.  They wanted Apple to disable this feature because they worried about not having enough bandwidth to support the added traffic, especially in NYC, LA and other larger metro areas.  Apple refused.  Apparently they worked things out.

- Jim

[ratso]

i don't think this has been brought up yet, but can apple/itunes handle hi-rez files or not? google seems to fail here. it seems most people confuse hi-rez with lossless. is there a way to convert 96/24 to a format apple can handle or to flac and then use one of the flac decoders? sorry if this has been covered, i just browsed over the last few pages..

[Art_Chicago]

I do not think ATV can, but the hi-rez FLAC files can be played from itunes installed on a pc or mac using a plugin, that can be found here on AC' apple core circle. you would need to connect your DAC or HT reciever directly to the computer using digital out bypassing ATV. so squezbox is a better choice if hi-rez files to be used.

[ratso]

yeah thats what i thought. my touch is working fine now for 96/24 but for $99 if i could get appleTV to do it, and get 5.1 playback and movies too, that would be a good thing. someday, someone will get smart enough to put this all together into an easy to use and inexpensive box and everyone will start to use them. until then, you will never get the average joe (or my mom and dad) to switch to this.

[sarge_in]

sarge:
Here's a resource for you. http://forums.slimdevices.com/forumdisplay.php?f=34
You'll have to join the forum to directly ask your questions. Some USB HD's are not even recognized by the TinyServer onboard the Touch.  This functionality is not the strongest part of the Touch.  I use my 2 Touches wired w/ an older laptop located elsewhere for noise isolation w/ several USB HD connected to that laptop for music storage.
Lots of information on that forum.

Thanks for the link. It had a good amount of info there. As you mentioned, connecting SB directly to USB is not optimal - apart from long scan times, people have also reported reduced audio quality. Of course, if a separate DAC is used that may not be the case. Seems there is also the functionality to build complex playlists using SQL queries if desired. For me, I am happy to not spend the time and effort for that and also because it works better for whole-house audio. If it were just for one location, I may look more closely at this.

[Nuance]

I am not a regular on the Salk circle but this thread intrigued me. Apple TV is very attractive at $99. I wonder what Google TV's settop box will do audio-wise as well. Anyhow do you guys think it makes any sense to use the HDMI for video and use the optical out to an external dac?
Paul

Google is making something along these lines?  Wow...they just don't quit.   I've heard rumors they are creating an OS for laptops and PC's too.  If it's anything like Apple's OS it will be worth looking in to IMO.

[pslate]

Logitech is supposed to be on board for the Google set top box http://www.pcworld.com/article/199218/logitechs_google_tv_box_named_will_control_your_life_this_fall.html
It sure would be nice if they pay attention to audio on this one. I've used Boxee with my laptop and although buggy I love the TV over IP concept done with a smooth interface for the entertainment center

[trebejo]

Apple consciously, intentionally took flac support out of iTunes circa version 3.something or 4.something. Unforgivable. Switch to their playing devices at your peril.

Flac is wonderful because it is open source and free, as well as lossless and more or less perfect compression (you might squeeze another 2% with some other algorithm if you really really try, but why bother). That genie cannot be put back in the bottle. With flac, you own your music, permanently.

Apple's ploy was quite cynical and Microsoftish (or old-school Applish, in fact).

btw the iTunes interface is horrible wrt long-term management of your music collection if it's reasonably large (say, more than 1000 albums). One little screw up and iTunes can lose whatever info you entered, and you have to work really, really hard to bring it back to how it was. Happened to me more than once via inadvertent transfer of music files from one external drive to another--much foul language was shouted at the time.

Slimserver is not perfect, but ugly duckling issues notwithstanding, it is far more efficient. Learn it once, use it until someone inherits your stereo.

[Atlplasma]

If you want to stay with the Mac platform and store files in iTunes, consider layering in Pure Music. He allows for hi rez music and also supports FLAC.

Steve

[Toka]

You can also always convert FLAC to Apple Lossless...easy, fast, no change in sound.