Apple TV benchmarked, not a supercomputer in disguise - Engadget - X-Bench 55.75, not bad, but certainly no screamer. My first gen MacBook, for comparison, scores about 125.
Includes links on how to install OS X on your AppleTV.
Xbench: Comparison
A Mac Mini (Intel) got 110 for comparison as well.
Ten Myths of the Apple TV: 5.1 Audio
Oooh, this is GOOD and well researched (for the most part).
He spends so much time on 5.1 audio (Myth #1), tha the breaks 2-10 into separate post.
AFAIK, he scores one miss - stating that AppleTV can work with regular 4:3 aspect TVs over component connections. This is only half correct - it DOES plug in, an image DOES show up, the device DOES display movies etc...but in the wrong aspect ratio. 4:3 content shows up too skinny and pillarboxed, etc.
NextLust
This guy does a DIY home theater setup with more features & options than AppleTV. He then goes on to spend more money on more hardware and software to do extra stuff. Not as plug'n play simple as AppleTV, but if you're reading this, that probably isn't a problem.
This has a nice outline of additional hardware and software needed to get all this working.
-mike
Apples and Oranges Hands-On: Apple TV vs. TiVo Series3 HD - Gizmodo
They compare the features the two have in common - looking at pictures, surfing music, looking at downloaded content.
My favorite observation:
Both Unbox and the iTunes Store don't have enough movie and TV show content for our taste, and both can't deliver HDTV movies or TV shows. So in our mind, for now, they both suck.
They were fair in their analysis, no BS comparisons or sucker punches - in other words, I agree with their analysis.
:D
Fun little read, spot on in my book.
-mike
