Apple TV October 2010

The Apple TV box itself is about the size of a computer mouse but square, and comes with nothing more than a remote control, a power lead and Apple's typical minimalist packaging.

The power lead requires a little force to plug into the Apple TV box, but the HDMI lead to connect to your TV and the Ethernet connection to hook the box up to your internet connection (should you not have wi-fi) are both easy to fit.

Apple TV video review

Once the Apple TV is connected you're more than halfway there - it really is that easy to use. All that's left to do is to switch the TV on and select the HDMI source that the Apple TV box is connected to. Although, if you're using wi-fi you'll probably need to enter your password to access the connection first.

The initial menu screen gives you the options to select 'Movies', 'Internet', 'Computers', and 'Settings'. 'Movies' provides a pictorial guide to films that can be rented for between £2.49 and £4.49. You can search by title, most popular or genre - although it was disappointing not to be able to access the Short Films genre. Many films are HD quality at 720p resolution.

Ben Stevens believes that we'll soon watch all our TV online. Do you agree? Have your say on which? Conversation.

Apple TV film rental service

A rented film has a 30 day shelf-life for you to watch it, otherwise it will be removed from your account. Once you have started watching the film, you then have to complete watching it within 48 hours otherwise it will, once again, be deleted. Films can't be watched instantly - there's an initial buffering period. Our tester rented Men Who Stare At Goats, a one-and-a-half hour film, had to wait around 10 minutes before it could be played. While waiting, it is possible to watch previews of other films, but this will slow down the buffering of the film being rented.

The film can be watched more than once during the 48 hours, but it can only be played back through Apple TV. It can neither be copied to or played on another device.

The Apple TV interface is easy to navigate

A press on the remote control's navigation button takes you to the 'Internet options' where you can access YouTube clips, podcasts from iTunes, Flickr photographs and radio stations. Searching within these options is easy to do. When in the YouTube section, for example, you're offered 'most viewed' and 'recently added' clips or you can directly enter a search.

The search automatically predicts what you're looking for as you type, so you don't always need to type the full search term. Unfortunately, there's no button for deleting a single character. This means that if you make a typo you have to clear all the letters you've entered and start typing again. This can be a nuisance, particularly if you've entered a long search term.

The 'Computers' tab allows you to wirelessly stream content from a PC, Mac or laptop. For this you'll need the latest version of iTunes and your Apple ID and password from your iTunes account. Again, it's very straightforward and while playing music or video on the connected TV, you can also separately navigate your way around iTunes on your computer should you wish.

Password security issue

One minor issue that presented itself is password security. Entering a password to a laptop is private, but as the TV is so large, anyone in the room will be able to see your password. The password can be entered and then 'remembered', but that does expose your iTunes account to use by other people in the home.

The remote control seems to offer a wide angle and reasonable distance of use. The buttons are responsive but not terribly well labelled. However after a little use you'll soon realise that you can treat the 'Menu' button as a 'back' button. All searches need to be entered a letter or number at a time. Letters of both upper and lower cases are shown on the screen at the same time and rather than having to hit the left or right key on the remote control each time you want to shift the cursor to the side, you can hold the button down causing the cursor to skip across the letters quickly. Stopping on the letter you want is tricky at first but becomes a satisfying skill once mastered.

The black box is sleek, the brushed metal remote control fits nicely into the hand and the service is intuitive to use and opens up a host of web-based content to TV fans. An HDMI cable is required and needs to be bought separately. There is an optical audio output to plug into your hi-fi or home cinema kit, otherwise you can rely upon the TV's speakers. It's a shame that the audio can't be controlled through the Apple TV remote and instead requires the use of the TV's remote.

There is also an app available for iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch that lets you use them as a remote control for your Apple TV.

The slim information manual is well presented and easy to follow, but setting up your Apple TV is so easy that it's unlikely you'll need it.

While Apple TV doesn't bring anything new to the home that couldn't be accessed through a TV connected to a laptop, it frees up the use of the laptop and brings aggregated content to the TV in hassle-free way through a pleasing interface.

Pros: Simple to set up, well designed interface, good quality streamed HD video

Cons: No streamed TV shows in the UK yet