Gary, My response last night got stuck so is late, but the Apple TV shouldn't affect cable at all, it doesn't generally even use the same connections unless you're using an HDMI cable from your cable box. Please explain more about your setup.
Also, I've had an Apple TV for a year now and am very happy. There are a good number of things you can do with it for free. For example, you can search for and watch a lot on YouTube, and there is a radio option that has a good number of options as well. There is a lot that can be watched on PBS as well. While not free, the $7.99 a month Netflix streaming option let's you watch a lot of stuff on your Apple TV without paying for each program. If you have other Apple devices such as an iPhone, there are some things you can do to share iTunes music between devices, and you can send your iPhone output to your Apple TV which is nice if you have your Apple TV connected to a stereo. You will need an Apple ID, but you don't need to pay to get that. While Dane is correct that there are restrictions, the big one being that accessing your personal music must be done through iTunes, there are home sharing options that let you access music from another computer on your network that provide some flexibility. I have found the Netflix interface to be much nicer than accessing it through a computer. It would be interesting to know how Raspberry Pie handles that. When someone says "It's accessible but not out of the box and there are several ways to go" as was said about Raspberry pie, that sets off alarm bells for me. Since you have already made the purchase of the Apple TV, I'd be surprised if you regret it. What concerns me a little is that there may not be a clear understanding of what the Apple TV is, and some of us can help with that. Generally, you can pay to get some programming and you can get some for free, but there aren't really apps as such. You will have to select which input you want to be watching on your TV, and that isn't always simple on some TV's but can usually be mastered. However, we need to understand better how your system is set up and what you already understand so that we don't give you a bunch of useless information. Best regards, Steve Jacobson On Sun, 23 Feb 2014 04:09:14 -0500, Gary Wood wrote: >I did buy one. We tried setting it up the other day, but for some reason, I >couldn't get anything on cable. What's the advantages of the Rasberry Pie? >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Dane Trethowan" <grtd...@internode.on.net> >To: "PC Audio Discussion List" <pc-audio@pc-audio.org> >Sent: Sunday, February 23, 2014 12:42 AM >Subject: Re: Apple TV >The Apple TV is a separate device from your cable system, nothing whatever >to do with the cable system, are you thinking of buying one? The Apple TV is >a good system, I have one but there are better systems available such as the >Raspberry Pi running XMC Media Center. >On 23 Feb 2014, at 1:50 pm, Gary Wood <k8...@att.net> wrote: >> When someone sets up Apple TV, can he or she still watch the cable >> channels normally watched, or can they only watch ones on the Apple TV >> system? >********** >Dane Trethowan >Skype: grtdane12 >Phone US (213) 438-9741 >Phone U.K. 01245 79 0598 >Phone Australia (03) 9005 8589 >Mobile: +61400494862 >faceTime +61400494862 >Fax +61397437954 >Twitter: @grtdane
