iTunes - Movie purchasing and rentals

[mpancha]

I just noticed last week that movie downloads and rentals are finally available in the Canadian iTunes store (international stores to be specific).

I have a few mixed thoughts on this. Movie download pricing seems okay, still ought to be in the 2.99 range for new rentals in SD, and 4.00 for HD rentals. COnsidering there is no brick and mortar over head, and knowing Apple they are/were pushy with their pricing on bandwidth and co-location rates.

I also noticed that you can only download HD onto an AppleTV. I'm one that is still debating an AppleTV purchase. I like being able to easily stream my music to my entertainment system, and the idea of easily sharing photos via the AppleTV. However, the TV shows in Canada are limited, there's no point in even considering using the iTunes store for that. Movie wise, before I go purchase an AppleTV, I'd like to know what HD looks like from iTunes. Based on spec, I think it will look crappy, but other users have said it looks great. Of course, I'm picky and a videophile/audiophile, so I expect more than the average user.

Anyways, what are your thoughts? I'm still debating on all of it, but if nothing else, I'm going to be downloading a movie on my MacBook Pro hooked up to my TV and going from there. We'll see how things go.

[roalgumo7]

Apple is getting really good with all this music, movies, tv shows, etc.
Makes me want to actually start spending on it.

[Nightfall4]

Personally, I'm still waiting to for Apple to improve the AppleTV to the point where I want to buy it. I don't stream my video to watch it. While HD is great, unless you have a TV that can handle and display HD content then you are out of luck.

My wife and I invested in a Mac Mini, and projector. This way we can watch our itunes movies in non-hd format, and still watch our DVDs too.

[quitecontrary1977@hotmail]

wait, cluess as usual... how do you get mac tv?

[roalgumo7]

You buy it lol? Just go to the apple site and see for yourself :O

[Toadii]

hey hey hey

[mpancha]

NightFall >> true, I'm not quite at a point of buying an Apple TV either, but once they do better FLickr integration, I'm buying 3. One for myself, one for the in-laws and one for my parents to keep them in touch with the baby's photos.

With the HD, almost all TVs bought now are goign to have at least 720p capabilities, and Apple claims to have 720p HD movies. As a videophile though, I don't trust their claims.

[Nightfall4]

Hi mpancha,

I agree that their claims of HD Quality are hard to justify without actually seeing it first hand connected to a HD quality TV. I was just looking at the specifications page for the AppleTV and there does seem to be a good selection of TVs it does work well with. Apple - Apple TV - Tech Specs

I still think Apple could really outshine any competition by making this a truly amazing device by adding a few more features to it. This would make it a true entertainment center all in iteself.
DVD / Blue-Ray Player
Digital Recorder (for recording shows off of traditional analog and digital antennas as well as cable and satellite.

Of course like yourself, I'll continue to drool over it and wish I had one until the one day I come home and say to my wife... "Honey, my credit card couldn't help itself, it just had to have one..." To which she will remind me that she doesn't believe in divorce... murder maybe... but not divorce.

[mpancha]

nightfall4 >> first off, is that avatar from Coupling?

I'd love to see BR built into the apple TV, but doubt they would ever include a DVR option. As it is the device runs hot, add in a tv tuner or cable tuner and I can't imagine how hot it would get.

One thing I would love to see though is Flickr gallery viewing of private albums. Give me an option to enter user/pass information, and I'll drop the money for 3 the same day for the reasons I mentioned before - sharing of baby photos with the grandparents.

Your wife sounds a lot like my wife!!

[Nightfall4]

Originally Posted by mpancha

nightfall4 >> first off, is that avatar from Coupling?

Your wife sounds a lot like my wife!!

Absolutely, My avatar is Jeff from Coupling. My wife and I both loved the show and Richard Coyle who played Jeff was our favorite. Since my name is also Jeff, my wife teases me with sayings that either Jeff or the other characters on the show said. We still laugh when ever we see the show.

My wife has another favorite saying. I may be the head of our family... but she is the neck the turns the head.