Going all on-demand. Either MS or Apple. But which path do I take?

[Obsoleet]

Ok let me lay down some basics on my situation.

I live in France for a month or two every year. Which is why I prefer the ala carte offerings of AppleTV vs the Netflix/360 subscription model.

Yes, I'm American. I know this has some bearing on the choice between the content available for the 360 and AppleTV.

I need to get either the Zune or ipod Touch for my flights to Europe. I know there is a resolution difference between the ipod touch vs Zune, but I get 80GB for $250 with the Zune vs 32GB for $500 from Apple.
Money is not a huge factor, as this stuff will be used a lot, but I don't like getting less for more. Nor do I like DRM and other product restrictions.

I plan buying seasons of my favorite shows, and need to be able to put them on my portable device for work and trips.

I'm buying this tv, and I understand that the 360 has far less HD content than AppleTV. Not good. I'm also buying a 5.1 setup, not sure if the Netflix/360 offerings have that or not.. but Apple/iTunes does.

I have no interest in console gaming, besides a desire for a Wii and MarioKart that won't go away till I probably buy one. I also have no interest in Bluray, and want to join the future today and ridding myself of shiny discs if possible. I won't buy a BR player until they are $99 and upconvert my DVDs, even then, I more than likely won't buy one.

I want or hope to store purchased content (from my couch on the AppleTV or 360) on my PC hard drive, rather than solely rely on the 360/AppleTV's HDD space, which both have pathetic drives. Do either of them offer this functionality?

I like the way the ipod Touch can control my AppleTV in my house remotely. Is this possible with the Zune/360?

So far, I'm pretty set on going with the Apple route. Due to the simple fact of more available HD content than MS offers. That said, I hate iTunes. I prefer MS's database method of sorting my music than what Apple does. But I can adjust to that.

Let me know what you think. I'm undecided here and am having a hard time making up my mind on how to "move forward" into the on-demand, commercial-less, PPV future.

 

[vi edit]

Amazon ubox? You can watch it on a PC, TV, or even something like a Creative Zen.

It just seems a lot cheaper and has less strings attached than most other options.

 

[Obsoleet]

I dont think Amazon has any HD content yet

 

[sivart]

Either one will get you SD Widescreen hidden as HD....how can you get a 2 hour movie in HD in 6GB space...hmmm...if that were the case why would we need Blu-ray as DVD can hold nearly 9GB.

Good luck with either...I wouldn't / won't sacrifice quality for convenience. Also, why don't use consider the Vizio 1080p plasma (50") for the same price. Better picture, same price. If you don't have a glare on your Tube TV, you're plasma won't either. Contrast ratio (IMO) trumps refresh rate any day.

http://www.vizio.com/products/detail.aspx?pid=63

 

[Obsoleet]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264

I just found an online download of The Fountain in 720P in H.264, it is 4.5GB. The AppleTV uses H.264, pretty much the best compression method out there.

DVD players are based off older standards, DVD players can't decode H.264 or a competitive standard like VC-1. Otherwise, yes, 9GB is enough to get the job done (with proper compression).

BluRay isn't necessary, it allows for completely uncompressed... everything. That's great if you can do it and don't want to have a streaming source. I personally could care less.. I'm more interested in not paying a monthly cable bill and not watching commercials ever again. Not to mention ridding myself of shiny discs at the same time. I'd pickup Bluray as I'm not adamantly opposed to it, it just seems very archaic and 1990s.

Streaming will always improve (and with existing hardware as it's dependent on software/bandwidth not hardware, you send out a firmware update to tell the hardware how to decode the new format and viola), while its becoming more difficult to get consumers switched over from VHS->DVD->Bluray ect every cycle.. as we're probably witnessing now.
Most people (myself included) don't need uncompressed 7.1 audio or full 1080P video (which streaming will have someday anyway). 5.1 audio and 720P upscaled to 1080P in 2008 is good enough considering how convenient it is to get.

Bluray and anything like it in the future will be more and more niche for the HT crowd, mostly the uber rich who are very much into their audio and video performance.
I like Bluray as much as the next guy, but I'm not going to dump money in a player just so I have to run around town or have a Netflix sub to watch them. I'd rather sit down with my girlfriend, turn on the AppleTV and order up one for the night @$5 and be done with it. Not to mention I can get my shows (Colbert Report, Southpark) on a subscription basis with no commercials so I'm not wasting my time.
Being in France, subscription models like Netflix or the 360 don't make much sense. I don't vegetate in front of the TV or PC (though I do at work in front of about 10 LCDs)..

Once you wean yourself off of commercials and TV, you can't stand it anymore. That's where I'm at. If AppleTV and the 360 didn't exist, I wouldn't watch anything at all besides on my PC.

 

[Obsoleet]

Anyway to get back to the point of the thread, I'm leaning towards what Apple has to offer still because they have more content and not a subscription based model. Not to mention since I dont have cable tv, an Xbox looks ridiculous in my living room. I like things to be presentable and firing up the big green X on the 360 to watch a tv show with my friends seems less appealing aesthetically.

It wouldnt kill MS to release a "Xbox Marketplace" version of the 360 with a classy UI and cut down hardware. Basically a Wiimote, XBL Marketplace access, and they could put in streaming game support on the level of the Wii's catalog and would have a product people would use. While still tying it into their gaming platform. Casual gaming without the gaming stigma of the PS3 or 360 would be as popular as ... the Wii itself.

Considering I'm purchasing a Wii and (likely) a AppleTV both.. combining the two makes a lot of sense. I don't think I'm the only person in that boat at all.

I've been writing a list of pros/cons of the AppleTV+iPod Touch combo vs the 360/Zune combo.

360/Zune:
Upconverts DVDs
Plays games
Subscription to Netflix and XBL required
MS Points to buy things
Higher chance of failing
Looks worse in my living room
Accepts more file formats
Zune has no WiFi net access

AppleTV/iPod Touch:
More content
Syncs with ipods
Control remotely with ipod touch
Ala carte
Better hardware (x86)
Silent
Requires converting downloaded movies from other sources
iPod touch has wifi, higher res screen, better for reading PDF files
Flickr/Youtube support

 

[newnameman]

Any particular reason you're ignoring the Xbox Live Video Marketplace (the download service, not related to Netflix)? It has the ala carte model you're looking for, and it has more HD content availble than the AppleTV.

 

[pennylane]

Just as an FYI, Blu-Ray isn't uncompressed everything. The video is still compressed (of course the audio is compressed sometimes, at the discretion of the studio). The good blu-ray discs are compressed using VC-1 or... H.264/AVC.

 

[Obsoleet]

Originally posted by: newnameman
Any particular reason you're ignoring the Xbox Live Video Marketplace (the download service, not related to Netflix)? It has the ala carte model you're looking for, and it has more HD content availble than the AppleTV.

I've read that the Marketplace has far less content than itunes/appletv. Am I wrong? I'm operating under the assumption to get the mass of content that apple offers alacarte, i'm going to need the Netflix side of things from the 360 to match what itunes/appletv has available.

 

[sivart]

Originally posted by: Obsoleet
Anyway to get back to the point of the thread, I'm leaning towards what Apple has to offer still because they have more content and not a subscription based model. Not to mention since I dont have cable tv, an Xbox looks ridiculous in my living room. I like things to be presentable and firing up the big green X on the 360 to watch a tv show with my friends seems less appealing aesthetically.

This made me laugh... (who cares about quality, I'm only worried about aesthetics). Thanks I needed that early in the morning.

 

[Modelworks]

I would use a slingbox and not pay anything.
http://www.slingmedia.com/go/slingbox-pro

 

[Obsoleet]

Originally posted by: sivart

Originally posted by: Obsoleet
Anyway to get back to the point of the thread, I'm leaning towards what Apple has to offer still because they have more content and not a subscription based model. Not to mention since I dont have cable tv, an Xbox looks ridiculous in my living room. I like things to be presentable and firing up the big green X on the 360 to watch a tv show with my friends seems less appealing aesthetically.

This made me laugh... (who cares about quality, I'm only worried about aesthetics). Thanks I needed that early in the morning.

I'm assuming your setup is ungodly and you don't have women over often? I like a presentable, respectable setup that doens't look retarded or childish.

 

[kalrith]

Originally posted by: Obsoleet

Originally posted by: sivart

Originally posted by: Obsoleet
Anyway to get back to the point of the thread, I'm leaning towards what Apple has to offer still because they have more content and not a subscription based model. Not to mention since I dont have cable tv, an Xbox looks ridiculous in my living room. I like things to be presentable and firing up the big green X on the 360 to watch a tv show with my friends seems less appealing aesthetically.

This made me laugh... (who cares about quality, I'm only worried about aesthetics). Thanks I needed that early in the morning.

I'm assuming your setup is ungodly and you don't have women over often? I like a presentable, respectable setup that doens't look retarded or childish.

I'm sure you're right. I recently read an article that stated 99% of single women will not date a man with an ungodly XBOX360 in his livingroom. It mentioned something about the big green X totally killing their libido and even leading some of them to projectile vomiting (to cover the X, I presume). I'm having a hard time finding the article though.

 

[Obsoleet]

Originally posted by: kalrith

Originally posted by: Obsoleet

Originally posted by: sivart

Originally posted by: Obsoleet
Anyway to get back to the point of the thread, I'm leaning towards what Apple has to offer still because they have more content and not a subscription based model. Not to mention since I dont have cable tv, an Xbox looks ridiculous in my living room. I like things to be presentable and firing up the big green X on the 360 to watch a tv show with my friends seems less appealing aesthetically.

This made me laugh... (who cares about quality, I'm only worried about aesthetics). Thanks I needed that early in the morning.

I'm assuming your setup is ungodly and you don't have women over often? I like a presentable, respectable setup that doens't look retarded or childish.

I'm sure you're right. I recently read an article that stated 99% of single women will not date a man with an ungodly XBOX360 in his livingroom. It mentioned something about the big green X totally killing their libido and even leading some of them to projectile vomiting (to cover the X, I presume). I'm having a hard time finding the article though.

/cue xbox fanboys