Tech Post #8: AppleTV on the (not so) Cheap


Pottery
I invested in a Sony Bravia 40″ LCD HD tv a few months ago. I mainly want to see the teacups, in the period piece DVDs that I own, really, really close-up and I even bought a ceiling mount tv to install it. I have been really happy with it, but because I didn’t get a DVD player with HD abilities, it is a bit fuzzy. So I was thinking I’d take the Lost and Battlestar Galactica episodes I’ve downloaded from iTunes and watch them on the Sony. Another investment was the Macbook Core Duo. So the Macbook has a mini-DVD port, and the Sony has HDMI, a regular PC monitor 12 -pin, VGA, etc. I’ve learned that the DVI interface is older than HDMI. So… it requires two cables, one from MacBook mini-DVI to regular DVI, then another from DVI to HDMI. in the mail today came the cable I’ve been hunting for- $15 for the DVI to HDMI. Apple Store tells you to buy this exorbitant over-$100 one. Seems like an odd industry, cables, that they can vary in price so drastically.

The hookup works from a hardware perspective, but now comes the dicey stuff: software. I love these blog posts that say it “just works”, that Front Row just “came on”. I hoped for that, yes I did. I finally rummaged around my apartment and found my remote for Front Row. Why would Apple make a software that’s only accessible via a remote? And if I’m wrong, please leave a comment, because I looked and looked for a way to launch that puppy. OK, so after I find it, I turn on the TV, turn on the MacBook, launch front row, nada happens.

The MacBook display settings- did popup and detect the Sony as a monitor. I set it to “mirror”, but still it’s not showing up on the Sony. On the Sony end, I click analog/digital, but it seems to keep thinking that it’s looking for digital channels. I’m not even sure if the stream will come in digital or magically analog. Hmm.

Random funny stuff from youtube

Talib Kweli’s New Year’s Resolutions:

The Lezberado on the L Word

Top 10 Favorite George Bush Moments on David Letterman

and last, Battlestar Galactica Bush Mashup