I'm trying to give a coworker some advice, he wants to use an external monitor for his Macbook and I advised him to use the DVI connection on his Samsung TV instead of getting a new monitor. That got me to thinking about the Apple TV which I've heard acts as a wireless connection between a Mac and a TV for iTunes videos and Youtube. My question is can the Apple TV be used as a true external monitor setup with the desktop and everything? Or is it only for certain things like iTunes, etc.
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The AppleTV is essentially a Media Center Extender for Apple Computers. It is not a wireless video bridge (and those do exist) but will only play content in the linked computer's iTunes library. Its almost like a video iPod that hooks up to TV's for playback and can stream if not synced to its hard drive.
It is possible to install a full version of OS X onto it, or simply enable SSH and have terminal access to it, but its probably easier and wiser to buy a used Mac Mini for a similar price. -
Thanks for the info, for the purposes of using his TV as a monitor for his Mac, should I recommend/start looking for a wireless video bridge then?
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Well, not unless he wants to have the video on the TV with the computer in another physical location. As far as using the TV as a monitor, all the TV needs is an input that the Apple computer has as well (VGA or DVI?)
Apple TV question
Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by ashura, Sep 4, 2008.