In the TG Lab: Second Generation Apple TV

It took a month from the time of Apple’s announcement, but the second generation Apple TV has finally begun shipping to customers worldwide. We’ve been using ours for the past couple of days, and are preparing to publish our full review next week. But for now, I’ll give some quick impressions.

Typical of Apple, the latest generation Apple TV is small, capable of literally fitting in the palm of your hand. But despite that, the unit is very sturdy and doesn’t feel cheap in any way. The top and bottom are a smooth matte plastic, while the sides are comprised of a glossy plastic. Yes, the plastic that attracts dust within seconds of being exposed to the air. At least in this house.

As you’d expect for a media player such as this, “installation” is a total breeze. You simply need to connect the HDMI to both the device and your display, and then hook up the power. Unlike every media player we’ve looked at in recent months, Apple’s is the first to not have a “brick” end on its power cable. Rather, it’s a standard power cable like most others, so it will only take up one spot on a power strip or in the wall.

The included remote is built with a strong aluminum, and because it’s small, it’s also light. It features a total of three buttons and also a navigation wheel. The third button is the center of the navigation wheel used for confirming selections on the screen. So far, I’m liking what Apple’s done here, but I’m not quite sold on the wheel’s design. I often feel like I’m going to be selecting the wrong thing on the screen due to its bulged-out nature. It’s far from being a game-breaker, though.

Up to this point, I haven’t had much time to get down to testing, but I did set the device up and take advantage of a little Netflix action. So far, my experience is good, and I have to say that I’m impressed with the UI as a whole and the fact that it’s super-smooth to use. The latest Apple TV might not support 1080p, but Apple seems to have put the CPU to good use in other ways. The screensaver, for example, floats pictures from your collection around the screen, and I was surprised to see that there was virtually no stutter at all, which seems minor, but is noticeable on most other devices.

For Netflix, I’ve tested out TV shows and movies (including HD), and my experience there has also been good. Both forms of video took up to five seconds to load, but after that, they played with nary an issue straight through. I should note that so far, I’ve stuck to a wired Internet connection, but I’ll be testing out the wireless feature over the weekend. I’m expecting big things there, since it’s one of the main selling-points of the device.

So far, so good… I’m pretty psyched about what I’m seeing here so far – even moreso than I expected. You can expect our full review to appear on the site at some point next week. Stay tuned.