Main image of article McTivia's The Best Apple TV Alternative You'll Ever Get

Some people that have given Apple TV a try have experienced some type of difficulty or technical glitch. At times, the unit might even stop working, period. This, of course, can ruin anybody’s movie night. Apple TV was designed to broadcast video sources directly from YouTube, iTunes and Netflix, among other sources. The video plays on the TV through a wireless gadget called Airplay. According to Apple and some users, the set up of the Airplay and Apple TV is fairly easy. But ruined movie nights have led many Apple TV owners to give other products a try. Among the latest gadgets is McTivia. According to their advertising, they are the first device that is able to show your Mac or Windows content on your television with no cables -- it's completely wireless. Users have said that McTivia’s look is a lot more attractive than Apple TV's. Not only does it broadcast from iTunes, but it can broadcast virtually anything that is already sitting in your system through the wireless connection. When you look at it, you will see that it looks almost identical to a wireless router and its size is the same as an iPad. The antenna on the back can be adjusted to fine-tune your signal. In other words, with McTivia you will be able to make your TV a large working monitor for your computer. It can be accessed in your sitting room or anywhere else in your home. The fact that McTivia can play any content on your computer is already an advantage over Apple. However, since nothing can be perfect, the problem is the setup process. In contrast to the quick and easy process for Apple TV, McTivia pushes the user to get engaged in a complicated step by step process. To paint a better idea on how to setup McTivia, we’ll say that first you have to plug an HDMI output from the device to the television. Then you proceed to plug the device to the power source. This leads you to setting up the network (which is done wirelessly) with either a modem or an Ethernet cable. Most people prefer to use the modem option. Then you install the McTivia MirrorOps Sender application on your Macbook. After all is said and done, you might have spent almost 90 minutes trying to complete the set up. This can make a lot of users unhappy, but if they take the time to install McTivia, they will see an image with great resolution. Even though McTivia isn't a big name like Apple, it surely brings a different option for many users. It is just a matter of having the patience of setting up. Then you won’have ruined movie nights. Source: McTivia