Apple TV stays on all the time? Gets really hot.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2671

To put Apple TV in standby mode, press and hold the Select/Play/Pause button for about 6 seconds.

What happens to Apple TV in "standby" mode:

The hard drive spins down when not syncing content.
Video will display black even though video output remains active.
Audio will not play.
Download of any content (rented or purchased) from the iTunes Store will continue uninterrupted.
Apple TV will continue to appear in the iTunes Devices list allowing you to view synced content.
Network connections will remain active and Apple TV will continue to appear in the iTunes devices list allowing you to sync content.
The fan continues to operate.

Note: If the Apple TV is put in standby mode during a sync operation, content will continue to write to the hard drive.

To wake Apple TV, press any button on the remote.

It runs unhealthily hot - that is a fact. People say its perfectly normal and OK (the case is a heat sink, and thats why its hot), but IMO its still far too hot for a piece of consumer electronics. As for a sleep or low power mode, it doesn't do that either. Even the hard drive runs 24/7. It surely wouldn't take much of a patch to let the HD spin down when idle.

Actually there is a fan on the processor. It is a small one but it does what it needs to do to cool things down.

I wouldn't call it sleep either, anything that generates that much heat is definitely not saving power...

Yes, you leave it on all the time so it is ready to communicate with iTunes. There is no way to turn it off except unplug it. You can turn off the display by holding the play button until it shuts off.

Yes, it feels hot. There is no fan so it will be quiet. Hot is normal for the Apple TV.

Hope that helps.

user1724 wrote:

Wosby wrote:
You can put ATV in sleep mode by holding the center "Play/Pause" button for about 7 seconds.

As I posted above, that does not put it to sleep, it just turns off the display.

it has been shown on here previously that doing the above does actually drop the power usage, so in real terms it is "sleep" mode.

andy2356 wrote:
I use a Logitech Harmony remote to control all my home theater devices and it apparently turns off the ATV because the light on the ATV goes out when I turn off the ATV "activity" on the Logitech.

that's just putting it into sleep mode.
there is no "off" on the appletv.

When you hold down the "play/pause" button for 7 seconds:

1. all audio and video stops, and
2. The light on the ATV goes out, and
3. My iTunes stops detecting my ATV, so

I'd call that being in "sleep" mode.

Wosby:When you hold down the "play/pause" button for 7 seconds:
...
3. My iTunes stops detecting my ATV, so I'd call that being in "sleep" mode.
-------------------------

Funny because when I do the same thing iTunes never looses the connection with AppleTV. Even with the light off, I can select AppleTV from the iTunes devices and manage the content. My experience has shown that AppleTV never sleeps or turns off.

Mac Man wrote:
Funny because when I do the same thing iTunes never looses the connection with AppleTV. Even with the light off, I can select AppleTV from the iTunes devices and manage the content. My experience has shown that AppleTV never sleeps or turns off.

correct. itunes still does detect it.
it appears the peoples definition of sleep differs somewhat.

i class "sleep" as being in a device in a state where it is using less power than it would when in normal use.

putting the appletv to "sleep" by holding power/pause for 5 seconds lowers the power consumption... so in my eyes this is "sleep".

the appletv certainly does "hibernate", but it does "sleep".

-g wrote:
I wouldn't call it sleep either, anything that generates that much heat is definitely not saving power...

it has already been proven on here that is does save power though. the power consumption drops quite a bit when put into this "sleep" mode.

it has already been proven on here that is does save power though

I can't argue otherwise, so your point is good.

The thing is still using a lot of electricity in during "sleep" mode to generate that kind of heat...

You can put ATV in sleep mode by holding the center "Play/Pause" button for about 7 seconds.

Wosby wrote:
You can put ATV in sleep mode by holding the center "Play/Pause" button for about 7 seconds.

As I posted above, that does not put it to sleep, it just turns off the display.

I use a Logitech Harmony remote to control all my home theater devices and it apparently turns off the ATV because the light on the ATV goes out when I turn off the ATV "activity" on the Logitech.