The updated Apple TV is modestly priced, well put together, and easy to use, according to an extensive review at ars technica on Monday. However, the downside is that the media usage rights are restrictive and HD rentals do reveal some compression artifacts.

"...the update to the Apple TV was achieved through the writing of code, not the soldering of transistors. That means that early adopters aren’t left out in the cold, and unlike iPod Touch users who want to check their e-mail without visiting jailbreakme.com, they aren’t asked for $20 either," wrote Jonathan Gitlin in a remarkable, thorough, but somewhat negative review of Apple TV "Take 2" as Apple called it.

After the ritual of opening the box and deploying the Apple TV, the author noted that the supplied remote was a bit small and unergonomic. He found that the Logitech Harmony 360 worked fine as a universal remote, but it took over an hour of fiddling to get the Harmony 880 to even recognize inputs from the Apple TV remote, and he eventually had to give up.

Getting ready to watch TV also had its share of minor technical glitches in setting up the syncing to a MacBook. The author was also annoyed with the way Apple overly promoted content for sale versus personal content.

The review included plenty of screen shots to convey the flavor of working with the unit.

Once everything is set up, the Apple TV shines as a device that basically avoids a trip to the video store. Even so, the compression artifacts in HD movies was noted, and the onerous digital rights limitations were reviewed in detail.

All in all the, the review pointed out, in some depth, technical details and issues with the unit and is well suited for the advanced video user who wants all the insider facts.