Well, it had to happen eventually: someone cracked open their Apple TV and transplanted the 2.5-inch drive with a 32GB SSD by Transcend. That's pretty much it -- just a bit of hacking, partitioning, re-imaging, and off you go. Do you really even have to ask if putting an SSD in something was worth it?

Talk about timely, yeah? Just hours after our latest Ask Engadget HD question pondered which of the three big hitters in the movie set-top-box arena was superior, along comes a comparison of the trio from PopSci. Of course, this being Engadget HD, we've all ideas many of you won't agree with the verdict put out (hint: Roku's box is deemed the winner), but some decent points are made nonetheless. For starters, the Netflix library is far more expansive than those offered up by Apple and VUDU; for folks looking for the widest range of titles (and cheapest method of renting), it's hard to overlook the Netflix Player. For junkies that just have to have HD, your choices are clearly defined, and between the Apple TV and VUDU, critics noted that the former's ability to dabble in YouTube was a perk that may sway certain buyers. Regardless of your feelings on the matter, be sure and hit up the read link if for nothing more than the pros / cons -- the decision's still yours, you know.

In case you hadn't heard, Apple finally got around to bringing movie rentals to folks camped out in Canada and the UK. Flicks from 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Studios, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Entertainment, MGM, Sony and Lionsgate are now available on the iTunes store, with Maple Pictures thrown in for Canadians. Of course, any HD rentals will require an Apple TV set-top-box, but you totally expected that anyway, right? As for pricing, Canucks will be asked to hand over CAN$9.99 for catalog title purchases, CAN$14.99 for recent releases and CAN$19.99 for new releases, while rentals run CAN$3.99 for library titles and CAN$4.99 for new releases, with high-definition rentals priced one dollar more. UKers can purchase titles for £6.99 (library) / £10.99 (new release) or rent 'em for £2.49 (library) / £3.49 (new release), with HD versions costing one pound more. Let us know how things look, won't you?

Read - Apple brings movies to Canada
Read - Apple brings movies to UK

With Roku's Netflix Player all out in the open and an LG box just around the bend, Chuck's question is particularly timely. There are already quite a few choices out there for folks looking to snag a dedicated movie set-top-box, but has the best one even arrived?

"I pretty much stick with OTA reception when I watch TV, and while Netflix / Blockbuster is fine, I've recently been considering a standalone movie set-top-box for instant gratification purposes. With the Apple TV, VUDU and Roku Netflix Player already out, which one would be best to pick up? I realize more units are expected, but I'm particularly fond of models that support HD films. Really, I'm just looking for user opinions on each, especially if they already own one or have used one."

We'd also like to point out that Netflix's "Watch Now" feature can be piped to your TV fairly easily if you have a nearby HTPC or Xbox 360, but alas, you won't be seeing any material in high-def from there. Here's your shot at defending (or lambasting) your own movie STB -- and... go!

Got a burning question that you'd love to toss out for Engadget HD (or its readers) to take a look at? Tired of Google's blank stares when you ask for real-world experiences? Hit us up at ask at engadgethd dawt com and keep an eye on this space -- your inquiry could be next.

Ah, bugger. Just days after Apple Core began offering its aTV Flash on a foolproof USB stick, the outfit has officially pulled the software. Apparently there have been a few "questions arising regarding the fair use of a particular file present on the aTV Flash, and conflicting opinions as to whether or not it falls under the fair use category." In order to keep itself off of the hot seat, it has "proactively" (and voluntarily) discontinued offering the product "until further notice." Not all hope is lost, however, as Apple Core is currently working with the party in question to resolve the dilemma, and it should be keeping us all in the loop as discussions progress. Oh, and in case you're curious -- all current orders were canceled and refunded.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Engineering souls have been hacking up the Apple TV for a good while now, but those too scared of completely ruining their box have had to sit patiently on the sidelines waiting for someone else to do their dirty work. Enter aTV Flash, a USB flash drive which enables your Apple TV (Take 2 included) to do all sorts of fancy new tricks without any fuss. Those with the drive simply plug it in and watch as new file formats become supported, UPnP media streaming opens up and Safari-based web browsing becomes a reality (among other things). Granted, the convenience will cost you $59.95, but that's the price you pay for making your life easier (and your Apple TV a little more useful).

[Via TUAW]

We can't say we're too terribly fond of purchasing movies on a proprietary set-top-box (à la VUDU), but for those with no real attachment to physical media, Apple's looking to hook you up. Aside from announcing that day-and-date DVD releases were coming to iTunes, Cupertino has also enabled its Apple TV to purchase full-length films; prior to today, users could only rent them for a window of time. Details are pretty scant at the moment, and we're not even sure if HD films can be purchased (or if a premium is added on), but feel free to fire up your box and let us know how it goes in comments below.

While VUDU has unleashed a couple of updates for its movie STB of late, Apple has just let slip the first point update since the Take 2 upgrade. Dubbed version 2.0.1, the update adds a "Genres" tab in the My Movies list among other small tweaks. Anything particularly useful added here? Toss in your input below.

[Via TUAW, thanks Ryan]

One of the criticisms leveled at digital distribution over old fashioned discs is a lack of extras, but Warner Bros. has something for that with its latest release, Nancy Drew: Drew's Clues. Available digitally (VOD, Amazon Unbox, iTunes, Xbox Marketplace) from the same day as the DVD release, viewers can either get the regular movie, or the Drew's Clues edition with "Movies that Pop" pop ups for trivia facts, quizzes and behind the scenes info. This is aimed primarily at the teen-girl sleepover crowd, and while the regular flick is out in HD on all services, Drew's Clues is SD only, plus, to watch it both ways, you would have to rent (and pay for) both versions separately. Key advance that increases the appeal of downloads, or one more reason to take the remote when you leave your tween home alone, we can't decide. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]

[Via Variety]

Anyone enjoying the iTunes Digital Copy included on some Fox DVD / Blu-ray releases will be happy to hear Lionsgate is jumping on the bandwagon as well, starting with its releases of Rambo and The Eye. The usual requirements of an iTunes account apply, and the file should work on authorized computers, iPods, iPhones and Apple TVs. We haven't grabbed one of these discs ourselves just yet, anyone want to let us know how well your rights are being managed by Apple (and whatever happened to Managed Copy)?

Online movie distributor HungryFlix recently bumped up their maximum file size to 1-GB and made it clear that part of the motivation was the growing demand for HD video from both content creators and consumers. No surprise, then, that the company is also hopping on board the train that is Apple TV, touting compatibility with the little box. Okay, we'll bite -- HungryFlix's download model (as opposed to streaming) is a good fit for these kinds of devices, especially as the Amazon S3 storage system doesn't provide for any sort of edge- or peer-networking needed for HD streaming. But that 1-GB cap is going to seriously restrict the length of MPEG4-encoded HD offerings (or worse yet, picture quality), and we'd really like to see a more integrated solution. Still, we're all for giving independent HD content creators a way to keep things indie, and HungryFlix's pricing structure is attractive, too. Let's hope this catches on in large enough numbers to grow the service beyond its best fit for now -- portables.

We were very surprised that the HD available to rent on the Apple TV didn't suck, but we were disappointed with the initial selection -- about 78 HD movies. The other thing we found frustrating is that Apple didn't have much information on its site about exactly what movies were available in HD, so aside from buying one and browsing the great UI on your HDTV, you were left wondering. Luckily there are always people out there trying to help, and we ran across a cool site called Apple TV Junkie, which not only has a comprehensive list of HD movies available on the Apple TV, but if you subscribe to the RSS feed you get updates when new movies are added. So if you're on the fence about the Apple TV, waiting to see how the movie collection grows, or just want an easy way to keep up with what's new, check it out.

Many were very excited about the Apple TV finally offering HD rentals as we all ran around comparing HD quality with other download services like Vudu and the Xbox360 Live Marketplace. But there is one thing the Apple TV can do that services like Vudu can't, play whatever you got from wherever you want. As much as we love the ultimate in HD picture and sound quality, we also like convenience so the idea of ripping all of our HD movies and DVDs to be stored on the network for consumption is real nice. And no sooner did Apple add Dolby Digital 5.1 support to the Apple TV, developers rushed to add the feature to their conversion software. The Mac favorite swiss army knife of video conversion, VisualHub was very quick with an update that does just this, and based on the latest nightly builds of HandBrake, the feature is iminent for DVD rips as well. So if Apple doesn't offer the HD movie you want to see, find it yourself and convert it. In our experiences, the movies we encoded looked as good, if not better, than those Apple offered -- and with no 24 hour limit of course.

[Thanks, Randy H.]

We've had our fun, now it's your turn. Considering that Apple just beamed out its (long-awaited) v2.0 software to Apple TV owners, we're quite interested in finding out what you love / hate about take 2. Head on over to Engadget Classic to give the world a piece of your mind on the matter, won't you?

A couple of tipsters have reported that the delayed Apple TV "take 2" update is finally available, right on schedule. It's reportedly a 5 minute download, but that's all the info we've got until Apple gets official about it. Let us know if it works for you.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]