It arrived today – one day early – the AppleTV 3rd Gen. I jumped on ordering this as soon as I was able to, especially since I wanted to get another one for the bedroom (we already have the 2nd Gen in our family room). The 3rd Gen one will be hooked up on our primary TV in the family room, but I could not wait to see what the 1080P looked like, so I hooked it up.
But first the boring unboxing:
You can see the box in the top picture, here is a picture of… the back of the box! It has some information and such on it, pretty cool for a quick overview of what you can use this for.

When you look at the side of the box, you can see that is boasts 802.11n WiFi, HDMI, and 1080P graphics.

Upon sliding the top off, you are presented with a shiny AppleTV looking at you.

 
Once the AppleTV is removed, there is the remote. Nicely nestled in and well protected. Such an elegant way to pack a remote.

Remove the remote from its place, and you are presented with a simple hole that will allow you to remove the next layer. The amount of thought they put into the packaging and presentation is simply amazing. (I am pausing to sip some Apple Cool aide)

Once removed, you are presented with the power cord and the manual. Power cord is nicely wrapped up, and the cellophane comes right off – no fuss, no mess.

Once you remove the cord, you can see the Setup Guide.

Within the setup guide you find your appropriately sized Apple Stickers.

I had to use the stock photo here, but the back of the AppleTV is the same

Once you connect the unit and power it up, you are presented with the setup screen.

It quickly activates itself, it was fast!

 
Once activated, you are at the main menu. You can see the quality difference here, it is very clear, crisp, and overall very nice looking.

I checked the resolution as I wanted to see what this supports as well as what it was currently running in – 1080P and 60Hz.

I decided to run a quick trailer of the new Despicable Me 2 – it downloaded lightening fast and the quality was Great!  In case you have not seen the trailer, you can check it out here:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_ytY-IH_WY]
I am very glad I ordered this unit.  For the price, how can you go wrong!