I've had a TV+ for just over a month, and it's not so bad. The IR blaster works by being powerful enough to bounce off the wall back to your set top box; for most folks, you just put it next to your other video equipment and it works fine. Much easier than messing around with a wired irblaster. I'm in the US, and perhaps the online content (CinemaNow for movies) and the installation of the TV guide are a little better here. They've promised a plugin for HD (720p) playing -- but not recording. Watching youtube from the web browser is great, and much better quality than the ones you get through the Archos content portal; it's changed how I watch TV. I've had no problems with properly fitting a variety of video formats to my TV (which is a high quality standard TV, not an HDTV).

The TV+ is indeed a little ragged around the edges compared to the AppleTV, but the former is also way more capable, with its recording capabilities, streaming capacities, larger list of file types it can play, and ability to connect straight to the web. (And in the US CinemaNow compares favorably to iTunes for movie purchases and rentals.) It's hard to find anything else with a similar range of abilities for less than US $1000.