When Apple launched the Airport Express I could really see the potential of being able to stream music to the living room via AirTunes. I even went as far as selling my CD player to declutter my living room. However, with the main computer being upstairs, not being able to control the music was a big limiting factor. Later on, I got a laptop and found it quite convenient to use this to play music shared from upstairs to the Express.

Throughout this time I wished that they would bring out a new version with a video output and an infrared sensor. This would allow me to see on my TV screen what music is playing, and choose from playlists etc.

For me this is the real reason for buying the Apple TV. Compared to the £90 I spent on the Airport Express, the Apple TV is just as good value, and a far more useful product.

Now, I know Apple is targetting the product for playing back video, and indeed I plan to start importing my DVD's onto a huge hard drive and see how this goes. However, for me music is what I really want this for. In that respect, there is another advantage over the Express - it has a pair of phono outputs to connect high quality audio cables to the amplifier, rather than just a mini-jack output.

Time will tell how useful I find the Apple TV for video, I guess it might be a good opportunity for me to see all those music DVD concerts I can never be bothered to find and put in the DVD player.

I'm proud to say that I have finally got around to finishing importing every single CD I own, packed the CD's away into boxes, and stored them away. I've even got rid of three tall CD racks to create a bit more space in the living room!

While the Apple TV may not be the answer to the world, the universe and everything, it certainly is a product I'm looking forward to making regular use of.
 

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f you want to spend all your money on itunes then this is what to get. I take it most people have an ipod or use itunes as your music/video software. This just seems to be a wi-fi ipod with extra connections
I bought myself a video cable to plug my video ipod into my tv on the front connections to watch my stuff on my normal widescreen telly.

Since i only watch podcasts or youtube clips or self encoded films the quality isn't super anyway. Fine for watching comfortably. I supppose if you have HD and plan all kinds of crazy stuff with it to save you buying a HD-DVD player/Blu-Ray then it's an alternative, just not a very good one i don't think.
 

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Unless you get a really expensive NAS for your Apple TV(s), it's never going to be ideal.

A middle ground and very configurable system is this.....which you
can get empty (add drives yourself).

This NAS has AFP, SMB, FTP(S); HTTP; HTTPS (webdav), print server,
gigE, slimserver.

http://www.infrant.com/products/products_details.php?name=ReadyNAS%
20NVPlus
 

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