Currently own
Computer: MBP 2.2ghz/2GB RAM/120GB HDD (the "MBP")
Display: Samsung LE26R41BDX LCD tv (the "LCD")
NAS: Maxtor Shared Storage Plus 300GB (the "MSS")
Network: Apple Airport Extreme Base Station 802.11n (the "AEBS")
To be bought:
Apple TV: 40GB or 160GB depending on outcome of this thread (the "ATV")
.... and whatever else you guys mention I might find useful. I have about $600 to spend on it and I'm going to be in the US for 7 weeks soon. So want to take advantage of the GBP-USD exchange rate.
Current situation.
All my media (music, videos, photos) resides on the on the MSS. As I have just switched to the mac platform and got myself the MBP, I havent fully set up iTunes, but previously on my PC, I had the MSS mapped as a network drive and just make iTunes look at this location for the media. I then had my PC hooked up via VGA cable to the LCD to display whatever I wanted on the LCD.
Future (hopeful) situation:
I have my ATV and MBP connected wirelessly to the AEBS. The MSS can be connected over ethernet to the AEBS. I setup iTunes library on the MBP and stream whatever media i want to the LCD
Questions:
1. What is the best way of setting up my iTunes library given this setup. I have connected to the MSS as a server and can access the files. But the MBP does not reconnect to the drive at logon or even after waking up from sleep. So I keep losing this connection. I have created an Alias to my MSS and placed this in the login items, but it doesnt seem to help. Is there any way I can get the MBP to connect to the MSS on login?
2. Assuming Q 1 works out or there is some other way I can get to my media on the MSS, will I be able to now stream my media to the ATV? As the media is not on the MBP's hard drive, will I have trouble streaming to the ATV? on my PC, I used to stream to music to an Airport Express without any trouble at all. Would this apply to the ATV as well?
3. If both Q1 and Q2 are not going to work, then is there an other way to get my media playing wirelessly on the LCD? I could connect the MBP via dvi cable to the LCD, and use front row, but I want to be able to have a wireless solution if possible so that I dont have to connect and disconnect the wire every time. Rather I can just sit down, pick up the ATV remote and bam.. all my media is available on the ATV..
If there is anything else as well that you guys can think of that might be useful for my setup, please mention that too..
Thanks for all your replies.
George
Computer: MBP 2.2ghz/2GB RAM/120GB HDD (the "MBP")
Display: Samsung LE26R41BDX LCD tv (the "LCD")
NAS: Maxtor Shared Storage Plus 300GB (the "MSS")
Network: Apple Airport Extreme Base Station 802.11n (the "AEBS")
To be bought:
Apple TV: 40GB or 160GB depending on outcome of this thread (the "ATV")
.... and whatever else you guys mention I might find useful. I have about $600 to spend on it and I'm going to be in the US for 7 weeks soon. So want to take advantage of the GBP-USD exchange rate.
Current situation.
All my media (music, videos, photos) resides on the on the MSS. As I have just switched to the mac platform and got myself the MBP, I havent fully set up iTunes, but previously on my PC, I had the MSS mapped as a network drive and just make iTunes look at this location for the media. I then had my PC hooked up via VGA cable to the LCD to display whatever I wanted on the LCD.
Future (hopeful) situation:
I have my ATV and MBP connected wirelessly to the AEBS. The MSS can be connected over ethernet to the AEBS. I setup iTunes library on the MBP and stream whatever media i want to the LCD
Questions:
1. What is the best way of setting up my iTunes library given this setup. I have connected to the MSS as a server and can access the files. But the MBP does not reconnect to the drive at logon or even after waking up from sleep. So I keep losing this connection. I have created an Alias to my MSS and placed this in the login items, but it doesnt seem to help. Is there any way I can get the MBP to connect to the MSS on login?
2. Assuming Q 1 works out or there is some other way I can get to my media on the MSS, will I be able to now stream my media to the ATV? As the media is not on the MBP's hard drive, will I have trouble streaming to the ATV? on my PC, I used to stream to music to an Airport Express without any trouble at all. Would this apply to the ATV as well?
3. If both Q1 and Q2 are not going to work, then is there an other way to get my media playing wirelessly on the LCD? I could connect the MBP via dvi cable to the LCD, and use front row, but I want to be able to have a wireless solution if possible so that I dont have to connect and disconnect the wire every time. Rather I can just sit down, pick up the ATV remote and bam.. all my media is available on the ATV..
If there is anything else as well that you guys can think of that might be useful for my setup, please mention that too..
Thanks for all your replies.
George
