new to Apple tv, party house/bachelor pad setup

[natedogg624]

i've been wanting an apple tv ever since i used one at my gf's house a while ago but have heard about updates coming etc and finally saw that it was update the other day.

now my question is mostly regarding setup and needs for mainly a party house atmosphere (college campus)

1) the digital out on the aTV; does the hdmi have to be hooked up, or can i just use the digital out in a similar fashion as the airport express' headphone jack and just use the aTV has a very nice airport express with audio only?

2) i'll have multiple stereo setups going on throughout the house, but only one with tv/surround sound. for the other rooms that just have a audio, when i want to do multiple room streaming, should i just get another aTV since they are the same price as the airport express, or just get an airport express and be done with it? is there an update coming with the express, or any reason i should get the airport express over teh aTV for strictly audio purpose?

3) i can control all this via the free remote app or is the multi room streaming control coming with the airplay app?

4) will the iphone 3g (not s) be able to handle the new airplay feature, ie streaming movies/music straight to the aTV or would i be better off getting an ipad or itouch to control the aTV/multi room stereo setup?

thanks and much appreciated for your help

 

[natedogg624]

nobody?

 

[Chris Rogers]

i've been wanting an apple tv ever since i used one at my gf's house a while ago but have heard about updates coming etc and finally saw that it was update the other day.

now my question is mostly regarding setup and needs for mainly a party house atmosphere (college campus)

1) the digital out on the aTV; does the hdmi have to be hooked up, or can i just use the digital out in a similar fashion as the airport express' headphone jack and just use the aTV has a very nice airport express with audio only?

2) i'll have multiple stereo setups going on throughout the house, but only one with tv/surround sound. for the other rooms that just have a audio, when i want to do multiple room streaming, should i just get another aTV since they are the same price as the airport express, or just get an airport express and be done with it? is there an update coming with the express, or any reason i should get the airport express over teh aTV for strictly audio purpose?

3) i can control all this via the free remote app or is the multi room streaming control coming with the airplay app?

4) will the iphone 3g (not s) be able to handle the new airplay feature, ie streaming movies/music straight to the aTV or would i be better off getting an ipad or itouch to control the aTV/multi room stereo setup?

thanks and much appreciated for your help

1. No

2. Never used an AExp

3. If you buy 3 apple TV's for example, you will need to control 3 different libraries at the same time. The only way I see to accomplish this is by running the sound from all the rooms to the Apple TV. (Maybe that's what an Aexp does?)

4. If you want to blow it up

 

[KDR]

i've been wanting an apple tv ever since i used one at my gf's house a while ago but have heard about updates coming etc and finally saw that it was update the other day.

now my question is mostly regarding setup and needs for mainly a party house atmosphere (college campus)

1) the digital out on the aTV; does the hdmi have to be hooked up, or can i just use the digital out in a similar fashion as the airport express' headphone jack and just use the aTV has a very nice airport express with audio only?

2) i'll have multiple stereo setups going on throughout the house, but only one with tv/surround sound. for the other rooms that just have a audio, when i want to do multiple room streaming, should i just get another aTV since they are the same price as the airport express, or just get an airport express and be done with it? is there an update coming with the express, or any reason i should get the airport express over teh aTV for strictly audio purpose?

3) i can control all this via the free remote app or is the multi room streaming control coming with the airplay app?

4) will the iphone 3g (not s) be able to handle the new airplay feature, ie streaming movies/music straight to the aTV or would i be better off getting an ipad or itouch to control the aTV/multi room stereo setup?

thanks and much appreciated for your help

Based on your needs, I would buy Airport express for the non-tv rooms. True, ATV does more, but it doesn't sound like you'll use any of these features and wont have a TV to access the user interface for updates, etc. You can already control multiple rooms via the remote app with speakers that are connected to the Airport Express units. This functionality is called AirTunes now. I use this with 5 sets of speakers throughout the house and outdoors and it's awesome. I even use the old ATV for the set in the family room.

I'm not aware of any Airport Express updates on the horizon, but you never know with Apple. The $99 price does seem high in comparison to Apple TV, but remember that it can also serve as a network extender which ATV cannot do.