Macbook, Desktop, ATV, and Time Capsule

[lakerbob]

Hi,

Never had a mac, but have an iphone and 160gb apple tv and am hooked.

I'm thinking about a macbook for my daily use, some sort of desktop for my kids, a large hd connected to airport extreme for storage of movies and music, and time capsule for backing it all up. Any thoughts on this setup and what models to buy? Will both computers and the apple tv be able to share the media library (movies, pictures, and music) on the hd connected to the airport extreme?

Thanks

 

[TEG]

Only the computers can see the external HD. The AppleTV only sees content listed in iTunes, regardless of its actual location. To save money, just get the Time Capsule and hook the HD to it, since the Time Capsule is an AirPort Extreme (n) with a Hard Drive inside, and it has a USB port to connect HDs or Printers to.

Get a 24" iMac as the Desktop, and either a MacBook or MBA for the laptop, considerind the wireless HD.

TEG

 

[waterskier2007]

the midline white macbook would be my choice, unless you really like the color option of the black macbook. there is also recent news that teh new blackbook doesnt show smudges on the keys as much as the old one, which used to be a big complaint. as for the desktop i would go with a 20 or 24 inch imac. the 20 inch is really nice and should provide for a nice reliable workhorse. if you like the bigger display and hard drive then go with the 24 inch. im not sure if the hd connected to airport extreme will work but it probably will i dont have much experience with this.

 

[lakerbob]

Good info..thanks!

So if I have all of my media content on an external hd connected to time capsule, apple tv will be able to access the media for streaming thru itunes as long as itunes is running on one of my computers?

Also, will time capsule be able to fully restore my macbook if the hard drive crashes as well as backing up all of my media on the external hd?

 

[waterskier2007]

Good info..thanks!

So if I have all of my media content on an external hd connected to time capsule, apple tv will be able to access the media for streaming thru itunes as long as itunes is running on one of my computers?

Also, will time capsule be able to fully restore my macbook if the hard drive crashes as well as backing up all of my media on the external hd?

yes to both