I've had my eye on Sonos, the multi-room music system, for a while. However, I just couldn't justify the cost of it, especially in a flat where I mainly listen to music in just one room. I also didn't like the fact that, due to its lack of native storage, Sonos requires your computer to be turned on to stream from your collection or setting up a networked storage drive, which didn't appeal for a few reasons (added cost, hassle of keeping libraries synched, look, etc). But I did want to avoid having to keep my computer on to play music. So I researched options and settled on Apple TV + Remote. What I like about it is:
- It auto-synchs with my iTunes library (I have the 160 GB version) so I don't need to have my computer on to play music through my living room speakers.
- Having downloaded the Remote app to my iPod Touch, I can play music through AppleTV without having to turn my tv on.
- It's a relatively cheap solution (AppleTV is ~ $329 / 279 GBP; Remote is a free app) and cheaper than Sonos + network-attached storage
- Oh, and I can also display pictures and play movies/tv shows that I download through iTunes
If I had multiple rooms, Sonos would probably get the nod but so far, Apple TV + Remote seems to work just fine for my living room but I would like to see it updated to better enable listening to streaming internet radio and other apps or widgets such as 8tracks, last.f and others.
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