New flat, multimedia solutions...?

[ngalbrai]

Hi there,
This could be a long one.
I am soon to move into a new flat.
I want to use my laptop to watch media listen to itunes/i-radio in the lounge primarily on my monitor but also considering a projector, ideally want to be TV-less!

So questions are:
1) What would people recommend sound wise, laptop has standard headphone jack audio out so am guessing sound options are fairly limited, was thinking some beefy PC specific speakers, dont want lots of wires associated with surround sound, just want a simple two speaker setup with reasonable output for listening to music too. Alternative I was considering was to use the Aux input in a simple amp, then out to speakers - what would give me the best quality sound?

2) Is there a wireless router that will allow me to plug three USB HD's into it and effectively treat them as NAS? Assuming clear signal, is the LAN bandwidth sufficient to stream movies?

3) Short of buying another laptop/pc, are there any cheaper wireless media receiver type gadgets that I could use down the line to access media from say the bedroom wirelessly?

If all this gets hideously expensive then just moving a small USB HD between rooms is fine too.

4) Projectors - could you recommend a low end one? Given the ever decreasing price of decent sized LCD tvs are projectors really worth it?

Thanks.

 

[floppybootstomp]

A seperate amp and loudspeakers will usually sound better than a dedicated PC speaker setup and as you're limited to two channel stereo would seem the best solution. Plus you can plug other audio sources into it, i-Pod, CD Player, Tuner etc.

Take a look at Richer Sounds they should have something to suit and yes, the more you spend the better it will sound, usually.

As for projector Vs TV, how far is your viewing distance as projectors work better given quite a long distance between them and the screen. I would usually recommend a TV in the average size living room and a 32" LCD model with 1080 res, fast response time and a good contrast ratio can now be had for less than £500.00.

And you won't need a seperate screen (unless you were planning to use a plain white wall to view on with a projector).

I don't know about networking external hard drives, hopefully somebody else here will.