You are probably already aware that my roommate owns a plasma tv. One does not typically envision this sort of television without an accompanying sound system that does justice to it, however, we were stuck for a long time with stereo. Over break, the same roommate dropped a couple hundred dollars and bought a 5.1 system (not a theater-in-a-box, either, but all the components individually). Since then we’ve taken to hanging out in that room, listening to cool music and programming. At some point, I realized that it would be awesome if I could play music on the 5.1 from my computer. Specifically, streaming radio. Now, I am fully aware that there are a myriad of cables that can accomplish this task (with varying degrees of fidelity), indeed, I have produced such cables myself (with little fidelity). But the point of having a laptop, especially this one, is that it’s very portable, and you’re not tethered to anything. I already, of course, had wireless internet, and battery isn’t something I normally worry about. But two nights ago, I was hit by the urge to be able to wander the hallways and still play music from my computer.

Enter the product you’re already thinking of, the Apple Airport Express (AX). I bought one after church yesterday, plugged in the appropriate cables to the appropriate slots on the appropriate pieces of equipment, and began playing iTunes music. From thirty feet away, in the next room. It’s something you hear and you’re like, “You know, that’s cool”. But then you actually do it, and your face melts off from sheer pleasure. I was twitching like… uh.. something twitchy. I also managed to convince my other roommate, who owns a laser printer, to move it out to the living room and hook it up to the AX so I can print over the network. This will mark the first time I’ve had a printer directly accessible to me since I moved out of the house a year and a half ago. (Normally I just email stuff to myself and then print it in the labs at school).

Take a look at the AX, it’s really amazing. I recommend that if you’ve been thinking about maybe buying one but you’ve been holding off because you’re not sure? Or maybe you don’t have the money right now? Or you’re thinking that you might not have a use for it? Just go buy one, you’ll love it. And, yeah, it works just as well with your Windows box as it does with your Mac, there’s almost nothing you can do with the Mac on it that Windows doesn’t support, including AirTunes and printing. Plus the wireless range on it is pretty kickin’.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 31st, 2005 at 5:22 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.