[Songforyou]

I was all set to buy a new mac mini for music, but my neighbor gave me a Dell with a 750G hard drive and a good sound card.

My plan was to rip the better part of my CD collection (about 1000) to the hard drive using itunes apple lossless.  I like the simplicity of itunes.  The music with be for casual listening (parties, dinner, BBQs), but I want the quality to be as good as possible (BUT without any fuss).  I like the idea of itunes playlists.

Are there any issues with running itunes on a PC for this purpose?  Is there a better solution for my purposes?

I'm not a tweaker and don't want to putt around with the computer more than I have to.

Suggestions?

[ted_b]

No, for your listening needs, the iTunes world is perfect.  Get an Apple Airport Express and have iTunes anywhere in the house you need (wirelessly talks to your pc's iTunes and send output to a nearby stereo or speakers, etc.).  Sure, there are other solutions (I use Slim Server and Slim Devices/Logitech products) but none as hassle-free for your needs. 

[ZLS]

    The only suggestion I may have is that you rip the files into wav.(No compression) It will take up more storage space on the HD but it will give you total flexibility if you switch platforms. 

[CAlbertson]

Apple lossless is a good way to go.  Being lossless you can always convert it to other formats without loss.  But you only get about 50% compression.  Disk space is cheap.

As some one else said, buy an Airport Express.  It has a digital optical output so if your receiver has toslink input you are set.  If not the Express has line level stereo out all in the same jack.

One thing I've been wanting to try with iTunes is to install 2 or 4 CD drives and see if I can rip multiple CDs at once. With 1,000 CDs to rip you might want to try.

[Songforyou]

Thanks for the input folks.  I've been looking at the express for a while now.  I think I'll buy one today!

Happy listening everyone!