[DerrO]

if I am to buy a Macbook, or ibook( to replace the position of a CD player )  and given that its sole purpose is to access iTunes with an external hardrive storage and to supply an external DAC - would i be safe in saying  that neither the operating speed or built-in memory is of little consequence.  In other words, basically ANY Mac of any vintage, if I am using a seperate DAC and having the  music library  on a seperate   HD.

Appreciate  any comments.

DerrO

[Crimson]

I probably wouldn't go with ANY vintage (the Clamshell with 32 MB of RAM soldered to the motherboard!), but I'd think a G4 iBook on with 512 MB of memory running Tiger would suffice.

[santacore]

Yeah, any G4 iBook should work great. I'm running a 4 year old iBook and it's been working great as a music server.

[vettracer]

I use an iBook G3 500  with 192MB ram and OS10.3.9 for my dedicated music server.  For storage I have an external Lacie Firewire hard drive since this old mac doesn't have USB 2.0. 

It works perfect for Itunes and these days, they are about $180 on the used market.

Cheers,

Lawrence

[Crimson]

I use an iBook G3 500  with 192MB ram and OS10.3.9 for my dedicated music server.  For storage I have an external Lacie Firewire hard drive since this old mac doesn't have USB 2.0. 

It works perfect for Itunes and these days, they are about $180 on the used market.

Cheers,

Lawrence

I stand corrected! Seems a G3 will do the job. How do you have it conencted to your audio system?

[DerrO]

Thanks to all...

[vettracer]

I use an iBook G3 500  with 192MB ram and OS10.3.9 for my dedicated music server.  For storage I have an external Lacie Firewire hard drive since this old mac doesn't have USB 2.0. 

It works perfect for Itunes and these days, they are about $180 on the used market.

Cheers,

Lawrence

I stand corrected! Seems a G3 will do the job. How do you have it conencted to your audio system?

I use USB out to a HagUSB Converter.  That feeds my DAC via SPDIF

[planet10]

a G4 iBook on with 512 MB of memory running Tiger would suffice.

That is what i mostly use ... 800 MHz with 640 MB RAM. I was in the right place at the right time and it cost $250. It is fast enuff to run some other aps (ie browser to access info about songs/artists etc) while running iTunes. It is ~4 years old but new enuff that it came with Airport Extreme.

Anything much older is going to be limited in the amount of RAM you can fit and that probably limites you to Panther. You also want something with Firewire. I have used my Pismo G3 with no issues except that the slower Airport tends to degrade the sonics a bit if you are pulling tunes thru the air.

dave

[pardales]

I too am thinking of a new/old computer for my music server. What is the oldest, quietest MAC laptop that still has WIFI. Any without fans?

Best,

[Crimson]

I too am thinking of a new/old computer for my music server. What is the oldest, quietest MAC laptop that still has WIFI. Any without fans?

Best,

If wifi is a criteria, I'd stay with 802.11g at a minimum. That said, some late G4's and G5's would be suitable. Fan noise usually isn't an issue when streaming audio. Also, you may want to keep an eye on Macmall.com's outlet/clearnce/refurb items. Here's an example, but I've seen stuff much cheaper:

http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail.asp?dpno=7354397&Redir=1&description=Apple-13.3%22%20New%20MacBook%20Intel%20Core%202%20Duo%202GHz,%201GB%20Ram,%2080GB%20Hard%20Drive,%20DVD-ROM/CD-RW%20-%20White%20(Open%20Box%20Product,%20Limited%20Availability,%20No%20Back%20Orders)-MacBook

[pardales]

I do want to spend less than that. On second thought I could probably live without the WIFI ability for the right unit (at the right price) as I am not streaming my audio and don't intend to.

[mcullinan]

What is your budget? Its always nice to sit on ye old couch and surf the net while not using as a server. Just a thought.
Mike

[pardales]

Your right. Even if it is just for some internet radio -- I would end up missing the wifi if I did not have it. Maybe $400-$500.