Welcome to the Squeezebox (SB) world. You've got a whole lot of questions in your first post, mixed in with some correct observations and some apparent misperceptions. I don't think I can address all of them, but I'll try to get to the key ones.
First, just because the wifi in your listening room is iffy doesn't mean you have to go with the Touch's built-in server (I'll call it TinyLMS) and a directly-attached USB drive. The TinyLMS+USB drive approach works for some and fails for others, but overall it has to be the most unreliable aspect of the whole SB system. Is there a way to run ethernet (cat5e or cat6) cable to your listening room? If not, what about homeplug adapters, which carry wired network traffic over your home's electrical wiring? Or adding a wifi access point in or near the listening room? In the end, improving the connectivity of your listening room to avoid dropouts is likely to be more satisfying than using TinyLMS plus an external drive. Second, as for system architecture, you correctly surmise that it's a client/server system. However, the Touch is primarily a client, and its server function is a distant second. The Touch, like all Squeezebox models, has to be connected to a server. That server could be LMS running on a computer (or on a NAS, or TinyLMS on an SB Touch) on your local network, or it could be mysqueezebox.com, which is "the server in the cloud." For playing back your ripped CDs, you usually need to have a local LMS/TinyLMS running. I say "usually" because there is a paid subscription service on mysqueezebox.com called MP3Tunes that allows you to upload your tracks (MP3 versions only) to an online storage site, and then play them back from there. But usually mysqueezebox.com (or mysb.com for lazy typists like me) is used for streaming from the internet: internet radio and services such as Pandora, Slacker, Rhapsody, Spotify, MOG, Last.fm, and others. Btw, it probably also helps to know that slimserver, SqueezeCenter (SC), Squeezebox Server (SBS), and Logitech Media Server (LMS) are all different names for the same thing, namely the server software that runs on a pc, NAS, or Touch (in a stripped-down version on the Touch). Apparently when they get bored at Logitech they rename things fairly indiscriminately. As for the pluses and minuses of Vortexbox Appliance, squeezeplug, or FitPC, my advice is that there is no hurry. Presumably you have a computer at present. Can you run LMS on that? If so, I would get started with that while you sort out issues such as the wifi in your listening room and ripping your CDs. It's always easy to upgrade/change your LMS server hardware later. My particular route started from an old surplus Dell desktop running Ubuntu to a hacked LinkStation NAS to a different hacked LinkStation NAS to my current headless Atom-based "nettop" that I assembled using largely the same hardware as a Vortexbox Appliance. And I still do all my ripping on my Windows laptop. Hope this helps at least a little. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ aubuti's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2074 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=96003 _______________________________________________ Touch mailing list Touch@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/touch
