[underground]

Now here's the problem:
1. Very tiny kitchen with no free surface space at all.
2. Crappy FM / DAB reception area
3. Loads of music plus digital stations can be got off the PC in the next room.

Do any of you esteemed folk know of a way I can a: Get some speakers in the kitchen to work wirelessly from PC without having to route cable through the walls and (would be nice but poss. total overkill!) b: Remotely view and control the source file / volume etc. from the kitchen?

I'd love the idea of using the PC as a media server and having small access points in other rooms, since the house is a bit strapped for space (and needing more room for toys rapidly (baby ones))

[nik at work]

Roku M500, M100 or M2000 are good if it is just music you are after.

The M500 doesn't seem to be available outside the US but I use M1000's and they have been very reliable. About £100-150 on ebay. They also look really slick. You would need to hook them up to a set of powered speakers (the space saving option) or a set of standard speakers via an amplifier. They can work wirelessly or as part of a wired network. My house is cabled so I haven't used them wireless but like I say they are very good and stable. I don't know a lot about wireless stuff so don't know how the link up would work but the units themselves are good IMHO.

There are a few cheaper options, the Netgear MP101 springs to mind. Trouble is it is shit. It constantly drops the server and hangs even on a wired network and needs restarting, I imagine it would be even worse wirelessly. Also it looks shit. But if you can cope with the frustration of rebooting and such like then it is a lot cheaper (£40-50 on ebay last time I looked). I started using one of these but very quickly changed my plans...

There are also other media players but some of them need a TV screen/monitor to allow you to scroll through the menus, which I guess would not be great inyour small kitchen?

Personal preferenc is for the Roku.

[underground]

Thanks Nik - they look like a sweet option- and with powered speakers there'd be no worries with the extra space of an amp- the sub could replace some of the goddamn rarely used baking shite we've got.

I have a Creative 5:1 set in a box, I couldn't link it to the DVD player cos it has the right left centre mini jacks as the inputs, designed for using with a Soundblaster soundcard i suppose.

Anyone have any thoughts on how to get round this?

[Control freak]

DLink do a wireless media centre which is about $350 here. Its plugs into your TV and allows you to browse and play your music (and video) collection through your TV. If your feeling flush theres the apple AirPort which plugs into a power socket and then allows you to plug speakers directly into it. You can then stream music from ITunes directly to it - its pretty pricey for what you get though. Try apples online store for more info.

For the ultimate poser value though you need to get a wireless tablet PC on a docking station. A friend of mine had this and its pretty fly - you end up with a tough screen terminal which can then stream nusic from wherever your collection might be.

Shop around though - theres lots of different options