Apple TV vs Wadia 170i?

AppleTV, a lot more to it.

Agree on this completely. I looked into both of them, and not only is there more to the AppleTV, but the ergonmics and functioning of the unit will be much more consistent with the idea of a music server. Plug it in and it works. Sound quality is likely be a bit better from the Wadia. Haven't heard it. But if you plan to use the AppleTV as I do -- a second source for when you want to shuffle songs instead of listening more intensely to CDs/Albums, I think the AppleTV fits the bill much better.

Another Apple TV vote here. If you want audiophile quality playback, rip using Apple lossless, run the Apple TV into an external DAC and you're in business. Plus the added bonus of synching with your computer and iTunes makes it easier to manage playlists.

I also love the movie rental feature on the Apple TV... need pretty fast broadband though because it's streaming video. Youtube on your TV is also lotsa fun.

Although I have not used Either... The cheaper, more direct, and quality ergonomics solution for many reasons does point to the Apple TV being the way to go. I am setup for it, but gonna wait it out another year or 2 for better models with a little more space etc... And being movie downloading is starting to catch up it will be an all in one universal solution for me, but there is a few people that see the benefit having their IPOD for portability in the car and being able to just bring it in and drop into the Dock on your big system. For me this is low to no priority so I prefer the best way to actually have a music and movie server if I do it.