Apple TV without TV

Refurbished iPod Touches on Apple's website sell for $150. Just an FYI. They're basically an iPhone minus the phone. They can do a lot more than just be a remote, helping justify the cost a little bit.

Quick question on the standalone ATV - I'm downloading all of my 340 gb lossless files to an ATV with a 350 gb hard drive installed. I notice that it is very hot while turned on.
I plan to use my iphone as a remote-can the iphone put the ATV in standby mode or does it continue running all the time? I'm worried it'll blow.
Thanks and sorry for hijacking!!

Kbarkamian, I'm pretty fond of Andriod so not sure if iTouch would provide a lot extra for me.

Advantage of ATV: built in HD, so no streaming. Advantages of SB Touch: Hi Res capable, runs from Android phone.

Yesterday, Google announced their new beta music locker: 20,000 song capacity. Now another new option, but not much fleshed out on it yet...

Dpgdave,

The iPhone will not put the ATV into standby mode. But, it runs hot when in standby anyway. From what I've heard, the only thing standby does is shut off the video outputs; it doesn't shut the hard drive off/down, which is where the heat comes from (I think). I haven't noticed a temperature difference when in standby or not. Then again, it somehow magically comes out of standby randomly. The only way to truly power it down is to unplug it.

Wdrazek,

The Google thing looks pretty interesting. I look forward to some more info, user reviews (although 99% of them will be worthless, as they'll be from the mp3 crowd no doubt), and price. Could be my next server if everything comes together. Need iPhone control though, as I have no desire to get a new phone. Guess I know how you feel.

As far as the SB Touch, I'm not sold on high-res. Not that it doesn't sound better when truly high-res, but nothing/hardly anything I'm interested in is available. I doubt that high-res will become the standard for quite some time. And if it does, does that mean the loudness war will end and engineers will finally figure out how to mix an album right? By the time it does, I'll probably have had 2 or 3 sources in the mean time. Hopefully not, but that'smy hunch. If it becomes the standard soon, I'll happily ditch the ATV.

I guess that's another thread though. Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest.

kbarkamian,
We seem to agree on a lot. Google, or other cloud storage, looks promising. The rub is that the music industry is preparing for a fight over its licensing. Also, I'm not thrilled with the prospect of paying to store the music I've paid for. It will take a while to sort out.

As to hi res, it'll be a while before it's mainstream, no doubt. But if I can get some of what I want in a truly superior sounding medium I'll take it. As to the ham fisted sound engineers, unfortunately not much we can do about that.