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I love it.Please note, this does not come with any cords. I essentially got this to stream itunes from my PC in the office to our stereo in the living room. You will need to purchase them seperately (either a mini-to-RCA left/right audio cable or a mini-to-optical digital Toslink audio cable) The set-up was a little difficult, as the instruction manual is not completely clear for somebody "special" like myself. You need to connect the AP express to your router with an ethernet cord first to program it, and then you place it where you need it (to run wireless).However, once set-up to run on my existing wireless network, this device is really cool.
Thank God for Apple Computers. Not exactly idiot proof, but if you have even a modicum of computer experience you can figure out how to add this to your wireless system. You don't even have to put any cords into this AE for it to work.
The problem was that the laptop couldn't be used upstairs on the other end of the house. I had to reset the time machine and the AE and start over a few times with adding this AE to that wireless network) via the software that comes with it, but I eventually got it working- the problem might have been someone taking it out of the outlet like the wife or kids, but I don't want to repeat it to find out. We have an Apple Time Machine hooked up to the big computer in the basement and a floating laptop.
You can just plug this into ANY outlet in your house if you have a base station already set up and run the software - bango- you can expand your network. Once you go Mac you'll never go back to PC. I didn't want to get another cable modem so I tried getting an airport express.
It did take a bit of tinkering, even though Apple makes things very easy, to get this set up into our wireless network.
I've had it for four years and it still works as great as I did when I first bought it. Even if you are not much of a techy this sets up easily and works beautifully. When I went to buy this 3 or so years ago I was a little apprehensive. The speed is perfect for my everyday use downloading music, blogging, and watching videos online.I also appreciated that like other Apple products it was really easy to set up and was not intimidating as well. It was so easy to set up the security settings I wanted and to change my password and other settings over time.I love this product and feel like I definitely got my value out of this product. I read a lot of negative reviews online that suggested the speed was low or that it died after less than a year of use. Luckily for me, neither of these have been an issue.
My roommate and I struck up a deal - he bought paper and he printed over my connection.And of course, to be fair, I'll point out some minor drawbacks I encountered:[-] Sound only comes through the AirPort Express through AirTunes. The Apple Airport Express is, as you might expect from an Apple product, straightforward and rather simple. I moved into a dorm where I couldn't use a lot of the technology I'd bought (ex. If you're looking for something light, pretty cheap, and a great, easy way to make wireless out of wired, Apple's Airport Express is your best choice.
Of course, if you pay $80 or so more, you can get an AirPort Extreme. Or if you need backup storage with Time Machine, Apple's Time Capsule has all the features of the Airport Express in it (minues AirTunes & wireless printing). I believe there may be a setting to turn off AirTunes but I'm not sure.Overall, it's a nifty little box for a decent price tag. This should be changed.[-] Other people connected to the network can play music through AirTunes, which can be surprisingly obnoxious (or just surprising).
So here's the good things about this product:[+] You can use wifi devices in areas that do not have wifi connection (Ethernet, etc) because the Airport Express creates a network for you.[+] You can print wirelessly, which is cooler than it sounds. to come out of the wireless speaker setup, you can't. I'll just jump to how this affected me, and how it will PROBABLY affect you (if you are in need of something like this). If you'd like other sounds (YouTube, any other media player, etc).
You can play iTunes music wirelessly, eliminating the need for your speakers being plugged into your computer's headphone jack.[+] Both PC & Mac compatible[+] Up to 10 people (including yourself) can hop onto your network - which you can password protect - and print using your printer. Apple remote on iPod Touch) because my University doesn't support wireless Internet inside the residence halls. Great for clearing up desk space, which leads me into:[+] AirTunes.
The sellers upgraded shipping to 2-day priority, which was a bonus. I'm very happy with this purchase.
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