Hi,

Reading through some other posts I have an idea of what I need to do but had a few questions mainly for outputting audio:

1. I'm adopting a free G4 mini that has only analog audio out to plug into my tv and receiver, so considering either an m-audio transit usb card with optical to optical in receiver, then dvi to hdmi to tv, or airport express instead of transit. I have heard that the express has limitations, eg wont play itunes movie or podcast soundtracks--is this true? What about AC3/DTS passthrough like the m-audio for surround sound from DVD?

2. also, wondering if the wireless g in practice in the mini is too slow for Front row to stream the music and home video (DV) from imac, or whether I need it on the mini HD. Thanks!

considering either an m-audio transit usb card with optical to optical in receiver, then dvi to hdmi to tv, or airport express instead of transit

I love the Airport Express, it's very versatile, and there's neat third party software (Airfoil) which allows you to overcome some, but not all, of the device's limitations. For your needs, just get the Transit. Or get both, and use the Airport Express to stream iTunes to another location in the house. (Refurb Airport Expresses are very inexpensive.)

wondering if the wireless g in practice in the mini is too slow for Front row to stream the music and home video (DV) from imac, or whether I need it on the mini HD

The answer depends on how tolerant you are of intermittent dropouts and how "ideal" your home wireless "g" network is: "g" is usually fine for music, it can even handle streaming VIDEO_TS content under ideal conditions. Problem is, real world is often less than ideal, often there's interference to deal with, and most of us here would probably say "g" is too unreliable for video. Better to store content locally or best to connect over ethernet.