[jyl]

Well, we haven't spent much money on the home IT system in the last several years and it is getting creaky.

Desktop (iMac) is 8+ years old, won't run the current Mac OS, is slow as mud, despite maxing out on RAM and new HDD/ODD. Notebook (MacBook) is 4+ years old, but been used really hard, dropped, etc and is getting very flakey. Bought daughter a netbook (HP Mini) last year but she doesn't like it much as a homework machine.

So, time to get updated. Gonna need a new iMac, repair or replace the MacBook, already bought the wife an iPad as a cheap websurfer and might get one for daughter too.

Turns out kids - my kids anyway - no longer use nor care about running Office. They do everything "in the cloud" with Google Docs. Nor do they care about PC gaming in the classic sense, like I used to. The Wii and online games is their thing. Looks like we're simply going to have one reasonably capable desktop machine w/ a big drive plus a big backup drive and laser printer, a good wireless network (one thing I have kept up-to-date, the WLAN stuff is all "N" even if the clients have been "G"), and then a bunch of $500 web terminals scattered around.

Now I have to think about whether to connect the "computer system" to the "entertainment system"??? We stream music around the main floor using AirPort Expresses, and recently connected the Wii to NetFlix. I see various options for getting the TV "internetted" - AppleTV and the like - but so far don't really see the point of it. Anyone want to make a case for going that route?

I'm interested in other folks' approach to home computing and infotainment. What's your setup and why did you choose it?