Tech Requirements for Apple TV Montana

Apple designed the Apple TV unit to be as compatible and simple as possible, but your television and computer still have to meet certain requirements before you start streaming your images, audio, or video from the computer to your Apple TV. Before you unpack your new Apple TV, check to make sure you have the following products and services set up at home:

• Mac or PC with a CD or DVD-ROM drive: You need your computer to buy, download, rip, and convert your media, of course — and a minimum of a CD-ROM drive to rip audio CDs into your iTunes library.

• iTunes 7.1 (or higher): Gotta have it. iTunes not only stores and organizes your content, you use it to specify what to stream to your Apple TV (and to listen to and watch stuff on your computer as well).

• Mac OS X 10.3.9 or Windows XP Service Pack 2 (or higher): Your computer must be using the correct operating system. (If not, consider upgrading your operating system to meet the required version.)

• An HD (high-definition) or ED (enhanced-definition) TV.

• Cables to connect stuff: Usually this is an HDMI cable or a combination of a component video cable and either RCA or optical audio cables.

• A broadband connection to the Internet: Okay, so perhaps this isn't an absolute requirement: You can use your Apple TV without buying anything from the iTunes Store and without downloading any content from Web sites. But is that really as much fun?

• Wireless or wired Ethernet network: Your computer needs either a wireless or wired Ethernet network to stream content to your Apple TV. (If you don't currently have a wireless network set up or you only have a single computer, you can still set up a wireless network if your PC or Mac has wireless Ethernet hardware.)

Oh, here's one more minimum requirement to add to Apple's list: hard drive space. Lots and lots of hard drive space. If you're just getting started building your media library on your computer with iTunes, you'll find music, video, and photographs take up a considerable amount of space! If you find yourself running short on space, consider upgrading your existing internal hard drive (if possible), adding another internal hard drive (if possible), or adding an external hard drive.