Firewire interface to an external disk is a better idea, particularly if you are planning to drive USB interface, either a USB converter or a DAC. You should minimize the other USB devices on the bus.
The computer should be dedicated to music playback and not your general purpose machine. I find the Oct 2009 Mac Mini to be a great choice because you can externally power it from a good linear power supply. Cannot do this on newer Minis unless they are modified. Laptops are not as good IME.
You can usually get a Oct 2009 Mini with Bluetooth keyboard, mouse and OS disk on ebay for around $375.00. Replace the HDD with SSD and upgrade to 8gigs memory. Put Amarra playback and XLD for ripping on it and you will have a world-class server. Also do the OS tweaks in iTunes iBooks "audio optimization guides"
Steve N.
Empirical Audio
The computer should be dedicated to music playback and not your general purpose machine. I find the Oct 2009 Mac Mini to be a great choice because you can externally power it from a good linear power supply. Cannot do this on newer Minis unless they are modified. Laptops are not as good IME.
You can usually get a Oct 2009 Mini with Bluetooth keyboard, mouse and OS disk on ebay for around $375.00. Replace the HDD with SSD and upgrade to 8gigs memory. Put Amarra playback and XLD for ripping on it and you will have a world-class server. Also do the OS tweaks in iTunes iBooks "audio optimization guides"
Steve N.
Empirical Audio