unfortunately then I'd be reliant on the sound output from my laptop

Yeah, that is the most unfortunate aspect of that setup. It really works better if you have a desktop computer with a nice sound card. But I used to listen to mp3's from my old laptop (powerbook 5300c) through the stereo and it wasn't THAT bad. Now, though - if I listened to that set-up I'm sure I'd feel different about it.

I am right in thinking that the empeg then just acts as a file server?

Pretty much, yeah. Mlord's http server does all the work for you. Basically Winamp just streams the songs via http from your empeg. It works QUITE well. I listen (along with all my co-workers) to my peg at work in this fashion.

Anyway, good luck!

- trs