Has anyone confirmed that it will work with a Samba shared mp3 archive?

We're not the ones to be asking that question... this is an empeg bbs.

It's hard to tell from the FAQ at the Gateway site, but it looks like you're supposed to share your "My Documents" folder on the LAN (something I would never do). It doesn't say whether or not any share will work, but I'd guess that a Samba share would look just as good as a Windows share to this device.

But before you go buying the Gateway product, take a look at the Dell receiver that's got Empeg's technology in it. Compare the features carefully before deciding which one you want. The Gateway product is obviously designed to compete directly with it, it's even the same price.

Having used Empeg's products before, I'd dare say the Dell unit will most likely have a better user interface and more flexible ways to organize playlists and locate the music you want to play. Also, the Dell unit has a built-in 10-watt amplifier so you can hook it directly to unpowered speakers-- I didn't see anything on the Gateway page about it having an amp. And although the Dell unit requires a Windows server at the current time, there will most likely be third-party Linux software for it soon (I'm told that some folks have already worked out how to do it). And if you happen to have both a Windows PC and a Linux PC on your network, then you can use the Windows PC to serve your Linux share to the Dell Receiver while you wait for a dedicated Linux version of the server software.

Let us know what you end up getting!

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Tony Fabris