cheers man. if i turn file sharing on the pro i can access it from the air, but im not on a secure network and cant seem to add a password. i now realise ill have the same issue with a nas.
i guess ill have to wait until i get my new flat in june and can set up a conventional network

Express does music, Extreme does storage and Time Capsule is just an Extreme with a built in drive.

And of course there are always cheaper solutions that basically does the same. As with any Apple branded accessories you pay a lot for the ease of use.

I used to have a WesternDigital NAS but came to the conclusion I'm simply not geek enough to want to fap about with IP adresses and shitty web-interfaces.
The Time Capsule is a natural extension of the Mac ecosystem and is pure plug and play. But it does come at an extortionate price.

Like I said, the NAS you've linked does exactly what you want and that at a fraction of the cost of an equivalent Apple solution.

although im tempted by the airport so i can plug a speaker in and do airplay but again im sure theres something cheaper out there

i dont, and my router doesnt have a usb port. was looking at time machines and airports but dont see how theyd do the job any better than a cheaper brand?

Some other routers will allow you to use a USB drive as well, by the way.
I just suspected that you might be the type of guy who owns an Apple router. ;)

That's the basic idea, yes.

If you have an Airport Extreme you can just use any USB drive.

http://www.ebuyer.com/291389-buffalo-linkstation-live-v2-1tb-1x-1tb-nas-drive-ls-x1-0tl-eu

like the above, can i just plug these into my router and use it to store my media files and do time machine backups of my macs? would it show as another drive in finder so i can point files there with transmission for example and play them on either computer rather than having to drag and drop files onto them?