Digital Entertainment Center Part 3

I got an Xbox 360 for Christmas. I'm always a little late to the party. In addition to being a powerful gaming platform, the Xbox 360 can also perform as a Windows Media Center extender. After updating my OS, and getting a unique code from the Xbox, I was able to install the media center extender interface on my recently acquired 255z. It's pretty amazing. Once you fire up the media center on the Xbox, it's nearly indiscernible from the original media center interface. I could watch TV live or recorded, watch video, listen to music, and look at pictures just like on my media center. I'm not sure how well the live TV thing will work over wi-fi though. This is a great option for folks with multiple big-ass TV's. I only have one big-ass TV though, so it's kinda pointless for me. But I'm loving the Xbox no less. I held my own against some pre-pubes in a Call of Duty deathmatch. And I'm racking up the points in Need for Speed. Pretty soon, with those points, I'll be renting some high-def movies from the Xbox marketplace. Or I could get that episode of South Park I've always wanted. I'll have to take the 360 with me if I want to watch it on the go. With those points I could finally get past the second level of Frogger and pay for the full version.

A little update on the media center itself: dvd surround sound audio does indeed work and cd/dvd burning works. I was enjoying the Beatles/Gearge Martin's Love in 5.1 just the other day. And a little movie I edited in Windows Movie Maker and then authored into a dvd with Nero turned out great. My masterpiece has been likened to watching ice melt by more than one person.

Another media center update: for the paranoid and the packrats, the 255z (z552) comes with a slot for an HP personal media drive. I got one of these to back up my valuables. It's pretty handy-- slides right in. I'm using Allway Sync to automatically back stuff up. Thanks again for the idea, Dan. As always, you are the tech man.