Kris and I will soon purchase a new video appliance. It seems that we're destined to buy a DVD/VCR combo deck, of which there are many. What I'd really like, though, is a device that combines the following four functions:
- VCR: Video Cassette Recorder, so that we can play all of our old movies.
- DVD: Digital Video Disc Player, so that we can watch all of our new movies.
- PVR: Personal Video Recorder, such as TiVo. My mother-in-law has been using TiVo for two years (to record Survivor and General Hospital and I don't have it yet. And I call myself an early adopter? (Nicole just got her TiVo!)
- Wi-Fi: Wireless networking functionality so that the device can play media files (mp3, mpeg, etc.) across network.
Yes, I could google to find out, but I'm asking for first-hand experience first.
(It seems that Matt has been on a similar quest lately; I'll have to rummage through the archives of his PVRBlog to find out what he's learned.)
It was a near thing, but we managed to take advantage of 25 for 25 this time around. Last night we joined the Gingeriches for a trip to Laslow's Northwest.
Laslow's Northwest is housed in an old Victorian house at the corner of 23rd and Kearney. There's a less-formal bistro on the main floor and a more-formal dining room on the upper floor. Both offer the same menu.
The dining room was cozy and close, very conducive to chatting. Our server was helpful, if a little obsequious. Most importantly, the food was outstanding. My Caesar salad, featuring whole leafs of lettuce and thin slices of fresh parmesan, was better than it had a right to be. Me entrée, a chicken breast in a smoky sauce, was even better. The sauce was so tasty that I mopped it up with a slice of bread, Old West style! My dessert, a chocolate pot du créme was earthy and rich, with a strong taste of cocoa. All in all, a very good meal, one that achieved the purpose of the 25 for 25 promotion: we were able to sample a new restaurant without breaking the bank, a restaurant to which we will return in the future. A win-win situation.
Finally, the "On This Day" for 2002 features a description of the moment I tore my ACL last fall. Ugh.
On 05 November 2003 (10:24 AM), Dana said:
I don't have a TV.
I have an ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon 7500 that I'm quite pleased with, both in terms of 3d performance (it's not blazing, but it's okay) and multimedia capabilities (and price).
I also have a DVD-Rom unit on that computer, and it's completely possible to hook a normal VCR up to this dohickey, too (the All-in-Wonder has a normal co-ax connector on the back).
And it has TV-out, so you can buy a big cheap TV instead of using your monitor to watch stuff, if you want.
Or, of course, you could look into stuff like this.
On 05 November 2003 (08:08 PM), Drew said:
I'm with Dave. I'd go for a Shuttle sb65g2 with a Radeon 9800 All-In-Wonder. Pimp that baby up with a matched set of Corsair 512's @ 400, a Plextor PX-708A DVD-RW, a behemoth HD, a P4 @ 3.0 G's, and a Viewsonic Pro 17" LCD and you've got a bitchin' entertainment center. All in black, because we all know that black computers are faster. Once the rock is paid off, I'll be dropping a wad one of these, yes sir.
On 06 November 2003 (07:22 AM), Joel said:
Such a machine could not be built, for it would satisfy all desire. And without our desires, we are nothing. And if we are nothing, how could we build such a machine?
On 06 November 2003 (10:01 AM), Denise said:
Yikes - that's a lot of guy-speak....and it's all greek to me! But you know - I'm a firm believer that your computer shouldn't cost more than your car.....
On 06 November 2003 (10:02 AM), dowingba said:
But computers are so much more useful, and necessary, than cars.
On 06 November 2003 (10:26 AM), Denise said:
I think that depends on where you live....when you live in the boondocks a car can be pretty useful - but don't get me wrong - I've got my computer with my DSL hook-up....so I know the importance of each!
On 06 November 2003 (10:51 AM), Dave said:
Although I normally wouldn't disagree with Drew on something like this, I don't think that I'd put a 3 ghz P4 into the computer, nor would I use a Radeon 9800 (but for different reasons). I wouldn't use a 3 ghz chip because you probably don't need that much horsepower on the machine and because it would build up a boat load of heat. This would require a fairly noisy fan to dissipate and I don't want to be listening to my computer's fan while I'm watching Amadeus on DVD. Of course, if you used a liquid cooling scenario you could probably make the thing run absolutely silently...
As for the Radeon 9800, sure, if you had the extra $$, that would be a sweet card to put into the machine, but the 9600 is perfectly servicable and will save you a couple hundred dollars PLUS give you the ability to receive FM radio as well (somethine that the 9800 doesn't do I don't think).
Of course, if noise and money aren't issues for you, then yes, that'd would be a pretty kick ass media center system. I'll stop drooling now.
On 06 November 2003 (11:07 AM), Dana said:
You definitely don't need a 3GHz processor for this.
You can get a Via 800 MHz C3 processor based mini-itx board that can be run FANLESS and which can use an external FANLESS (ie, laptop-style) power supply, for about the SAME PRICE as a Radeon 9600. This unit will also have on-board TV out and built in ethernet.
I wouldn't ever use a shuttle box as a media PC. Too expensive, too loud.
But that's just me.
On 06 November 2003 (11:38 AM), Lynn said:
Let me get this straight. You would want to watch these movies on a 17 inch computer screen? At your desk? In an uncomfortable desk chair?
On 06 November 2003 (11:58 AM), dana said:
No, see, you can hook them up to a TV of whatever size. You just don't use the channel tuner in the TV. It all comes from the computer (which can play DVDs, mp3s, various video files, etc). That's what TV-out is for. =)
Really, though, it's more expensive than just buying the various components seperately.
Douglas Adams' definition of a nerd was someone who would use a telephone to talk to other nerds about telephones. That's kind of what this is. Oooh, look what I can do with my computer!
It's the male geek version of talking about cars...
On 06 November 2003 (12:06 PM), Dana said:
Plus, if you install Mame and get a couple of joysticks, you can play old arcade games on your television...
On 06 November 2003 (02:39 PM), Denise said:
Ok - playing old arcade games on your tv would be cool - and something that I understand!
On this day at foldedspace.org
2006 — The Cutting Edge In which I rave about Macs and the varieties of Mac users.
2002 — Better Living Through Wireless In which I hurt my knee playing soccer and have to come out of the game. In which I marvel at the power of wireless internet.
Other than the VCR, it sounds like you want a multimedia PC. You could probably use a SFF case like a Shuttle with a DVD RW and an ATI All in Wonder video card with a WiFi network card. At least, that's what I'm thinking of building for our place.