Top 10 Electronic Devices I Own

10. Sony PCM-M1 DAT w/ CSBs

In my more formative years, I was very interested in recording concerts, specifically of bands that I liked the most. The best thing you could use before flash memory came out was the Sony PCM-M1 DAT Walkman. It can record at 16-bit/48KHz and is small enough to fit in your pocket. Pair that with some clip-on binaural mics, like my Core Sound Binaurals, and you can make some fine bootlegs. My concert appetite has mellowed recently, hence my bootlegging appetite has as well, but I did make some fine recordings with this thing. Even though it's obsolete, I can't bring myself to sell it.

9. Linksys WRT54G w/ DD-WRT

Out of the box, the Linksys WRT54G is a damn fine router, but add the open souce firmware DD-WRT to it, and it becomes the best and most versatile router within $300. Most useful to me is the wired or wireless network bridge functionality. I still use mine every day.

8. Panasonic TH-42PZ85U Plasma HDTV

I bought my TH-42PZ85U without having seen it in person, instead relying on online reviews. I really do love this TV, especially for what I paid for it. If it didn't have horrible phosphor trails in black and white scenes, it would be perfect. Other than that, it's superb for TV and movies.

7. Onkyo TX-SR606 Receiver

With only one minor flaw, this reciever is the best bang for the buck sub-$1000. It has four HDMI ports, 1080p pass-thru and decodes every type of audio codec, including Dolby TrueHD and DTS-MA. It's last year's model, but I can't see needing anything else from a receiver for a decade.

6. Oppo DV-980H

Before Blu-ray, this was THE all-in-one disc player. It plays DVD, DVD-A, and SACD, and scales to 1080p like a dream. NTSC and PAL both work great. If you have no desire or money to go Blu, get this. Your DVD collection will never be obsolete.

5. Logitech Harmony 550

I have almost a dozen devices in my living room that require remote controls. The Harmony rules them all. I honestly don't know what I would do without it. Sure, there are newer and more expensive models than the 550, but it does everything and does it well. You need one.

4. Asus Eee PC 901

Ah, the 901. I was an early adopter. I really and truly love this netbook. Short of HD video, it does everything I need it to, has a 6 hour battery, and weighs 2.5 lbs. Webcam, mic, speakers, Bluetooth, Wifi. Runs XP and Windows 7 perfectly (except Windows Media center). Of course, I have to mention that I added a Runcore SSD to the thing, and without it, the 901 moves like mud. If you like th 9-inch form factor, one of these can be had on the cheap. Add a Runcore SSD, and the thing will fly.

3. PlayStation3 w/ Media Server

I got a PS3 last year for Xmas. It is the best Blu-ray player around, it's a solid gaming platform, and with the free PS3 Media Center suite for PC, it streams all my HD videos with full surround, basically all but eliminating my need for an HTPC.

2. FiOS w/ HD-DVR

FiOS is the best TV service in the USA. Best video quality, best channels. I thought I was going to have to spend $600 on an HTPC in order to record HDTV. The FiOS HD-DVR (QIP6416-2) has great video quality, easy use, and intelligent seeking. I love it. I just need more storage.

1. Modded Xbox running XBMC

My Xbox has been very good to me. What do I do with it, you ask? I have my entire music, video and picture libraries on it for couch-based enjoyment. I have 16 vintage console emulators running approximately 10,000 games. I can watch streaming TV shows. Apple movie trailers, too. No machine can do all this so well. I also have a Xir installed for ease of use with my Harmony remote. Thanks XBMC.

Navi-X + XBMC = Streaming Bliss

If you were to ask around, you'd find that more and more people are getting their news and entertainment content from the Internet, and many from Internet-only sources, like podcasts and Internet radio. There are lots of Internet-only TV shows out there. Some of the bigger players in the streaming game are G4TV, Revision3, NPR, CollegeHumor, YouTube, and Apple Trailers just to name a few. It would be nice if there was a place that all of the popular streaming content on the Internet could be found under one roof with an attractive and customizable user interface.

Enter Navi-X, a script (plugin) for XBMC. I've mentioned XBMC, the open source media center powerhouse, several times on this blog before. Navi-X is a small downloadable app that allows me to stream all of my favorite shows, audio and video for playback on my TV. Installation is plug and play. Simply dump it into XBMC's "Scripts" directory, and it's installed. From there, browse to it in XBMC's Scripts browser. Not only can I stream all of my favorite shows and podcasts, I can download the streams for offline playback and cataloguing, if desired. I can also create my own "playlists" of streaming content, where I can share my favorite streaming media with other Navi-X users.

The shows I watch the most via Navi-X are Revision3's Systm, Tekzilla and G4TV's Gadget Pron. Sometimes I'll check out Apple Trailers, which is a great place to look at upcoming films, although the standalone Apple Movie Trailers plugin for XBMC is arguably better. Overall, I'm more than satisfied with Navi-X's streaming abilities. I highly recommend this app to any current or would-be XBMC users that need a neat and convenient way to access streaming content in their living room.

XBMC Part 3: Install a bigger hard drive

This particular mod is not directly related to XBMC, but will defintely upgrade your overall modded Xbox experience. The stock Xbox hard drive is only 8GB, which doesn't leave much room for adding Xbox games, emulators, roms, music, movies, videos, pictures, applications, and anything else you'd want to store on the Xbox itself. Adding a bigger hard drive is easy, and almost essential. Any IDE hard drive that can be "locked" in hardware will do the trick. To find out which ones will work, look here. Almost any Seagate will work, which is what I'd recommend. I am using this Seagate 250 GB Hard Drive.

To accomplish this mod, you need:

- A modded Xbox
- Torx screwdrivers/drill (gauges 5,10,20)
- A hard drive
- Xboxhdm software
- A PC supporting IDE drives
- A router

The basic procedure is:

1. Backup your eeprom to a file (eeprom.bin)
2. Transfer your Xbox C Drive (and E if nec.) to a PC via ftp
3. Use Xboxhdm to make a bootable linux iso CD
4. Open your PC and disconnect your existing hard drives
5. Connect only your new Xbox hard drive
6. Boot from the CD
7. Format the hard drive, then reboot to CD again
8. Lock the hard drive
9. Open your Xbox using Torx screwdrivers
10. Remove old hard drive, install new one
11. Close up the case and boot the Xbox
12. Hook you PC's hard drive(s) back up and boot

Rather than list the steps myself in detail, here is a great tutorial from Scenyx. There are many other tutorials out there, too. Good luck.

XBMC Part 2: Setup and Installation

The best and easiest way to get XBMC running in your living room is to start by obtaining the following:

- An original Xbox (optional: Xbox Remote)
- An Action Replay for Xbox
- A copy of the game MechAssault (original version, not Platinum Hits edition) for Xbox
- XBMC software for Xbox (obtain the latest T3CH release from torrent sites)
- Softmod Installer Deluxe (w/ MechAssault game save, obtain from torrent sites)
- A PC or Mac w/ a router to transfer files to over FTP

Rather than list all of the steps myself, I'll link to 2 excellent tutorials at Xbox-hq.com and LifeHacker.

I've also added a 250GB hard drive to my Xbox and a Xir remote module so that I can use the Xbox remote to power on/off the unit, which is not possible without. Here's all of the things I do with my modded Xbox:

(Via XBMC)

- Stream my entire music collection w/ artwork from my PC to my living room, then to my receiver. All music file types supported.
- Stream my movies/tv shows to my living room, similarly
- Show picture slide shows from my PC
- Watch internet television shows such as those from G4TV and Revision3
- Get weather forecasts from The Weather Channel
- Watch current movie trailers from Apple
- 720p HD resolution and digital Dolby/DTS supported (via adapter)

(Independent of XBMC)

- Store and play full Xbox games directly from the hard drive
- Store and play any/every game via emulators for the following systems: Atari 2600, Colecovision, Intellivision, NES, Gamboy, Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advance, Super NES, Genesis, Sega Master, Game Gear, TurboGrafix-16, Arcade coin-ops, Playstation, Neo-Geo.
- Copy DVD movies to the hard drive for playback without the disc

Next up: Adding a bigger hard drive to the Xbox

I'll take XBMC in my living room, FTW.

I've been using XBMC for the past few years as my "living room media center," in other words, the machine that allows me to view/hear all of my digital music, movies, photos and net-based content, among other things. I have XBMC installed on my modded Xbox. The software is free of charge and freely available from torrent sites, although it's only quasi-legal, as it contains code pilfered from Microsoft. However, despite its legal status, I've found it to be the perfect solution for people that are looking for a cheap, easy and user-friendly way to enjoy their digital media in a living room setting.

Modding an Xbox (the original one, not the 360) is not required, as the software is available for Windows, Mac and Linux as well, although the Xbox package is the cheapest and easiest way to get the job done. I'll cover modding installation and setup in my next post.