Phone Internet Cable

[bearishgurl]

[quote=stockstradr] . . . I can get my $225 back, add another $100, and simply upgrade our few-years old home pc to a media server PC. That will give me ALL the functionality of the WiFi blu-ray player, PLUS way more.

I could then stream hulu – AND I could record it, store it to PC hard drive, along with DVD-ripped movies and music and photos, and play those anytime. I could run iTunes and browse music through “album-flow” on the big screen and played on the 7.1 surround speakers. Or my wife could play Lady Gaga’s new 1080p music videos off VIVO . . . [/quote]

stockstradr, I see what you are trying to do here, and IMO please reconsider keeping your new blu-ray player. The “solution” you are considering will cost WAY MORE than $225 and will not easily hook up to your family TV unless that is it’s permanent place.

The type of desktop multimedia computer you are considering is very heavy – not portable, because they are LOADED with goodies. I am not aware of any laptops that are comparable without perhaps spending the same amount of $$.

I have a 2006 version of the same computer you are considering, which I use for both work and multimedia. The motherboard alone on this computer is $863 so you will NOT be able to upgrade your motherboard for $225. I know this because mine had to be replaced thru Sony warranty repair. (I bought a “refurb” to save $$). It has a 1st generation Blu-ray that still works fine and room for four SATA/eSATA drives. It retailed for $2,225 at the time.

I use it with an Acer AL2251W 22″ wide 1080p flat screen monitor, which I am very pleased with. It was about $230 out the door in March 2007.

Although my computer is now unavailable, here is link, so you can see the specs.

http://www.docs.sony.com/release/specs/VGCRC310G_mksp.pdf

I’m sure there are comparable computers on the market today, but none of them are “cheap,” at least not in the neighborhood you are thinking.

Updating an operating system is a huge pain in the a$$ on these machines because there are so many proprietary updates to install in the correct order or Vista/WIN 7 will not work properly.

I just purchased my *first* laptop in January 2010, a Toshiba A505-S6986 at a very good price $499.99 + a $16.00 “screen disposal” fee. It is also a heavy (21 lbs.) multimedia computer but in NO WAY compares to the Sony desktop.

[nocommonsense]

[quote=jimmyle]I live in Carmel Valley and this antenna picks up all channels. Since I live in an apartment, I have it indoor. It works better outside. I tried three antennas before settling with this one. It is great. Read the reviews in Amazon too.

Thanks! What channels do you get? Do you need to change directions for each channel?

[nocommonsense]

[quote=jimmyle]I live in Carmel Valley and this antenna picks up all channels. Since I live in an apartment, I have it indoor. It works better outside. I tried three antennas before settling with this one. It is great. Read the reviews in Amazon too.

Thanks! What channels do you get? Do you need to change directions for each channel?

[nocommonsense]

[quote=jimmyle]I live in Carmel Valley and this antenna picks up all channels. Since I live in an apartment, I have it indoor. It works better outside. I tried three antennas before settling with this one. It is great. Read the reviews in Amazon too.

Thanks! What channels do you get? Do you need to change directions for each channel?

[nocommonsense]

[quote=jimmyle]I live in Carmel Valley and this antenna picks up all channels. Since I live in an apartment, I have it indoor. It works better outside. I tried three antennas before settling with this one. It is great. Read the reviews in Amazon too.

Thanks! What channels do you get? Do you need to change directions for each channel?

[nocommonsense]

[quote=jimmyle]I live in Carmel Valley and this antenna picks up all channels. Since I live in an apartment, I have it indoor. It works better outside. I tried three antennas before settling with this one. It is great. Read the reviews in Amazon too.

Thanks! What channels do you get? Do you need to change directions for each channel?

[Coronita]

[quote=stockstradr]Well, I took your advice, got the WiFi blu-ray, tried all the apps. Everything worked just fine, from the apps to the blu-ray player.

Now, I think I’m gonna return the WiFi blu-ray player

WHAT?

Read on..

I can get my $225 back, add another $100, and simply upgrade our few-years old home pc to a media server PC. That will give me ALL the functionality of the WiFi blu-ray player, PLUS way more.

I could then stream hulu – AND I could record it, store it to PC hard drive, along with DVD-ripped movies and music and photos, and play those anytime. I could run iTunes and browse music through “album-flow” on the big screen and played on the 7.1 surround speakers. Or my wife could play Lady Gaga’s new 1080p music videos off VIVO. My kid could play PC software learning games on the TV. I could browse our photos off smugmug. Not to mention free internet porn displayed on big screen TV – assuming you don’t have kids, or a judgmental spouse (I have both!)

Look, you can’t do ANY of the above with the WiFi blu-ray.

Now if you have a PS3 at least you could watch hulu. If anyone knows how to watch Hulu.com on a Wifi blu-ray player, let me know. That could convince me to keep it. (We bought the Samsung BD-C6500)

Oh, and Vudu (on the WiFi blu-ray player) sucks.

Why would I pay $6 to stream a single Vudu HD movie through WiFi blu-ray when for $10/month I already have Netflix deliver as many blu-ray discs as I can watch per month?

Weather.com on a blu-ray player? Worthless! What, can’t I walk 10 feet to my PC and type “weather.com”

Streaming Netflix on the WiFi Blu-ray? Ugh, the picture quality sucks!

However, yes, if a person is buying their FIRST Blu-ray player, sure I’d recommend getting one with WiFi built-in, and you should consider the Samsung BD-C6500 because it is one of the best for under $250.

But we already have a non-Wifi Blu-ray player (it wasn’t WiFi). And we have that extra PC just waiting to be turned into a media center PC.

And until I do that, I can get all the functionality of the Wifi Blu-ray player (and more) by simply hooking my laptop up to our big screen LCD.[/quote]

My media center requirements are pretty low…But, I’ve been pretty happy with this thing.

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=735

High fidelity folks, this probably won’t cut it. But adda 1-2tb drive onto it or use it on the net, it’s met more than my needs. I don’t have a blue-ray player.

As a bonus, it’s linux based, so there are already opensourced/hacked versions that do beyond what it does.

Good for traveling with the kid. Since I don’t have lug around all the dvd’s/etc. Just a portable usb drive and this thing with some cables.

Next step: run this in a car’s DVD entertainment system (which shouldn’t be hard if the system has composite input)

[Coronita]

[quote=stockstradr]Well, I took your advice, got the WiFi blu-ray, tried all the apps. Everything worked just fine, from the apps to the blu-ray player.

Now, I think I’m gonna return the WiFi blu-ray player

WHAT?

Read on..

I can get my $225 back, add another $100, and simply upgrade our few-years old home pc to a media server PC. That will give me ALL the functionality of the WiFi blu-ray player, PLUS way more.

I could then stream hulu – AND I could record it, store it to PC hard drive, along with DVD-ripped movies and music and photos, and play those anytime. I could run iTunes and browse music through “album-flow” on the big screen and played on the 7.1 surround speakers. Or my wife could play Lady Gaga’s new 1080p music videos off VIVO. My kid could play PC software learning games on the TV. I could browse our photos off smugmug. Not to mention free internet porn displayed on big screen TV – assuming you don’t have kids, or a judgmental spouse (I have both!)

Look, you can’t do ANY of the above with the WiFi blu-ray.

Now if you have a PS3 at least you could watch hulu. If anyone knows how to watch Hulu.com on a Wifi blu-ray player, let me know. That could convince me to keep it. (We bought the Samsung BD-C6500)

Oh, and Vudu (on the WiFi blu-ray player) sucks.

Why would I pay $6 to stream a single Vudu HD movie through WiFi blu-ray when for $10/month I already have Netflix deliver as many blu-ray discs as I can watch per month?

Weather.com on a blu-ray player? Worthless! What, can’t I walk 10 feet to my PC and type “weather.com”

Streaming Netflix on the WiFi Blu-ray? Ugh, the picture quality sucks!

However, yes, if a person is buying their FIRST Blu-ray player, sure I’d recommend getting one with WiFi built-in, and you should consider the Samsung BD-C6500 because it is one of the best for under $250.

But we already have a non-Wifi Blu-ray player (it wasn’t WiFi). And we have that extra PC just waiting to be turned into a media center PC.

And until I do that, I can get all the functionality of the Wifi Blu-ray player (and more) by simply hooking my laptop up to our big screen LCD.[/quote]

My media center requirements are pretty low…But, I’ve been pretty happy with this thing.

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=735

High fidelity folks, this probably won’t cut it. But adda 1-2tb drive onto it or use it on the net, it’s met more than my needs. I don’t have a blue-ray player.

As a bonus, it’s linux based, so there are already opensourced/hacked versions that do beyond what it does.

Good for traveling with the kid. Since I don’t have lug around all the dvd’s/etc. Just a portable usb drive and this thing with some cables.

Next step: run this in a car’s DVD entertainment system (which shouldn’t be hard if the system has composite input)

[Coronita]

[quote=stockstradr]Well, I took your advice, got the WiFi blu-ray, tried all the apps. Everything worked just fine, from the apps to the blu-ray player.

Now, I think I’m gonna return the WiFi blu-ray player

WHAT?

Read on..

I can get my $225 back, add another $100, and simply upgrade our few-years old home pc to a media server PC. That will give me ALL the functionality of the WiFi blu-ray player, PLUS way more.

I could then stream hulu – AND I could record it, store it to PC hard drive, along with DVD-ripped movies and music and photos, and play those anytime. I could run iTunes and browse music through “album-flow” on the big screen and played on the 7.1 surround speakers. Or my wife could play Lady Gaga’s new 1080p music videos off VIVO. My kid could play PC software learning games on the TV. I could browse our photos off smugmug. Not to mention free internet porn displayed on big screen TV – assuming you don’t have kids, or a judgmental spouse (I have both!)

Look, you can’t do ANY of the above with the WiFi blu-ray.

Now if you have a PS3 at least you could watch hulu. If anyone knows how to watch Hulu.com on a Wifi blu-ray player, let me know. That could convince me to keep it. (We bought the Samsung BD-C6500)

Oh, and Vudu (on the WiFi blu-ray player) sucks.

Why would I pay $6 to stream a single Vudu HD movie through WiFi blu-ray when for $10/month I already have Netflix deliver as many blu-ray discs as I can watch per month?

Weather.com on a blu-ray player? Worthless! What, can’t I walk 10 feet to my PC and type “weather.com”

Streaming Netflix on the WiFi Blu-ray? Ugh, the picture quality sucks!

However, yes, if a person is buying their FIRST Blu-ray player, sure I’d recommend getting one with WiFi built-in, and you should consider the Samsung BD-C6500 because it is one of the best for under $250.

But we already have a non-Wifi Blu-ray player (it wasn’t WiFi). And we have that extra PC just waiting to be turned into a media center PC.

And until I do that, I can get all the functionality of the Wifi Blu-ray player (and more) by simply hooking my laptop up to our big screen LCD.[/quote]

My media center requirements are pretty low…But, I’ve been pretty happy with this thing.

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=735

High fidelity folks, this probably won’t cut it. But adda 1-2tb drive onto it or use it on the net, it’s met more than my needs. I don’t have a blue-ray player.

As a bonus, it’s linux based, so there are already opensourced/hacked versions that do beyond what it does.

Good for traveling with the kid. Since I don’t have lug around all the dvd’s/etc. Just a portable usb drive and this thing with some cables.

Next step: run this in a car’s DVD entertainment system (which shouldn’t be hard if the system has composite input)

[Coronita]

[quote=stockstradr]Well, I took your advice, got the WiFi blu-ray, tried all the apps. Everything worked just fine, from the apps to the blu-ray player.

Now, I think I’m gonna return the WiFi blu-ray player

WHAT?

Read on..

I can get my $225 back, add another $100, and simply upgrade our few-years old home pc to a media server PC. That will give me ALL the functionality of the WiFi blu-ray player, PLUS way more.

I could then stream hulu – AND I could record it, store it to PC hard drive, along with DVD-ripped movies and music and photos, and play those anytime. I could run iTunes and browse music through “album-flow” on the big screen and played on the 7.1 surround speakers. Or my wife could play Lady Gaga’s new 1080p music videos off VIVO. My kid could play PC software learning games on the TV. I could browse our photos off smugmug. Not to mention free internet porn displayed on big screen TV – assuming you don’t have kids, or a judgmental spouse (I have both!)

Look, you can’t do ANY of the above with the WiFi blu-ray.

Now if you have a PS3 at least you could watch hulu. If anyone knows how to watch Hulu.com on a Wifi blu-ray player, let me know. That could convince me to keep it. (We bought the Samsung BD-C6500)

Oh, and Vudu (on the WiFi blu-ray player) sucks.

Why would I pay $6 to stream a single Vudu HD movie through WiFi blu-ray when for $10/month I already have Netflix deliver as many blu-ray discs as I can watch per month?

Weather.com on a blu-ray player? Worthless! What, can’t I walk 10 feet to my PC and type “weather.com”

Streaming Netflix on the WiFi Blu-ray? Ugh, the picture quality sucks!

However, yes, if a person is buying their FIRST Blu-ray player, sure I’d recommend getting one with WiFi built-in, and you should consider the Samsung BD-C6500 because it is one of the best for under $250.

But we already have a non-Wifi Blu-ray player (it wasn’t WiFi). And we have that extra PC just waiting to be turned into a media center PC.

And until I do that, I can get all the functionality of the Wifi Blu-ray player (and more) by simply hooking my laptop up to our big screen LCD.[/quote]

My media center requirements are pretty low…But, I’ve been pretty happy with this thing.

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=735

High fidelity folks, this probably won’t cut it. But adda 1-2tb drive onto it or use it on the net, it’s met more than my needs. I don’t have a blue-ray player.

As a bonus, it’s linux based, so there are already opensourced/hacked versions that do beyond what it does.

Good for traveling with the kid. Since I don’t have lug around all the dvd’s/etc. Just a portable usb drive and this thing with some cables.

Next step: run this in a car’s DVD entertainment system (which shouldn’t be hard if the system has composite input)

[Coronita]

[quote=stockstradr]Well, I took your advice, got the WiFi blu-ray, tried all the apps. Everything worked just fine, from the apps to the blu-ray player.

Now, I think I’m gonna return the WiFi blu-ray player

WHAT?

Read on..

I can get my $225 back, add another $100, and simply upgrade our few-years old home pc to a media server PC. That will give me ALL the functionality of the WiFi blu-ray player, PLUS way more.

I could then stream hulu – AND I could record it, store it to PC hard drive, along with DVD-ripped movies and music and photos, and play those anytime. I could run iTunes and browse music through “album-flow” on the big screen and played on the 7.1 surround speakers. Or my wife could play Lady Gaga’s new 1080p music videos off VIVO. My kid could play PC software learning games on the TV. I could browse our photos off smugmug. Not to mention free internet porn displayed on big screen TV – assuming you don’t have kids, or a judgmental spouse (I have both!)

Look, you can’t do ANY of the above with the WiFi blu-ray.

Now if you have a PS3 at least you could watch hulu. If anyone knows how to watch Hulu.com on a Wifi blu-ray player, let me know. That could convince me to keep it. (We bought the Samsung BD-C6500)

Oh, and Vudu (on the WiFi blu-ray player) sucks.

Why would I pay $6 to stream a single Vudu HD movie through WiFi blu-ray when for $10/month I already have Netflix deliver as many blu-ray discs as I can watch per month?

Weather.com on a blu-ray player? Worthless! What, can’t I walk 10 feet to my PC and type “weather.com”

Streaming Netflix on the WiFi Blu-ray? Ugh, the picture quality sucks!

However, yes, if a person is buying their FIRST Blu-ray player, sure I’d recommend getting one with WiFi built-in, and you should consider the Samsung BD-C6500 because it is one of the best for under $250.

But we already have a non-Wifi Blu-ray player (it wasn’t WiFi). And we have that extra PC just waiting to be turned into a media center PC.

And until I do that, I can get all the functionality of the Wifi Blu-ray player (and more) by simply hooking my laptop up to our big screen LCD.[/quote]

My media center requirements are pretty low…But, I’ve been pretty happy with this thing.

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=735

High fidelity folks, this probably won’t cut it. But adda 1-2tb drive onto it or use it on the net, it’s met more than my needs. I don’t have a blue-ray player.

As a bonus, it’s linux based, so there are already opensourced/hacked versions that do beyond what it does.

Good for traveling with the kid. Since I don’t have lug around all the dvd’s/etc. Just a portable usb drive and this thing with some cables.

Next step: run this in a car’s DVD entertainment system (which shouldn’t be hard if the system has composite input)

[bearishgurl]

Raybyrnes, I signed up for the “Cox Combo” in 2002. At that time, it was $103 mo. for no movie channels and a $6.25 mo. “HD Explorer” box rental (I have an older CRT-HDTV). It’s got an awesome picture but weighs 221 lbs – LOL. At that time, there were only four (4) HD channels available.

Cox now charges me $133 for the same services. A few of my (sr. citizen) neighbors still have “rabbit ears” or rooftop antennas which give them 5-6 channels, which is okay with them. I’m not much of a TV watcher but my lone remaining kid likes all the cable channels and I *MUST* have a dedicated fax line. I don’t know how I can get around this Cox cost. I am thinking I can buy an HD converter box now as I’ve paid for mine many times over in “rent.” But that will only save $6.25 mo. If I get rid of the cable TV portion, my internet will go up at least $10.

I will not sign a contract because they only have pkgs. with “fancy” phone service and I only need a dedicated fax line, so it’s NOT cheaper.

I will investigate those antennas on Amazon this summer. Thanks, y’all.

[bearishgurl]

Raybyrnes, I signed up for the “Cox Combo” in 2002. At that time, it was $103 mo. for no movie channels and a $6.25 mo. “HD Explorer” box rental (I have an older CRT-HDTV). It’s got an awesome picture but weighs 221 lbs – LOL. At that time, there were only four (4) HD channels available.

Cox now charges me $133 for the same services. A few of my (sr. citizen) neighbors still have “rabbit ears” or rooftop antennas which give them 5-6 channels, which is okay with them. I’m not much of a TV watcher but my lone remaining kid likes all the cable channels and I *MUST* have a dedicated fax line. I don’t know how I can get around this Cox cost. I am thinking I can buy an HD converter box now as I’ve paid for mine many times over in “rent.” But that will only save $6.25 mo. If I get rid of the cable TV portion, my internet will go up at least $10.

I will not sign a contract because they only have pkgs. with “fancy” phone service and I only need a dedicated fax line, so it’s NOT cheaper.

I will investigate those antennas on Amazon this summer. Thanks, y’all.

[bearishgurl]

Raybyrnes, I signed up for the “Cox Combo” in 2002. At that time, it was $103 mo. for no movie channels and a $6.25 mo. “HD Explorer” box rental (I have an older CRT-HDTV). It’s got an awesome picture but weighs 221 lbs – LOL. At that time, there were only four (4) HD channels available.

Cox now charges me $133 for the same services. A few of my (sr. citizen) neighbors still have “rabbit ears” or rooftop antennas which give them 5-6 channels, which is okay with them. I’m not much of a TV watcher but my lone remaining kid likes all the cable channels and I *MUST* have a dedicated fax line. I don’t know how I can get around this Cox cost. I am thinking I can buy an HD converter box now as I’ve paid for mine many times over in “rent.” But that will only save $6.25 mo. If I get rid of the cable TV portion, my internet will go up at least $10.

I will not sign a contract because they only have pkgs. with “fancy” phone service and I only need a dedicated fax line, so it’s NOT cheaper.

I will investigate those antennas on Amazon this summer. Thanks, y’all.

[bearishgurl]

Raybyrnes, I signed up for the “Cox Combo” in 2002. At that time, it was $103 mo. for no movie channels and a $6.25 mo. “HD Explorer” box rental (I have an older CRT-HDTV). It’s got an awesome picture but weighs 221 lbs – LOL. At that time, there were only four (4) HD channels available.

Cox now charges me $133 for the same services. A few of my (sr. citizen) neighbors still have “rabbit ears” or rooftop antennas which give them 5-6 channels, which is okay with them. I’m not much of a TV watcher but my lone remaining kid likes all the cable channels and I *MUST* have a dedicated fax line. I don’t know how I can get around this Cox cost. I am thinking I can buy an HD converter box now as I’ve paid for mine many times over in “rent.” But that will only save $6.25 mo. If I get rid of the cable TV portion, my internet will go up at least $10.

I will not sign a contract because they only have pkgs. with “fancy” phone service and I only need a dedicated fax line, so it’s NOT cheaper.

I will investigate those antennas on Amazon this summer. Thanks, y’all.

[Author]

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