Equipment ordered… partner picked… planning begun… Any day now and it will all come together. Probably won’t get one out next week (unless we really hustle) but for SURE the week after that. This is going to ROCK!!!!! Tanel is sick of hearing about it so I’m sure she’s glad as well.

But I JUST GOT HDTV. I mean, I’ve had the TV but not the service. With the HTPC, I didn’t feel the need. I had a DVR, everything was upscaled to 1080i (which can look pretty good), and frankly, I was just too lazy to get it. Now that the HTPC took a dump, well, I HAVE to have a DVR. Once you use a DVR, you can’t get along without it. If you don’t know what this is, feel free to listen to the podcast, it’ll come up eventually. But it is like a VCR but way better. So we negotiated with Comcast and now I’ve got a DVR and more channels than I know what to do with. And can I just say that HD looks way better than I expected. Of course, I’ve seen it before but you don’t really know if the difference you are seeing when you are viewing at someone else’s house is because of their equipment of because of the HD. In your own room, with your own equipment, you can REALLY see the difference! And hear! Holy moly! 5.1 Dolby Digital is my friend. I’ve never watched so much Discovery Channel. Somehow, I’ve got a bunch of movie channels in HD too. I hope I’m not paying for that because I don’t want it (though it is pretty cool). Of course the first night Fox HD isn’t working. So I’m all confused and wondering if I’m doing something wrong. But all is fixed now. And you know, Skin-a-max in HD – not the best viewing ever. Those plastic soft-porn girls really need a bit of fuzz in the picture to hide all the surgery scars. Cause in HD, you can see them… or so I’ve heard… So, for now, I’m still in the honeymoon period. But rest assured, I’ll find something about Comcast, Motorola, or HD in general to hate. But for now, this is one of my few “happy” posts.

There is nothing like slamming your head against a wall for the entire day…

I’m going to have to send this damn receiver back. I think it is literally possessed by the devil. I’ve checked it, rechecked it, re-rechecked it. re-re-re… you get the point. I think Clint summed it up best when he said – “I don’t think I could make a receiver do that if I tried.” We’re not talking “oh that’s weird,” we’re taking “run and get an old priest and a young priest.” Something is definitely wrong with this thing. So I’m 99% sure it is going to have to go back. Which means all the time I spent swapping out wires and all that… wasted. Completely wasted. On top of that, If I ever want to watch a movie again, I’ll have to hook up the old receiver which is another 2+ hours of work (my cable management skills suck). And yes, I’ve been noticeably reticent to mention details just in case it is a boneheaded error on my part (completely within the realm of possibility though I don’t know how). If it turns out I’m right… well, you’ll read about it in the review. I swear, I ALWAYS get the f-ed up equipment. I’m like a magnet for broken stuff.

After my most recent rant on the evils of the HTPC monster, a really scary thought popped into my head. Xbox 360. Microsoft. HTPC. Gene’s Xbox shipped back. Major problems all over the world… Holy crap! I’ve let the Monster of the Gates back into my living room without knowing it! And I LOVE my Xbox. It’s a set top box so I have this false sense of security about it. I feel like it is bullet proof. That it’ll last forever. That it will actually do what I say in a way that makes sense. But now… I’m not so sure. Every time the hard drive spins, or there is a little extra fan noise, or anything… I’ll wonder. Will it self destruct? Will it eat all my saved games? Will it transform into a little robotic bipedal creature with a laser pistol and try to take over the world? Will it? I think I’ll build a cage around it… just in case…

This will soon be a podcast topic. I HATE HTPCs for the same reason I hate ALL PC’s. They suck. Hardcore. They crash, they have driver conflicts, they take a dump when you’re two episodes behind in 24… Arg! You know what REALLY sucks, all the people that say they DON’T suck. They do. It is all lies. The minute you put a Windows OS in a component meant for your home theater, you are asking for headaches. Crashes, compatibility issues, odd behaviors at inopportune times… You’ve all experienced it at work or at home. Everything works fine for WEEKS, maybe even YEARS but the one day it really matters? It stops working. No rhyme or reason. Just ups and dies. Well, I dare someone to send me another HTPC with the promise of flawless, crash-free operation. I JUST DARE YOU!!!! Cause if it doesn’t, I’m going to slam that box so f-ing hard that we’ll have to make up new negative ratings just for the review. I’m over it. Bill Gates is the Anti-Christ and PC’s are his tool for destruction.