Apple of my Eye Living Room

Several years ago I thought it'd be fun to hook my brand new top-of-the-line PC up to my TV to watch movies and use the internet from the couch... in all honesty it was absolutely awful trying to read anything on screen because I had a normal TV with analog inputs, but movies (sort-of) worked.

Then a bit later, about 3 years ago now, in a moment of complete and utter genius (if I do say so myself) I splurged and bought an HDTV with digital inputs and a surround sound system. Using the computer from the couch became a wonderful experience and had me hooked from the get-go (not to mention how the setup impressed the ladies, I believe Erin's reaction was "Woah, that's sweet!"... and three months later we were married).

Unfortunately the computer that has been my playground/guinea pig for these experiments and modifications is standing on it's last... um... megabyte. After proving less and less reliable over the past few months and with blue screens of death abounding, Erin and I started contemplating replacement options.

I pushed pretty hard to get a Mac since I've heard such good things lately, Erin however grew up with them and had a bad after-taste from the earlier versions. But I think I'm getting her convinced after about a week of testing one out. We've got a Mac Mini hooked up to the TV and it looks great, we've got everything networked together, and thanks to the Mini's, um, miniature size and the wireless capabilities of Apple hardware, we're making the entertainment center much more aesthetically pleasing; the modem and router are hidden behind the bookshelf, the Mac is hanging out under the TV, and the gigantic eye-sore printer has been banished to the other room. The cherry on top is the ability to use Boot Camp to run Windows on the same machine for a couple of programs that don't run on a Mac.

This is (hopefully) the last part of a complete overhaul that we've done to the living room, mostly in preparation for Aeriana. It's really opened up the room and things look much more cozy. Below are some pictures of the new setup... anyone who's seen the place prior to our recent re-arrangements will probably be fairly astonished; everyone else, well the setup probably won't be exciting to you (but well, with counseling I think you'll come to forgive me for posting it).

From the front door...


Opposite view (you can see my other obsession... Erin's a saint for putting up with my inherent need to own books).


BIG TV, Tiny Computer, and tons of movies... :-)



P.S. Special thanks to the McBrides... Kyle's, Nikki's, and Karlene's postive experiences with Macs helped propel Erin into being willing to at least give Mac a shot.

Labels: books, family, movies, pictures

posted by Brett at 11:15 AM