My X-Box 360

I was always a big fan of Nintendo system or the Sega Genesis. When I heard Microsoft was putting out the X-Box, I was a little weary. First of all, I felt like I was getting too old to play with video games. And second of all, quite frankly it was just too expensive. Then of course, certain video games will only play on certain systems. It just seemed like a waste.

We are a consumer society. We value merchandise like video game systems or TVs more than essentials, like food. I've always wanted to stay clear of this way of thinking. But when the X-Box 360 was released, I felt assured that this system would be a winner. Sure, the Playstation 3 had a Blu-Ray disc player built-in to the system and the X-Box 360 would require a consumer to purchase a separate connecting HD-DVD player. This connects with a USB cable. It does not change any of the system's functions. It's like an additional piece of hardware.

The X-Box 360 acts like a computer, especially with the addition of a 20 GB harddrive. You can hook it up to a DSL cable line and go on the internet. You can plug in any kind of flash or MP3 hard storage unit and upload anything from music to video to programs. It's an awesome machine. If you have the HD-DVD player and an HDTV, a consumer can enjoy movies on HD.

I've played video games, regular DVD movies, and HD-DVD movies. The picture clarity on my HDTV is in a word: Astonishing. This is fun and easy to use. I strongly recommend the X-Box 360 to all consumers.

I love my big widescreen HDTV

It's big, it's awesome, it's my Panasonic HDTV. It's a 47" Projection TV. It's a few years old. It was locked away in a cold storage facility for about 3 years. It still works beautifully. I can watch all of my favorite widescreen movies, whether they're on DVD or HD-DVD. The picture is almost picture perfect.

The only drawback is the fact that I lost the remote over the years. I had to go pick up a universal remote. The only way I can "Zoom" or "Stretch" the picture to fill my screen was by using the remote to my X-Box 360.

That's a Blog all its own. Watch for it.

My MP3 player

It was an Archos Recorder MP3. It stored up to 20 GB of information. You could listen to more than 500 songs. It had a metal shell. I've dropped it a couple of times and it's no worse for ware. I love my MP3. I've got a lot of my favorite music, my family photos, and written documents stored on this amazing tool.

There's a few bugs to the Archos MP3. The headphones were awkward. The batteries last only so long. And, that's really about it. The Archos MP3 is virtually perfect in every other way.

This is no poem. I'm no poet. But I just wanted everyone to know how awesome great electronics could be.

Go out, find yourself a great tool to store videos, music, photos and written documents. You really won't regret it. The next time I buy, it better have at least 20 GB of storage capacity, a durable shell casing, and a much better set of headphones than my Archos player/recorder offered.