bradKELLETT

I have a Windows Media Center Edition PC that I use as my full-time machine, and have a Linksys Media Center Extender out in the lounge room that connects back to my box. It is a beefy PC (dual core 3.0GHz, 1GB RAM etc.) so this doesn’t have much of a performance hit for me when someone is watching TV and I’m trying to work. Overall, I was satisfied with the experience, until I got my Xbox 360.

The Xbox 360 has Media Extender functionality built in, and it absolutely trumps Linksys’ effort. Not only do you get the full MCE experience, including transitions, effects, and sounds, which the Linksys box did not (the interface was the same, but was just static – none of MCE’s niceties), but gone are any stutter problems I was having, and the video quality is much better.

In short, if you are thinking of getting a Media Center Extender and like gaming as well, the Xbox 360 is a great way of doing it.

Like a sheep happily wandering with the pack to the slaughter, I went out and bought an Xbox 360 yesterday. The Australian launch obviously was not as intense as the US one, as the box was only released yesterday, and without a pre-order, I simply wandered into a shop and picked one up. The assistant said that out of an initial shipment of about 80, they still had about 20 Premium bundles left.

So, here are my initial impressions.

Positive:

• The graphics are quite special
• Attention has been paid to the little things, such as the ‘Ring of Light’ that tells you which wireless controller is connected to which ‘port’
• The controllers are much more comfortable to hold than the previous Xbox, even with the Controller S of the original

Negative:

• The power brick really is huge
• The thing is loud when it spools up
• Everything in the Live Arcade costs money if you want a full version, it would be nice if they gave you some small games free.

For those curious, I bought a premium bundle with an extra wireless controller.

I’ll continue posting some of my impressions as the 360 and I get further acquainted, but for now its back to work for me.

Cheesiest title I could think of. Anyway…

Is seems like the Xbox 360 vs. Dell post is spreading around a little. I would like to extend a big hello and thanks to Xbox 360 Fanboy, Nerd News Radio, kühlschrank.com, DavidWaddell, and MediaHug.

Did I miss anyone? Leave a comment/trackback.

Update: Thanks Error Macro, Martin Gordon, Piranha 360, Xbox 360 News, Blue’s News, and oBeattie, as well as the kind person that submitted me to NewsVine.

I would just like to clear something up: I am not a Microsoft hater.

Some people have taken my post about the Xbox 360 looking like a Dell as me just searching for an opportunity for some Microsoft bashing – this is simply not the case. Not only am I a happy Windows XP user for my main desktop, I also have a Windows Media Center in the lounge room that I also love. I keep an open mind to Microsoft products, and even though I took a shot at the 360′s design, I am currently considering buying one regardless.

That is not to say I’m a Microsoft lover either. This site is run on LAMP (Linux with Apache, MySQL, and PHP), I used to work as a Solaris cluster admin, and I use an Apple laptop. I see myself as pretty platform agnostic – each has its own benefits and downfalls.

I probably wouldn’t use *nix as my desktop OS, simply because I live in Photoshop and Dreamweaver due to my job, but if these applications were ported I would certainly give it a try*.

* I am aware of GIMP, but I have too many scripts and actions set up in Photoshop, and don’t have the time to set up the same in GIMP.

It might be just me, but I can really see some striking similarities between the design of the new Xbox 360, and the older style Dell GX220. I’m suprised someone else hasn’t noticed this, but I can’t find anything.