Xbox 360 Initial Impressions
Some random thoughts after a day and a bit with the Xbox 360.
Setting it up was ridiculously easy. I plugged in all the cables, shot out to the garage to make sure my network point was patched correctly, then turned it on. It came up nicely and presented me with the initial setup screen.
Hoping that I hadn't accidentally unplugged the PC's network point during my patching, I walked back over to the PC's room, to discover a new message on the screen. Something like, "A new Xbox 360 has been discovered on the network. Would you like to install the Xbox connectivity software now?"
That is cool. It was about a 20MB download, and installed seamlessly.
After the software was setup on the PC, it asked me for an eight-digit code (provided by the Xbox) for Media Center connectivity. I ran back to the Xbox, jotted down the code, and gave it to the PC. That was it. Now the Xbox can talk to the PC.
For example, I can now watch live TV from my PC on the Xbox. I can set up recordings from the seven-day TV guide. I can stream videos (either recorded TV or downloaded vids). I can even watch DivX vids with a little help from some inventive folks online.
As for the Xbox itself - wow. Everything's really slick. The dashboard is a great UI. The Media Center extender feels like you're actually on the PC. The included Hexic game is as addictive as the flash version I used to play on the PC.
And get this - the "friends" system simply rocks. Sal and I were watching the latest episode of Lost last night (streaming from the PC), and part way into the episode a tiny pop-up appeared at the bottom of the screen, letting me know that Crucible had come online. That is very cool.
So now begins the long wait for my RGB-SCART cable. Until then I can't play games in 5.1 surround sound, nor will I get the best picture out of the Xbox. *sigh*
Comments
# crucible
27/03/2006 9:26 AM
some people just aren't happy until they have everything.
I'm kinda worried now... I mean, I got the following me home, I was understanding when my neighbours caught you looking through my windows - this watching when I log on and off a game is kinda worrying - you're taking the whole stalking thing a bit too far.
And the only problem we've really had was it's so f'n hard to write a message with a controller...
Now to save up the money to afford headphones, Gold subs, and other gizmos...
And to somehow get some cash together for a Media Center - or for the nice people at MS to release some free software so I can stream videos too... quite willing to forego the use of the rest of the wonderful media center functionality until Vista gets released... but that is a must!
# Poo
27/03/2006 9:34 AM
That actually sounds pretty cool, same setup would work well for my house.
Are there other products about that extend media center? or Can media centre stream from another media centre PC?
# mabster
27/03/2006 9:46 AM
I often see people on MS forums requesting a "Media Center Extender" program for another PC, so I would guess that such a beast does not yet exist.
There are definitely other extenders on the market. LinkSys have one, and so do HP. They're like little set-top boxes. From what I've read, the 360 is far more advanced than they are in terms of providing the whole MCE experience, rather than a cut-down version.
The MCE Extender functionality is going to make things SO easy for us at home - especially once I get the connection to my amp for true digital sound. MP3s through the big stereo, without having to worry about plugging the iPod in via its *headphone jack* (something that always pissed me off about the iPod).
# mabster
27/03/2006 9:50 AM
Crucible: I did think it was odd when a little pop-up appeared later on stating, "Crucible is going to bed", and then later one that said, "Crucible has left the back door unlocked".
Valuable information, though.
# crucible
27/03/2006 10:18 AM
Okay, those pop ups are fed to you by RSS from your RSSDetectiveAgency (tm) me.
Actually, how could would that be to set up a detective agency where your case files were automatically updated and uploaded to a website which your client can then get a private feed from?
Okay, back on topic:
The Linksys media extender is called Kiss - you can see it at Harvey Norman in town - it's actually pretty snazzy although I believe it's got it's own media interfaces and doesn't actually work off MC itself.
D-Link have something similar - where it works off D-Link software and not Windows Media Center... although quite frankly the two things I have purchased from D-Link have convinced me never to purchase another one of their product ever again.
That and the rep at Harvey Norman told me not to look at them - how often is it a salesman talks you out of looking at a product?
There are other extenders out there though and heres the funny thing - quite a few of the extenders will pull video off Windows Media Connect - which is the free add-in for XP... however, the XBox will only pull music and pictures through Media Connect... not video (and I'm having issues with the music anyway - I'll probably blog about that later when I have more time).
One thing that I found amusing when I purchased my Linksys NAS converter for my USB external Hard Drive - it had a brochure for other products, and one thing Linksys have produced is a wireless stereo... okay, the "wireless" has been around since my mother was a girl - but what this actually is, is 802.11b streaming audio.
The only downside is, again it doesn't tie into Media Center, or just grab data from a share - you have to install proprietry software to do this.
And apparently the speakers are a little tinny... but you can go from its audio out into a proper stereo.
It doesn't look like a terrible little device, and at $150 its not unaffordable... but I don't see how you'd use it, when for the most part you could just get speakers for your iPod, that most people already own.
Point being, I would look very closely at these devices, especially the Linksys one - to see if they are true MCE, or using their own systems.
And just for my piece of mind - why would you want a Media Center pc to stream from another one??
Media Center is to send out the content - you'd just want an Extender to receive it, and from a PC you could probably just share the content on the network - although yeah it'd be nice to have a plug in for something like Windows Media Player to just have a tab to connect and interact with Media Center...
Someone suggest that to MS!
Oh, and Media Center can control up to 8 Media Center Extenders (I believe).
Not sure if this means different content to each, but I believe so... Mabs, want to chime in here?
# mabster
27/03/2006 10:27 AM
KISS is different to MCE extenders, though. KISS is, I think, a Cisco media-disseminating technlogy.
I'm reasonably certain that XP MCE can extend different content to each extender, but you would need as many TV tuners as extenders, or else you'd be showing the same channel on every extender.
# crucible
27/03/2006 10:36 AM
KISS was technology that was from a company brought out from Cisco (Linksys)... I'm not sure what you mean by media-disseminating... but it works pretty much like MCE, only with their own software - not Media Center.
Which is probably what you do mean... but whatever :)
Would you need multiple tv tuners if all you were doing was streaming saved content?
Maybe if you were looking at live content... but still?