Further Adventures in High Definition

Life with the new HDTV is going swimmingly, but not without a few hiccups along the way. I've got the old PC hooked up to the TV through the DVI connection, but found out the hard way that Creative still hasn't got their act together when it comes to drivers on Windows Vista. As such, the digital out port still doesn't work, and I'm limited to stereo sound on the PC side. It's really quite annoying.

After getting a new amplified antenna, I tried to give some HDTV action a go through Windows Media Center. Unfortunately, the system couldn't seem to give me anything but stuttering and pixelation, no matter how strong the signal was. I'd just about given up after reading all the problems other people were having when someone mentioned that for some reason, they had no stuttering problems when using the Xbox 360 as a Media Center Extender. Sure enough, HDTV is a wonderful experience and stutter-free through the Xbox 360. At this point, I'd call the Xbox 360 a perfect device if it weren't for the fact that it's so freakin' loud, particularly when trying to watch an HD DVD with it.

I'm moving to a new place in a couple weeks, and I'll probably be back with Comcast since I don't think I can get a DirecTV satellite dish installed where I'll be going. But, that'll give me a chance to see how Comcast's HDTV DVR works compared to my trusty TiVo. I have very low expectations at this point, but I'm hoping that what I've heard about a TiVo software for Comcast's hardware is true and that they'll roll out soon. Either that, or I have a friend at Moxi that might be able to hook me up.

Next up ... Intec has sent me an HDMI/Component switch that I'll hook up and run through it's paces. Fair Disclosure: I didn't pay for this switch, but I'll do my best not to let that color my perceptions.