I have always been a TV junkie but I never got home in time to watch any shows. Part of the blame falls on my crazy schedule. I sleep late, wake up late, come in to work late and therefore, have to leave work late. I also have a strong desire to stay in shape, which results in a trip to the gym. I actually tried out coming to work earlier in the hope that my schedule would move up a few hours. The experiment failed - every day of the week that I was in early, I didn't leave before 7!
As I said, I never get home on time to watch prime time television. I found ways around this problem though, thanks to Karan and his love for DVRs. I need to take a moment here and credit Karan with a lot of things he has introduced me to. To say he is a positive influence would be insufficient but I know he is going to feel very cheap when he reads this so I'd better stop. There was only one problem with Karan owning the DVR - he'd only record shows that he liked and not pay heed to my requests! :)
This year, with the help of THE Juggy (himself), I put together my own Media Center PC. If there is one gadget that I've grown to love since my iPod, I would say it is this box that sits in my living room. It can be an eye-sore at times but that's a small price to pay for the hours of entertainment I have reaped since this machine's arrival at my apartment. What makes it the killer gadget is the integration of TV shows, videos, music and radio - this is the true entertainment center!
Anyone who knows me can vouch for the fact that I'm not a biased reviewer; people say that I'm especially harsh when it comes to Microsoft products. Hey, I'm an iPod toting, powerbook using, Machead! So when I say that with the Media Center release, we've proved our detractors wrong and have shown that we understand the Living Room entertainment experience, it is an indication of how impressed I am. To get the platform stability I have achieved, I have to reboot the machine twice a week (at 5am through an automated task). Since having set this up though, the machine hasn't crashed, hung or missed a single recording. And, all the talk about hardware issues, hangs, etc. must be from people who don't want to invest the extra $50 in good hardware - I haven't had any such issues.
With all this said, I'd rate this as a 100% positive experience. Go Media Center, go!!
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