This Old Bull

Yesterday was a day of deliveries:

• TiVo HD
• TiVo Wireless G Adapter (for the old TiVo Series 2 unit in my bedroom)
• Linksys WRT54GL wireless router
• A couple more HDMI cables

I hooked up the TiVo HD to plain old basic cable for now, but Time Warner’s arriving tomorrow to set up my digital cable and give me a CableCard adapter for the TiVo. I realized I had a bunch of devices in the living room that need to be on the network, and rather than put all of them on the wireless individually — which, in some cases would require purchasing an additional wireless adapter for the device — I could just get the Linksys router, slap the awesome and free Tomato third-party firmware on it, disable the routing functionality, and set it up as a wireless bridge to my main wireless router. Then I can just plug things in to the LAN ports on the “router” in the living room and they appear to be on the same network as the rest of my LAN. Neat stuff. I also finally put an 802.11g adapter on my older TiVo, which means I can shut off the 802.11b network that I was running solely for its needs.

Here are some photos:

The new TV was delivered by Yellow Transportation freight Monday evening. It was later than I’d expected because the driver had a really bad day; first his cargo liftgate was stuck in the up-and-extended position, and then later the rolling door on the back of the truck lost a couple of hinges. But he was incredibly friendly and professional and helped us get the TV inside. The set itself was remarkably light, and we had no trouble getting it on the stand I’d gotten and assembled the week before. I let it relax for about an hour to reach room temperature — setting up the PS3, cable, and stereo hookups while I waited — and then fired it up. It looks, in a word, glorious. It’s bright, crisp, and fast. If I try real hard I can see the rainbow effect when quickly moving my eyes across the image, but I don’t notice it when I’m watching. Two games that I’d had problems with — Burnout Paradise and PixelJunk Eden — on my older, smaller TV are a lot easier and more engrossing on the big screen. Vann’s was great, with phenomenal prices, free shipping, and excellent sales support, so I’d recommend at least checking their prices if you’re going to be making a big A/V purchase.

I’m looking forward to enjoying this thing for a very long time.  Here are some photos: