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# Friday, January 16, 2009

I recently purchased an Xbox and I must say, considering that have yet to acquired a sports game, that I am very impressed. I got the Xbox 360 pro (with the 60gb hard drive) and this allowed me to take full advantage of the recent updates for the New Xbox Experience (NXE).

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There is a metric ton of videos, demos, pictures, community games, themes and online goodness that really extend the entertainment experience of the Xbox. The interface is really intuitive and looks great in 1080p.

Netflix Instant Watch is a really significant addition and adds a really solid value, if you are in fact a Netflix subscriber. The only problem with Netflix Instant Watch is that there is a really limited movie list and it can take quite a while to find a decent movie for your Instant Queue. The HD movies streamed consistently without interruption and the picture quality was pristine.

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The other problem is that you cannot add movies to Instant Queue directly from the Xbox, you have to go online via a PC, but the instant queue will update almost immediately. There was an announcement of a Netflix app for Windows Mobile so this should relieve that bottleneck (or maybe I could create a Media Center app).

The only real unresolved disappointment was the poor performance of Windows Media Center. While it only took a few minutes to connect to my home PC, once I got it up and running the controls were really slow (I mean in the order of 10-20 seconds per click). My network is running fine, it handles high def streaming with ease. So right now am I assuming there is some contention between the various apps that can share data from my Vista PC (Zune, Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center).

 

If the Netflix instant watch expands in a significant way this could change how I approach purchasing premium channels from my cable provider.

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Friday, January 16, 2009 10:48:17 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #    Comments [0] - Trackback
Movies | XBox
# Sunday, June 15, 2008

I do not normally comment on particular artists or films, however, this weekend I had the misfortune of seeing 'The Happening'.

I can say with a clear and truthful heart that The Happening is the worst film I have ever seen. Worse than Howard the Duck, Dreamcatcher and Rocky V combined!!!!

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Sunday, June 15, 2008 4:08:52 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #    Comments [1] - Trackback
Movies
# Monday, July 09, 2007

Transformers is everything I was hoping it would. This is simply the best action film I have seen in at least two years! It blows Spiderman 3 out of the water.

There are many stand out scenes, however, the battle between Optimus Prime and Bonecrusher was sweet! This is a must see!

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Monday, July 09, 2007 7:39:23 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #    Comments [0] - Trackback
Movies
# Friday, May 18, 2007

Watch the exclusive trailer, I will not be at work on July 4th! I took the day off for the Matrix and I will take the day off for this ... enough said.

Friday, May 18, 2007 7:07:02 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)  #    Comments [0] - Trackback
Movies
# Saturday, December 30, 2006

In the 80's cartoons were really cool...obviously the greatest of these was Transformers. With the film being released in July any persons between the age of 28 - 35 is just loving the trip down memory lane. To see Optimus Prime (the name is truly inspirational) on the big screen will be awesome! I am not sure how I am going to convince my wife to go!

Speaking of my wife, I got the coolest gift ever from her. Several months ago she saw me eyeing the Thundercats DVD box set, well she purchased it for me this Christmas! Wow what a woman!

Thunder Cats! Hoooooooooooo!

Honorable mentions: Voltron, Dungeons and Dragons, The Centurions, Visionaries, Danger Mouse (may have been a British thing), and of course He-Man.

UPDATE: This is a high quality trailer for Transformers.

Saturday, December 30, 2006 2:27:38 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)  #    Comments [0] - Trackback
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The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent my employer's view in any way.

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Mark Downie
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