You’ve probably noticed it’s been quiet around here lately. And while it’s true “news” is typically light the week or so heading into Christmas, I’ve been preoccupied with a new home. Well, a new-to-me home. As you might imagine, we’ve got tons of a projects… many technologically oriented, although most aren’t (new bed arriving today, AC unit tomorrow, new roof and siding next month, etc).
For the moment, I chose to stick with Cox Communications cable over Verizon’s FiOS TV. Because I thought it might be a simpler transition, at least in the short term. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite as efficient as I’d hoped and suspect their “customer advocate” is tired of hearing from me. We had one missed switchover, a switchover a couple days later that was successful for about 48 hours before losing Internet and cable, a phantom $600+ “adjustment” to our bill, and then what turned out to be a signal issue impacting just switched stations in the master bedroom due to an old analog splitter in the attic.
Prior to the Cox technician arriving, I’d done some exploration of the non-electrical wiring and by watching him work got a better sense of where the coax cable runs are. Let’s just say that pre-wired newer home construction is probably preferable — as the television signal enters the house at two locations, and I believe we’re at three entrances for landline phone which we don’t have any imminent plans to utilize. Plus there are yards and yards of speaker and antenna wiring all over the place which I intend to clean up. I’ve already snipped some of the speaker wire and sent the former owners a note about Sonos as they deck out their new place.
We’ve already discussed the television plans. For the moment, our 42″ Panasonic plasma stays in the living room while this 26″ Vizio serves as our temporary bedroom television. Eventually, the plasma will move into the bedroom and the Vizio will move into the finished basement where I’m setting up my office/lab. I’m thinking some sort of 50″ – 55″ LED LCD for the living room, but it’s going to be a couple of months. Having said that, my Xbox 360 has temporarily been banished from the main living area and will be replaced by this PS3 tomorrow.
Also, now that my gypsy lifestyle has ceased, I’ll need to ponder what we’re doing about surround sound in the main viewing area. Prior to selling our last place in mid-2005, the “Fortress of Solitude” was decked out with a projector, capable surround system, and remote controlled Lutron lighting. But I’ve gotten used to a more streamlined setup and priorities have shifted. So I might be content with a 3.1 soundbar and subwoofer solution. At least until something more interesting arrives.
Click to enlarge: