I bought an Xbox 360 to 'save money'
There once was a Miraclefish who swallowed a fly...

I had a few quid spare so I bought an Xbox 360. Ace, I thought. ‘This’ll save me loads of cash,’ I convinced myself, ‘I can stay in and play instead of spending countless quids on booze.

And for a time it was good. But….my 21” shonky old telly really wasn’t doing it justice.

So I bought a Phillips 42” plasma TV for £1100. Wow! A DVI cable later and everything’s in high definition! What a difference. Pity the sound is just coming out of the stereo flat-panel tv speakers.
I should really get myself an amplifier and a pair of speakers...

One £400 Yamaha amplifier and a set of £300 speakers later, I’m content. I’m blowing aliens to shit and it sounds and looks heavenly. Only…

This amp and the Xbox can do Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound. I guess a centre speaker and rear speakers would solve that. And now I’ve got the capability, it’d be pointless to squander it. So another £300 turns into three more speakers. This is perfect. I’m dodging bullets in Call of Duty and being called a ‘Limey douchebag fag’ by Americans. Whatever that means. Hang on a moment, 5.1 means that it can operate a subwoofer, too...

So I bought one. I am Thor, I can create thunder! Oh, and I upgraded the rear speakers, too. They were the weak link in the chain. So long £200. I’m in the freakin' Matrix now, I have light and sound like you wouldn’t believe.

Games look so good it’s unreal. Shame about DVDs though. They look pretty poor when blown up this big. Oh, hey, that HD-DVD player add on is cheap. Only £130. It’d be silly not to. I’ll just order Transformers, too. And these other nine films… Look at Megan Fox! In high definition!

Hmm, hang on, my TV can’t handle black images over high-definition sources properly, it looks speckley. I think I need a better one...

£1000 later, a similar 42” plasma has replaced the older, ever-so-slightly inferior one. Yep. I bought a TV - the same size and type - to better handle not having any colours on it.

Oh, but it’s suffering with the component input – it really ought to be a digital signal over HDMI cable. But I got an early Xbox, they don’t have an HDMI port. But the new, Elite one does. £260? Well, mine will likely break soon, so it’s really a sound investment.

Wow, this is perfect. All I need is a set of leather, recliner sofas to go with my God-like AV setup. £900? Bargain. But one high-definition input really isn't enough. I should really invest in Sky HD. This is back when it cost £249. Eek. But it is pretty. All three channels of it...


It started off as £200. It’s currently past £5500.

Oh, and I sort of moved house because the living room wasn’t awesome enough. I’m not even going to think about the costs for that one…
(Miraclefish How appropriate, you fight like a cow, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 17:20, 35 replies)

Wow.
You're an electronics retailer's wet-dream.
I'm not sure why you wanted to save money when you're obviously so rich you can throw money away without doing any research.
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 18:14, closed)

Well....
It was the thin end of the wedge.

And I'm not rich, but I don't have any kids (just some snakes) or a mortgage or any debts or a crack habit. So why not?
(Miraclefish How appropriate, you fight like a cow, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 21:25, closed)

Get out of my boat...
Except for the crack habit, that is. One should have a vice. Smoking cheese just wasn't cutting it.
( Another_tragic_case wished he hadn't eaten all the cake, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 8:01, closed)

Heh
First thing I thought was 'Bet he doesn't have any kids'.
( Not Pineapple anymore, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 8:39, closed)

I think you'll find
That my HDMI cables are my kids... or something.
(Miraclefish How appropriate, you fight like a cow, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 9:34, closed)

Mine was
'I bet he doesn't have a girlfriend'.
(Sloppy Giuseppe, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 13:48, closed)

Mine too really.
I'm just jealous because I can't buy the Quadra (or whatever they are called) graphics card for ~£500 by NVIDIA because my girlfriend says so.
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 18:31, closed)

You are my hero and role model.
Some people just don't understand the important service gamers will provide when we're invaded by aliens.
( BrokenCoccyx doesn't mind if you grope on, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 18:41, closed)

That's utterly ridiculous
everyone knows it's going to be zombies.
( Happy Phantom has been to Hastings, Brighton, and Eastbourne too, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 19:17, closed)

Zombie Aliens! "Braaaaaiiinss, ark ark!"

( BrokenCoccyx doesn't mind if you grope on, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 20:38, closed)

I think you'll find...
That the Zombie Apocalypse comes after the Alien Holocaust.

Bloody amateurs. You'll be brain canapes before the first motherships have left orbit...
(Miraclefish How appropriate, you fight like a cow, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 21:26, closed)

Sigh.
The Zombie Apocalypse (or "Zombocalypse") is in fact the first wave of the Alien Invasion, people! This isn't rocket science!
The aliens will disseminate the zombie virus in small amounts, randomly scattered around the world. There is no more efficient way of softening us up for the actual strike.
Have you read World War Z? Not only will the population, morale and infrastructure take a series of body-blows, but combating a full-blown zombocalypse will require a drastic reorganization of the military forces, with high technology and war machines being eschewed in favour of a back-to-basics approach, where rifle infantry are the keystone of every army - all but useless against the armoured and/or aerial targets the aliens would deploy.
(Falstaff's Spiritual Successor, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 10:24, closed)

Spend much on games?
( enoughblueskyforsailorstrousers, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 22:59, closed)

Shush
Can. Worms everywhere.
(Miraclefish How appropriate, you fight like a cow, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 23:14, closed)

excellent reply

( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 9:20, closed)

might not be a good idea to mention this...
...but there's a new 360 out soon - and it's better!*


*may not actually be better.
(chuckle_h0und You furnish the pictures, I'll furnish the war, Mon 28 Jun 2010, 23:24, closed)

But then
It's also quieter. So he'll get used to it being quiet when it's paused and get a think for silence and end up spending a fortune getting sound proofing fitted..
(Cloudane, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 0:02, closed)

Allow me to pass on a quote from a telephone call I had with a friend earler.
Friend: "Seen the new 360?"
Me: "Yeah. I've pre-ordered one, even though I know it won't make the slightest bit of difference to the games."
Friend: "Why?"
Me: "...it's gloss black. I must have it!"
(Miraclefish How appropriate, you fight like a cow, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 0:52, closed)

That was why I bought the Elite when it came out.

(Falstaff's Spiritual Successor, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 10:26, closed)

Gloss black!
Resistance fading, must not spend money!
(chuckle_h0und You furnish the pictures, I'll furnish the war, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 13:06, closed)

Our PS3 is gloss black and was gloss black 3 years ago
and loads of other superior features that are too fanboi to go into
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 13:17, closed)

Pffffft
But are there any platform-exclusive games that make it worth buying? GT5 doesn't count, because it is as intangible as the wind.
(square go, Wed 30 Jun 2010, 22:43, closed)

Too much truth to this
Has to be clicked.
(Cloudane, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 0:03, closed)

agreed.
( enoughblueskyforsailorstrousers, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 5:11, closed)

Ha! You are me in an alternate dimension
I play my 360 on a crap CRT, I want a nice big HDTV but I know it will spiral out of control in exactly the way you describe.
( Colonel Dracula Two manky hookers and a racist dwarf, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 9:30, closed)

No, not at all...
We can stop any time we want!
(Miraclefish How appropriate, you fight like a cow, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 9:32, closed)

HD-DVD?
Ouch you got the HD-DVD add-on? You bet on the wrong horse there unfortunately. :(

So now you may as well get a Blu-ray player as well or you'll be missing out ;)
(Panda_z is sweating like a chav in dixons, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 9:32, closed)

No!
I'm not having one of those dirty Blu-Ray PS3 Bastards in my house! Although... they are getting cheap.

And yeah, I did bet on the wrong horse. Mind you, I have a history of buying into the wrong tech-trend just as it dies.

*looks at his box containing remnants of an Atari Jaguar 64, MiniDisk Player, HD-DVDs, Neo Geo Pocket, Sega Saturn, Sony PocketStation, Psion organiser and other electronic evolutionary dead ends...
(Miraclefish How appropriate, you fight like a cow, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 9:38, closed)

UPDATE
I just had BT Vision+ delivered yesterday. On demand programming! A shiny black curved monolithic HomeHub! Huzzah. And this was only £49.

I have also just moved (again) to Sarf-West Lahndahn. But that's for work, so I'm not counting that one...
(Miraclefish How appropriate, you fight like a cow, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 9:35, closed)

Not addicted, I just want it............
have you checked out the LED TV's yet?
an experience in and experience, and with all the other good shit you have it's not a question of if but, HOW FAST CAN YOU DELIVER IT YOU TV SALES MAN WALLET RAPIST.
(bad_advice QOTW survivor from the first trollocost!, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 9:43, closed)

Money well spent!
Now how about them 3D LEDs? I'm contemplating upgrading my 50" plasma.
( SigmaX0 Dear Die Hard. You rock!, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 9:53, closed)

We have a 28" Widescreen Samsung TV
that we bought in the january sales of 2001. It has an inbuilt OnDigital receiver. It flashes red a lot, the red sometimes disappears altogether and the picture just turns blue. I think it needs putting out to pasture.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 13:20, closed)

That T.V. is tiny
Why didn't you get an HD projector?

You could watch films with it and you'll be saving money on going to the cinema.

www.goprojectors.co.uk/Panasonic-PT-DW10000E-Projector-p/pjr-pan-ptdw10000e.htm
(waxdart hello., Tue 29 Jun 2010, 13:23, closed)

I am you with less available cash unfortunately...
Lounge:

32" LCD
Freesat HD

Bedroom (My Domain):

40" Toshiba LCD
5.1 Surround
Freesat HD (plumbed in from downstairs)
(24mb down 2.5mb up) Internet from these very helpful people https://adsl24.co.uk who don't mind what you download. (is wireless throughout the house of course)
PS3
3Tb NAS with over 200 films on it
312 DVD collection

Prob around the £3k mark at present, the Missus want the equipment to swap around... No chance.
(Kip, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 14:10, closed)

Good work, my child.
Now go out and spread the word.
(Miraclefish How appropriate, you fight like a cow, Tue 29 Jun 2010, 14:19, closed)