Being a Couch Potato
Franz| August 4, 2009 1:41 pmWith the bike in the shop, waiting for a new frame, I turned my attention to something I hardly ever do … being a couch potato. In our basement we bought a big screen TV but we don’t have any cable here and there are limited channels we can pickup off the air. No problem, I will use my second Macbook computer.
I used a HDMI cable and connected to the displayport on the Macbook. Sitting back more than 11 feet, I can control things using the bluetooth mouse and keyboard. That way I can watch things over the the internet. I also have a Logitech Harmony remote control and have it setup so the Macbook is one of the devices. One button switches everything around so the computer displays the picture on the TV and the sound from the Macbook goes out through an digital optical connecton to an amp I have here.
At out other house in California I have a slingbox connected to a DVR. But that quality is rather poor. I also bought a couple of movies on iTunes store but they take many hours to download and I have to pay just as much to rent them for 24 hours as I would to rent a DVD, where I have a few days to watch it. The Apple iTunes movie rental system just doesn’t make sense to me and I am glad I never wasted my money on an Apple TV.
I have Hulu desktop installed so I can watch things on Hulu. The quality is good but I find it hard to find anything I want to bother to watch.
The best system seems to be our Netflix account. Netflix allows you not get DVDs by mail, but also you can instantly watch. There is a large selection of movies I can watch on demand, with no wasted time downloading it. I just pay one monthly fee. The quality is not quite as good as DVD but plenty good enough.
Of course I can only stand to watch so much TV or movies. So I can usually sit back and use the computer to do all the stuff you use a computer for, including writing this blog entry. Although it may be hard to see in the photo, it is just as easy to read the text on the big screen, back from 11 feet, as it is to use my computer on my desk.
Okay, it has been 15 minutes and I need to get out of here. That is enough of being a couch potato.
One Response to “Being a Couch Potato”
Franz
I did not realize you were such an athlete – I ignorantly assumed a man so passionate about learning the finer points of his Apple and iPhone could not find the time. You have provided additional incentive for me to be more athletic. But with the new snow Leopard OS coming out with Final Cut Pro 7 its going to be tough Franz!
Howard
Care to comment?