After a bit of a hiatus (where I was just too lazy to take pics before I cleaned my living room) I'm finally getting around to posting my home setup.

So that is my setup I decided to focus solely on the TV stand and its residents for this post; after we go over games and storage I'll show off more of my collection. So what you are seeing here is mainly my Magnavox 42" 1080p LCD TV, while Magnavox may not be everyone's first choice for cutting edge tech it does have a wonderful picture and was a pretty good deal. My only complaint is that it has a "dynamic refresh rate" that will scale the screen's refresh rate based on the input, when I am playing PS3 games or a Bluray the refresh rate sticks at about 90-70hz but it normally is a much lower number, the only time I notice a difference is while watching Broadcast or DVR and can tell when the refresh rate decides to kick it up a notch. No big thing and if I wasn't a tech geek and TV professional I wouldn't ever notice. Also displayed in these pics is the TV Stand itself. I love this stand my old stand was basically a squat black box that didn't really do anything for the feel of the room. This one has a nice warm tone to the finish and isn't too glossy. The stand is also quite tall and keeps the screen up higher giving TV watching a more relaxed feel, like being in a theater. The biggest bonus for a game collector when it comes to the stand is that top open air shelf, my DVR, Gamecube and PS3 live up there and the constant airflow keeps both DVR and PS3 pretty cool.

Here is a closer picture of the systems themselves. Starting with the top shelf and working down;

·       DVR  - This is an absolute essential nowadays and I don't think my wife and I could live without it. The main downside with a DVR is heat production, you do not want to keep this inside a stand because it will cook everything else in there.

·       Gamecube  - I was not a Gamecube fan until well into the new console generation; I originally picked it up so I could play my GameBoy Advance games at home as well as on the go.

·       PS3  - My PS3 really does triple duty as my main game system, my main video player and easy access to my home music library. Coupled with MediaMall's playOn software Sony's latest black monolith is quite the behemoth. Downside is once again heat output. I've had to send my PS3 back to Sony after a fan failed it kept overheating. You'll want to keep your PS3 out in the open and make sure to clean dust out of it regularly,  do not do the power trick! (Also the PSEYE is now on top of my TV. I had to move it up there for the MOVE)

·       Wii  - A wonderful wedding gift my wife gets the most use out of the Wii but I also play a few Virtual Console games and "The Legend of Zelda: the Twilight Princess" seems to be perpetually in my to-play stack.

·       Video Switch  - There is that cheap video switch I've been blabbing about, the NEX, Sega and Gamecube are hooked up through here.

·       Generation NEX  - My default NES stand-in the Generation NEX is the best NES emulator console you can buy. While it only does NES games it will accept Famicom carts and has the highest compatibility rate on the market. And yes that is a copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 in there.

·       Sega Genesis / Sega CD  - Not pictured here is my 32X because it wouldn't fit nicely enough. Always make sure to leave enough slack in the cables so you can pull top-loader systems out while using them, you don't want to have to cram your carts around inside a TV stand.

·       RCA 5.1 Surround Sound Receiver  - This was a system-in-a-box that I got as a gift. I spent awhile researching different models and this one came out on top because unlike other "in-a-box" systems this receiver will take after market speakers from other manufacturers if I ever have the whim for better speakers that will be a plus. The only trade off is that this system did not come with a powered sub-woofer and does not decode DTS audio signals.

So there you have it, my system. Remember when running cable be sure to reduce as mush clutter as possible so you can increase air flow and keep the systems cool. Not pictured our my Atari 2600 and original NES. The NES is on a bookshelf in my guest room and my Atari is in storage at my parents. The Atari has some broken points that need to be re-soddered and I don't think I'll get around it anytime soon.