This looks like a Timex Sinclair 1000 running Microsoft Bob. Can you record program code by putting a cassette recorder up next to the speaker too? Either way, this is one bad flashback.

Too bad she bought her $699 laptop at Best Buy. She was charged $79.99 for Norton Antivirus, $49.00 for Geek Squad to install it, $249 for an extended Geek Squad Warranty, $99 for a Geek Squad laptop accessory kit, not to mention the $49 fee for the Geek Squad to open the box, plug the laptop in and turn it on for her. All in all, her $699 laptop just cost her $1224.99 plus tax. If she would have ordered her laptop from Dell directly and flirted with the nerd down the hall in her dorm, she could have got her laptop for $499 plus tax and free shipping.

How many visits to the chiropractor does that $5500 price tag include? I'd need regular visits if I had to lug that ThickPad around all day.

Looks like a wireless TI994/A to me. Can you write BASIC programs in an 40x24 window on a 12 inch tube display with rabbit ears? That would rock.

Bob, I couldn't agree more. How much do I have to pay to get the XM channels back? The playlists on the alternative rock stations are so shallow I started listening to FM again, because the variety is better than the 20 songs Sirius is playing on relentless repeat. Gladly, LastFM is solving my issues with the last.fm iPhone player. Now I need to figure out what to do with the four XM radios I already own.

SlavKO,

I have an AppleTV, and yes, it can run 720p or 1080i. I usually run mine in 1080i, and it's great. I use a Miglia HD Tuner with EyeTV as a DVR on my Mac-mini. EyeTV converts it's raw format to mp4 and places it in iTunes automatically, and even though the files have some compression on them, it looks far better than any upconverted video from the 320x240 resolution of the videos I had on the iPod before I bought the AppleTV.

I found upconverted video to be almost unwatchable when I did that from iPod video to 720p. I also had the original DLO HomeDock a few years ago. I returned it, because for $150, it didn't provide much more functionality than the $20 AV cable the Apple sells for the iPod, and the video quality was sub-par at best.

I couldn't agree with you more. I have the factory unit in my new Civic, and it's great. Not to mention, it's actually an Alpine.

My experience wasn't that bad, but Best Buy did botch up the XM install on my Civic when I had them install it a few years ago. The moron installer insisted the antenna had to be installed on the front driver side of the windshield, which resulted in less than stellar reception. Then, to make matters worse, he broke the seal on the windshield, so it leaked every time I got stuck in rain on the expressway.

The icing on the cake came just a few weeks ago, when I installed an XM receiver in my girlfriend's Cobalt. I did it in the dark, with a flashlight, in the middle of a snowstorm. I only had a few basic tools (screwdriver, scissors). It took me 30 minutes, and my job looks and is far more professional than the $80 install charge Best Buy bent me over for.

Needless to say, I'm done with the big box stores. I'll do my own work from now on thank you.