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Utilizing Network Attached Storage to Provide Additional Storage for your Xbox 360 Hard Drive

 

Recently I've had the privilege of establishing a main network share in my home N network. One of the major reasons I take advantage of my Xbox 360 is to stream my video/music content material around my home network.Initially my setup contains one dual core Windows 7 machine serving content to my Xbox.


 

The serving machine had a depressing hard drive setup (160GB internal and 500GB external) and was wirelessly connected to my router. My Xbox 360 slim was also wirelessly connected to the router. Windows Media Center was not fond of this setup, and stuttering/lag concerns had been common.Right after doingresearch and fine-tuning the traffic flow configurations on my router, no fair option was discovered with my initial setup.Additional investigation and a need for far more storage space brought me to look into network attached storage drives.

 

The key benefit I came across when using the NAS drive may be the immediate connection to my router. Considering that thecomputers in my household are in individual areas, running Ethernet cable to each isn't just a problem but essentially impractical. All computers are running the wireless N standard, but providing content nevertheless continues to be a concern when the serving machine is attached to the router wirelessly. Hooking up the NAS drive directly to the router reduces network delay, and has shown to improve my streaming.

 

Creating the Linkstation was easy.Basically it needed powering on the drive and hooking up it to my router. I then loaded the provided CD on my computer and the drive was all set. My Xbox 360recognized the hard drive without delay, and I was able to shifting all of my content over no problem. Now all of my windows machines connect to the drive, along with my media streamers.

 

I would recommend purchasing a NAS to any individual aiming to copy their DVD and Blu-ray collections along with their music. If you have multiple machines on your network and have an Xbox 360 this set up is ideal to stream content all over the house. Setup was incredibly easy and now I have a great deal of storage capable of holding 100′s of video clips and 1000′s of songs.

 

Let me know what you think of attached storage.

 

I think it is a good idea and should be appreciated by all. The cloud capabilities it provides to a home in the form of safe backups are valuable to any household, along with the easy streaming potential.

 

Cheers for reading!


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Not long ago I obtained the genuine Xbox 360 driving wheel coming from Microsoft from the mailman. At the moment I'm out of town on a small business trip, but had to take a second and compose an artilce on the subject of my perceptions right after virtually a few hrs of actively playing. In an effort to give a little bit of background: I have previously had driving wheels for each and every video game system I have had in the past. Mad Catz for the Sega Dreamcast and original Xbox, and one other generic racing wheel (that had no pedals) for the original Xbox. I have implemented them for everything from Crazy Taxi to Project Gotham Racing and Sega GT.


Now that you have got my background, lets review the wheel.


After opening the box, I examined the wheel. Overall build quality felt quite solid. The racing wheel possessed excellent rotating level of resistance, very good grip and all round strong quality. Consider, I purchased the racing wheel preowned and really do not understand exactly what the original wrapping and operating instructions look like. Still with no guidance, setup was a breeze. I just switched the wheel on, joined the accessory pedals with the supplied line (essentially a phone line) and synchronized the wheel with my Xbox 360 (just exactly the same way you may synchronize  a xbox 360 controller).


Something which i truly favored in regards to the official racing wheel was the flexibility to use the chargeable battery pack from my official 360 controller to supply the official racing wheel. Microsoft Corp. has included the common microphone port and power from the cordless Xbox 360 console inside the racing wheel. This is often valuable mainly because you won't be burning through Batteries just to play racing games your official wheel. Obtain a fast charing station with a few chargeable battery packs then you will be all set (I do believe this is a must for all Xbox 360 console users).


The minute I had the official wheel was install, it was Racing time time. I have been plowing my way through the world tour mode in Forza 4 across the past couple weeks during my spare time, so needless to say that is where I started. Altering steering to sim mode and changing the shifting settings to manual, I was currently set for the awesome race experience. I must tell you, how incredible the experience was.


Controlling were just right and natural. Playing forza was just exactly the same feeling I recall from other wheels in my childhood. Hard at first but fulfilling.


Originally the 360 wheel encounter is difficult for the average person. If you are use to playing the game with your standard control, the jump will require some getting use too. Try not to let this dissuade you. Once you get the hang of using the racing wheel, game play becomes incredibly fun. I couldn't leave from the racing wheel. This felt the same as when I was a kid, it had been a blast to play with and really improved the game play.


The sole issue I had with the 360 racing wheel is the pedal setup. Reaction was great, but they seem to slide all around a lot on my carpeting. I feel like there needs to be some sort of spikes to burrow into the carpeting, or velcro to make more friction with the carpet. This doesn't help to make the experience bad, it just makes you think a little bit more whenever you want to slam the gas pedal down.




There you have it, my brief experience with the Official Xbox 360 Racing Wheel. If you have one and want to chime in, dont hesitate to leave a comment.


Thank you for reading.


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