CableBox

The CableBox

I like to wait at least a day to mull over a purchase, sale or no sale. But I was waiting months on a purchase of some stuff, so tacking on a <a href="http://www.bluelounge.com/cablebox.php" title="CableBox—Blue LoungeBlueLounge CableBox (or two) to my A+R order didn’t seem such a bad idea.

Blue Lounge Cable Box(es)

Blue Lounge CableBox(es). You can Buy them in white or black.

Usually snap buying decisions are a bad idea, but this one turned out not so bad.

White side preinstalledWhite side installedThe white CableBox installed

The “white side” before, during, and after the installation.

Who knew a bunch of plastic boxes with cutouts could do so much!

What was cabled

I actually had to purchase two of them because I have the following cable mess:

  1. AV receiver power cord
  2. left speaker power cord
  3. right speaker power cord
  4. speaker cable to left speaker
  5. speaker cable to right speaker
  6. bass cable to left speaker
  7. base cable to right speaker
  8. speaker cable to center surround speaker
  9. speaker cable to left surround speaker
  10. speaker cable to right surround speaker
  11. power cord to LCD TV
  12. HDMI/DVI cable to LCD TV
  13. Playstation 3 power cord
  14. ethernet for Playstation 3
  15. Playstation 3 HDMI connection
  16. Xbox 360 power cord
  17. ethernet for XBox 360
  18. XBox 360 HDMI cable
  19. Wii power cord
  20. Wii S-video and audio connections
  21. Wii receiver bar connector
  22. power cord for Wii inductive charger
  23. Ethernet switch power cord
  24. Ethernet cable for switch
  25. Mac mini power cord
  26. HDMI/DVI to Mac mini
  27. Optic audio cable for Mac mini
  28. ethernet for Mac mini
  29. Drobo power cord
  30. USB connector to Drobo
  31. Airport express power cord
  32. optic audio cable for Airport express
  33. battery charger power cord
  34. charger cable for Logitech DiNovo keyboard
  35. Smartstrip power cord
  36. regular strip power cord

Not to mention assorted batteries and remotes. 🙁

Basically I use the smartstrip with the AV receiver controlling for the black cable box and everything else (computer, wireless, battery charging) goes on the other strip. The system uses about 15 watts when off, almost all of which goes to the wireless repeater.

The Black Box

Black side pre-installedBlack side installedThe black CableBox installed

The before, middle, after of the left side installation. I’m using the box as a place to put my remotes—they are the main and satellite AV receiver, the Playstation 3 remote, and the DiNovo mini keyboard for my Mac mini. The other stuff controllers went into a canvas box I keep near the couch

It ends up costing $50 for this which sounds a lot for two plastic boxes. But then again, I managed to purge myself of three Cable Organizers from the Container Store so the net would be $5.

Not bad.

Parting shot

Pre-boxedLiving room Cableboxed

Next: get rid of that DVD rack. Someday I’ll get to tell my grandkids that we listened to music and watched movies by sliding plastic discs into players, and they’ll say, “Grandad is a crazy old coot!”

The difference is small but noticeable.

“Chi rides the wind and scatters, but it is retained when encountering water.”

—origin of Feng-Shui which means “wind-water”

4 thoughts on “CableBox

  1. @Brandon I spend the most time on the Playstation 3. I have the most fun with the Wii. I haven’t gotten my money’s worth with any of them since I’m always at work.

    Did I mention my power bill is $24/month and the system uses 700 watts when I turn it on? That should be proof enough. 😉

  2. I just ordered one of these as well — it’s part of my master plan to hide all cables in my life. If this box doesn’t work…I’m drilling holes in the floor.

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