While Xbox Live is a service and not normally considered in the arena of consumer electronics I thought I would give a quick review to the many features that this service can provide. The Xbox 360 is a powerful computer-based gaming console. Meaning that the majority of things possible on a computer can be done on your TV. This aspect makes the 360 a potentially powerful addition to any media center. If you are savvy on consumer electronics and have an Xbox 360 without Live then you are making a dire mistake.

I recently signed up for Live and was amazed. By the way, if you go to Gamestop you can get 13 months for the price of a year. Live allows users to download a host of classic arcade games like Street Fighter II. You can also download all of the latest TV, game and film trailers and previews. I recently got the Dell XPS 1330, which comes with Vista’s Media Center. This media center can be connected through your network to you Xbox through Live. This allows to stream everything on your computer’s Media Center onto your TV as long as you laptop is on. This makes for a great party mixer. The only consumer complaints with Live can be a lag if the network signal is weak. Have you heard of other consumer complaints with this service.