Its been 5 months since the last instalment of Desk Diary! Got a load of photos piled up so need to split them into 2 posts - today we look at the changes around the lounge area.
As mentioned in the previous instalment, our current TV was due to go downstairs once we got a smaller replacement to fit on the wall - this current 47 inch would stick out the sides.
And here it is - the 42" Toshiba 42Z3 - picked up for 73,000 yen from PC Bomber.
Next up is the TV wall mount - Starplatinum GP104 from Amazon for 7,380 yen.
It was back in April when I done all the TV stuff ^^;
All assembled - now time to open our new TV.
The reason why we chose Regza again (same as the one we've had) is mainly because of the price - no other manufacturer offers 42 Inches at 70,000 yen.
The Regza also looks better than the other designs. I did want to get a Samsung but they dont sell them in Japan for some reason.
Another reason is for its game functionality too which I'll talk about more later in this post.
TV flat on floor ready to stick the brackets in place.
These 2 brackets hook onto the wall mount.
Another reason why I chose Regza - the cable sockets are all placed in such a way so that they can be removed even when the TV is up against the wall - many other TV's have sockets *on the back* of the TV meaning that its not possible to put the tv right up against the wall.
Brackets are simply screwed on to the back of the TV.
Ready to mount on the wall.
Most walls in Japan are made of wood and plaster so we got this tool that helps us figure out where supporting beams of wood are behind the wall.
You can pick this one up from Amazon for less than 1,000 yen.
The pin goes through the wall and the white numbered bit is pushed back as the pin goes through. This reading tells me that my wall is about 12mm thick. This is an example of how it works.
But the wood beams behind the wall are not in the place where I need them to be - instead I use these screws from Ikea. As the screw gets tightened, wings open up to make sure that the screw cant be pulled out the wall unless you are Ironman, Hulk or Thor.
You dont need a drill in Japan - you can just spin a large screwdriver into the wall - use some wet tissue paper to catch all the plaster - or waste time hoovering it up later.
Push the Ikea screw and socket into the wall.
And this is what it would look like when screwed in - the screw behind the wall looks like this.
TV wall mount secured to the wall.
New longer Coaxial TV cable. In Japan we call this Doujiku Cable [同軸ケーブル[どうじくけーぶる]].
All TV's in Japan now come with a B-CAS card - stick it in the slot in the TV and get access to cable TV - only antenna required. Some stations are free but you can subscribe to others like BBC.
Japanese appliances come with as many buttons as feasibly possible together with a telephone-book-thick instruction booklet.
TV mounted on the wall and we are all set! Sukkiri!
In this case, "Sukkiri" [すっきり] is a term when used to refer to something thats neat and tidy.
Some cute girl on some XBOX game.
Picked up the XBOX mainly for the Kinect to exercise at home - the only games I have are Kinect ones ^^;
By the way - my ID is DannyChooDotCom - feel free to add me! I'll approve you next time I login.
Not knowledgeable about the XBOX world at all - looks like everybody needs to buy a HD or there are only a few GB's of space to play with.
Picked up the 250GB HD.
The first run experience on the XBOX is terrible - you have to jump through hoops to signup on the Japanese version. At one point it asked me to go and signup on a PC! As a result, I've not set it up to enable me to download paid stuff as its so bothersome ><
The Play Station Network has been the best user experience so far.
There is a poll embedded in this article.
Lounge area by night. Note the poster on the wall - that was the original template used to print all the Moekana which was still in production at the time.
Japanese houses are small >< We need to move the sofa's out of the way to play on the Kinect. At this point in time, the Kinect sensor is on the glass shelf below the TV - not a good place to have it...
Picked up a Kinect Mounting Holder from Amazon.
Kinect mounted.
And this is what it looks like mounted on the edge of the TV.
Much better response from the Kinect!
Our next door neighbour comes over from time to time - she does K-ON and Basketball activities after school.
The game we play all the time is Fitness Evolved 2012 - much recommended when you dont have time to get out but need to do some exercise.
You saw the black speaker under the TV in the above photos - I decided to go for a sound bar instead of a surround system - I went for the Panasonic SC-HTB520-K Theater Bar - I got mine for 25,000 yen but the price has now gone down to 19,600 yen from sellers on Kakaku.com.
As you know from the previous instalment of Desk Diary - I've been looking for a wireless surround sound solution but could not find any decent ones in Japan.
I heard about these sound bars and decided to go with this Panasonic model. The Sub Woofer is wireless and can be tucked away.
Sound is transmitted to the Sub Woofer via an IR signal.
All the bits in pieces inside the box.
Sub Woofer kinda large.
The design of the wall brackets are really odd though.
Small wire mess.
This was before the Ita Curtains were installed where I used some Yuzusoft tapestries for a while ^^;
Watching Kin Sma while working.
These adapters useful for when you dont want plugs sticking out of the wall.
Sound bar installed! Great sound at a really affordable price and no cables all over the place! The only downer about this sound bar is that the buttons are at the top - meaning I cant have it right up against the TV.
Some childhood retro games that I picked up from Super Potato in Akihabara!
Usually, when you attach a retro game machine to a HD TV these days, the graphics look completely crap - thankfully, the Regza TV comes with a retro game feature with an algorithm which makes the graphics look decent on a big screen.
Super Famicom was designed for small houses - the control pad cables are only a meter long ><
Here are my 3 all time fave Super Famicom games - Axelay, Castlevania and Contra Spirits.
Contra Spirits. Vroom Vroom!
Castlevania - I think this was the only version where they let the user dangle the whip? When this cart came out, there was no save functionality and instead you needed to remember and fill in a grid each time you wanted to continue play after turning the machine off.
When we get a bigger office, I'm going to have a retro game corner for the staff. If you are interested in buying old arcade machines then you can check out this search result.
Great thing about Japan - anime on TV all the time ^o^
Relaxing on Friday night with some Summer Wars.
Picked up an Apple TV for the AirPlay functionality which mirrors the audio and sound on your Mac - got it mainly to watch videos on my TV.
Tiny and simple.
Whatever is on my Mac...
Is mirrored to my TV. Video and audio quality is surprisingly good - everything is sent over WiFi. There is a lag - not noticeable when watching a video but noticeable when attempting to play games.
Apple TV also great for checking out new trailers too.
There is a poll embedded in this article.
Still play my PSP even though I have a PS Vita. Most of the games for my Vita are actually downloaded PSP games due to the lack of Vita ones ^^;
Anyway, got myself a PSP TV cable...
And this is what it looks like on the big screen. Thanks to the smoothing algorhythm in the Regza, the screen looks great! Here is another example of how good the Regza makes PSP games look.
Huge PSP screen is Huuuge!
I love the Ghouls n Ghosts series - the one for PSP much recommended.
Very hot in Japan this Summer - need another fan.
Yuki helps to assemble.
Part 2 of this Desk Diary coming up soooon!
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