When you set up the Xbox 360, it might take a few days before you stop playing games to see what else it can do, like exploring the multimedia features it brings into the living room.

Microsoft's next-generation system, which went on sale last week with much fanfare, combines high-definition video, games and DVDs with digital photos, music and online services.

The console quickly recognized an Apple iPod, Sony PlayStation Portable and Pentax Optio S4 digital camera, allowing me to browse their contents on my 56-inch high-definition television.

The menus in the Xbox 360's software interface, which Microsoft calls the "dashboard," are easy to get around, using tabs to let you swiftly jump between games, media, system settings and Xbox Live, Microsoft's online system for the Xbox.

All of my carefully crafted iPod playlists were easy to navigate using a game controller or a remote control, which is included in the $400 "premium" bundle of the Xbox 360.

Pictures are displayed in slide shows that subtly move the images on the screen for presentation effect, slowly panning around or zooming in, along with various transitions.

The Xbox 360 also connects to computers over a home network, both wired and wireless. Xbox 360 owners who don't own a PC running Microsoft's special Windows Media Center Edition - that would likely be most - will only be able to access the music and pictures they have on their computers. Media Center users also can watch video, download movies and buy music online, among other features.

A program called Windows Media Connect, which the console says is available at www.xbox.com/pcsetup , connects a regular Windows XP computer to an Xbox 360. But first you'll need to make sure you've installed Microsoft's latest major update - called Service Pack 2 - as well Microsoft's .NET software if you haven't already. .NET is a 10- to 15-minute download over a high-speed Internet connection from www.windowsupdate.com .

At first, the computer couldn't find the Xbox over the wireless network, requiring me to run a long Ethernet cord from my second-floor lab to the downstairs living room and then reinstall the Media Connect software on the computer.

There are many wireless products from companies such as Linksys, Netgear and others that can connect a videogame console to your high-speed home network, including the Xbox 360 Wireless Adapter, which costs about $100.

One of the extenders plugs into my wired-and-wireless router upstairs, and the second sits in the living room with an Ethernet cord running into the Xbox 360. These always worked well for the PlayStation 2 and original Xbox.

And these got the Xbox 360 online with no problem. But it took a few tries of disconnecting and reconnecting the Net Extenders from my home network before they successfully tied the Xbox 360 to the media computer upstairs. I have yet to determine why they didn't work on the first try.

Regardless, after the Xbox 360 and Windows computer were connected, I could access my library of MP3 music files, as well as vacation and party photos from years past, on my living room TV. The Ethernet cord went back in the closest.

The Xbox 360 makes a high-definition TV shine - finally something offering some serious benefits for an HDTV beyond the handful of channels from Time Warner.

The original Xbox connects to a lower resolution component input. And the audio-visual/S-video inputs are taken up by a PlayStation 2, DVD player, VCR and Nintendo GameCube.

Plus, it wouldn't make much sense to link an Xbox 360 to a HDTV any other way than through a high-quality RGB connection, something that can handle a high resolution of 1080i.

In exploring the different media features on the Xbox 360, I discovered Microsoft took the liberty of leaving several songs on the console's hard drive, mostly rock and metal that quickly were deleted.

The Xbox 360 also lets you restrict access to video games and DVDs by ratings, including banning all "mature"- or "teen"-rated games and R or PG-13 films.

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