my technical quest

As I begin this quest, I have:

• Toshiba 42HP66 42" plasma HDTV
• Toshiba SDK-850 HDMI DVD player
• Sony SAT-T60 DirecTV TiVo receiver (no HD programming)
  
• Yamaha AV 5.1 receiver, model HTR-5140
• Harman Kardon HKTS 14 6-Piece Loudspeaker System
• Apple Mac Mini 1.66 Core Duo
• Sony CDP-C350Z 5-disc CD player (old as the hills)
• Apple AirPort Express

When I come out the other side of this quest, here's what I'll be looking at (and listening to) in our living room:

• Hi Definition TV programming
  
• HD DVR (TiVo, preferred)
• Plasma TV as monitor for the Mac Mini
• iTunes collection (40Gb) through the AV Receiver
• HD DVD from Mac Mini to TV and 5.1 sound through AV Receiver

I'll remove from the stack of equipment the DVD and CD players (thanks to the Mac Mini).

To start things off, I've got the DVI-HDMI cable on order from monoprice.com to handle the Plasma-as-monitor bit.

If I'm lucky I can use my Belkin optical audio cable to run sound to the AV Receiver and remove the Toshiba DVD player from the stack right quick.

Details to be blogged mid-next week. Wish me luck.