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Location for XBox 360 and Wii?

post #1 of 18
6/29/08 at 6:11am
Thread Starter 
I was at a Home Theater store in Atlanta looking at some equipment (l'm equipping my first multipurpose HT room) and the owner of the store said I could put my XBox 360 and Wii in the equipment rack located slightly behind my seating position. Since l am out of town & can't consult my manuals, is this possible? Are the controllers for both systems RF?
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post #2 of 18
6/29/08 at 7:01am
The Xbox 360 is. However, there's a limit to the length of your video and audio output cables. Hopefully, you're less than 5 meters from the display / AV receiver.

Check for cabling length limits to HDMI, TOSlink. That goes regardless of 360, Wii, or PS3. Also, be careful about cooling- these boxes need their space. Allow some rack clearance for ventilation.
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post #3 of 18
6/29/08 at 7:20am
You should be fine with the 360 but the Wii pick-up is put on top or bottom of the display and you need to point at it for some of the funtions. They make an extension cable for the sensor bar. The one I saw was 6 feet long... happy shopping !!
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post #4 of 18
6/29/08 at 7:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by TRALFAZ View Post

You should be fine with the 360 but the Wii pick-up is put on top or bottom of the display and you need to point at it for some of the funtions. They make an extension cable for the sensor bar. The one I saw was 6 feet long... happy shopping !!

They also make a wireless bar...
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post #5 of 18
6/29/08 at 7:56am
The range of the 360, PS3 and Wii are pretty good in a single room without walls. I'm able to use the controllers of the 360 and PS3 in another room located behind both consoles separated by a wall without issue. Being "in front of" the direction the consoles are facing seem to give maximum range though.
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post #6 of 18
6/29/08 at 8:03am
http://www.target.com/Nyko-Wireless-...r%20bar&page=1

A wireless sensor bar will fix the Wii issue real quick.
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post #7 of 18
6/29/08 at 6:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by darklordjames View Post

http://www.target.com/Nyko-Wireless-...r%20bar&page=1

A wireless sensor bar will fix the Wii issue real quick.

Is it any good?
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post #8 of 18
6/29/08 at 8:14pm
A bud of mine has it and hasn't had any problems with it.
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post #9 of 18
6/29/08 at 8:47pm
the sensor bar does NOT communicate with the console, in ANY way.
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post #10 of 18
6/30/08 at 12:22am
I have a friend who's thinking about getting a Wii, but is having second thoughts about it because he'll be using it with a front projector and is afraid the the sensor bar wouldn't be able to work correctly because it would too far away from the console.

formulanerd, so you're saying that the sensor bar communicates with the controller and then the controller communicates with the console?

this would resolve the issue. If a wireless sensor bar just communicated with the controller, then the distance shouldn't be any problem. I'm assuming that the controller has better wireless range then the sensor bar.

And just to make this post applicable, I think I read somewhere that the 360 controllers are supposed to be good for 15 to 20 feet. And the further away your consoles are from everything else - avr, tv, etc - the more expensive your cables are going to be. Especially considering that some cables have a maximum curve radius that isn't very generous.
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post #11 of 18
6/30/08 at 5:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ratatosk View Post

I have a friend who's thinking about getting a Wii, but is having second thoughts about it because he'll be using it with a front projector and is afraid the the sensor bar wouldn't be able to work correctly because it would too far away from the console.

formulanerd, so you're saying that the sensor bar communicates with the controller and then the controller communicates with the console?

this would resolve the issue. If a wireless sensor bar just communicated with the controller, then the distance shouldn't be any problem. I'm assuming that the controller has better wireless range then the sensor bar.

And just to make this post applicable, I think I read somewhere that the 360 controllers are supposed to be good for 15 to 20 feet. And the further away your consoles are from everything else - avr, tv, etc - the more expensive your cables are going to be. Especially considering that some cables have a maximum curve radius that isn't very generous.

I use mine with our front projector all the time with no problem. The wireless sensor bar simply emits IR that the Wii controller sees. It's just a battery powered LED emitter. Then the controller transmits what it sees to the console. It works great!
Btw, I'm in B'ham as well.
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post #12 of 18
6/30/08 at 6:13am
Yeah, calling a Wii sensor bar "wireless" is a bit misleading, though technically accurate. "Battery powered" would be the term I would use.

If you are going to place the 360 behind you, be aware that most third party remotes are still IR and do NOT use the proprietary 360 wireless frequency. So you are stuck with 360 specific remotes (and to be honest, I think most of THEM are IR, just the controller uses the wireless). But the wireless controller is omnidirectional and works well without line of sight.

The Wii and PS3 both use bluetooth (at least I think the Wii is BT) with no provision for IR, so you can place them where ever.
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post #13 of 18
6/30/08 at 4:58pm
don't get the nyko wireless bar. I have it,and hate it. There is a much better one that is wider and has more leds in it.check wii forum as i can not remember the name.

My 360 is another room, on another floor, no issues. My hdmi cables/component are about 50'

monoprice.com for cables
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post #14 of 18
6/30/08 at 5:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ratatosk View Post

formulanerd, so you're saying that the sensor bar communicates with the controller and then the controller communicates with the console?

yep, you could install IR LED's in the wall if you wanted to. just need an ac->dc converter and some cheap IR led's.

i'd look into it more, but with seating distance and screen size, there may be a certain distance apart for the IR leds to have the most accuracy, you may also have to use a couple LED's on each side... but a little experimenting wouldnt be too difficult.
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post #15 of 18
7/1/08 at 4:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by formulanerd View Post

yep, you could install IR LED's in the wall if you wanted to. just need an ac->dc converter and some cheap IR led's.

i'd look into it more, but with seating distance and screen size, there may be a certain distance apart for the IR leds to have the most accuracy, you may also have to use a couple LED's on each side... but a little experimenting wouldnt be too difficult.

With my 106" screen, the one wireless sensor bar is really too narrow. One solution I've read about is to buy 2, then electrical tape over the two in the middle, in effect creating a sensor bar that's twice as wide.
But then I've also heard you can use candles spaced apart, so there you go.
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post #16 of 18
7/1/08 at 12:18pm
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Originally Posted by Cytotech View Post

With my 106" screen, the one wireless sensor bar is really too narrow. One solution I've read about is to buy 2, then electrical tape over the two in the middle, in effect creating a sensor bar that's twice as wide.
But then I've also heard you can use candles spaced apart, so there you go.

yep, candles do emit IR light, but you'd be better off with an LED candle and replace the led with an IR one

and spacing two of them out like that sounds like a good idea, i just dont like the idea of running them off of batteries, worrying about the charge, etc.
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post #17 of 18
7/1/08 at 12:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by formulanerd View Post

i just dont like the idea of running them off of batteries, worrying about the charge, etc.

I agree. I hate feeding the thing batteries, whether rechargable or not. Ugh...

Oh, and flat out, we don't use the Wii all that much with the 360 and PS3 also inhabiting the equipment rack. If we did, I would DEFINITELY figure out a better solution.
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post #18 of 18
7/1/08 at 1:30pm
IGN talked about using candles instead of a sensor bar.

http://wii.ign.com/articles/748/748011p1.html
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