richwklein.com

At Christmas time we considered buying a new Blue Ray player. Last week we decided to get a Tivo. In recent years these devices have come down in price to what I consider reasonable.

Things like these have all kinds of hidden cost, but here is one you might not think about. Most modern equipment needs an internet connection to function properly. What many people may not know is that lots of Blue Ray players and DVRs do not come with built in WIFI. You could wire you house for Ethernet to get these online, but who really wants to do that? That means you have to buy a proprietary USB network adapter. An adapter you can only get from the manufacturer. These adapters usually run between $50 and $80 dollars.

If you do consider getting one of these "Home Entertainment" devices just make sure you know how it connects to the internet and if you will need one of these adapters.

** Update ** Chris Finke suggests purchasing an apple airport express instead of a network adapter. It doesn’t cost much more and gives you the opportunity to network some speakers.