My interests have varied over the years, but I still have a pretty set list of things that I have wanted to own over the years. Here is a random collection of stuff I have either dreamed of getting one day or thought about buying soon.

Audio

DENON 7-channel home theater receiver AVR-4306Because I have searched all of my life for something I can’t explain and I’ve never found it in my studies, in the work place, or in God, but for some reason the Denon Receiver completes me!
The AVR-4306 delivers high quality home theater with lots of audiophile extras. With 130 watts per channel and advanced surround processing, you’ll enjoy rich, enveloping sound from all of your entertainment sources. Denon’s heavy-duty construction includes an anti-resonant chassis and massive power supply for rock-solid performance.

This receiver has so many features, that about the only thing it can’t do is speak in a passive voice and call you “Dave”. But it comes close. Audioholics has a thorough review on the AVR-4306, if you want to read up on what this receiver can do. For example you can set a manual IP address and even set it up to work with a proxy server!

The Guitars:

Fender Deluxe Strat HSSBecause I still have dreams of playing guitar solos in front of thousands of adoring fans!
Fender Deluxe Strat HSS: This strat is capable of a broad range of tones, thanks to 2 Tex-Mex single-coils and a bridge position Fat Strat humbucker with 5-way switching. A late 60s “big headstock and black knobs and pickguard give the Fender Deluxe Strat HSS Guitar a distinctive flare.

The Fender Statocaster is still one awesome and affordable guitar. The Deluxe HSS shown here is of course black (my favorite color) with a rosewood fingerboard.

Fender Highway One HSS Stratocaster

Fender Highway One HSS Stratocaster: The Highway One series! Super-size frets, ’70s styling, alnico pickups in the neck and middle positions and great colors take this amazing guitar to the next level. The neck and middle position pickups on the Highway One Stratocaster HSS guitar produce a more round tone that can sound glassy and great with high gain. Master Greasebucket Tone Circuit rolls off highs without adding bass. The thin nitrocellulose lacquer finish lets the body wood’s natural tone shine through, making for one of the most exciting instruments in the Fender family!

I picked this strat more for the pickups and the vintage sound. Plus Super-size frets makes bending easier!

Gibson SG

The Gibson SG Standard Electric Guitar is one of the most popular incarnations of the legendary Gibson SG. It takes the best of the ’62 original and adds the longer and sturdier neck joint of the late ’60s models. All the classic features you’d expect from a historic guitar. Hot humbuckers go from rich, sweet lightning to warm, tingling waves of sustain. A silky-fast rosewood fretboard plays like a dream. The original-style beveled mahogany body looks like a million bucks.

People have often said there is something evil about the SG, and if you ever heard Black Sabbath, you can see why. While not as popular as the Les Paul, the SG is still one of my favorite guitars. Other than Black Sabbath, the SG is associated with The Doors. Their guitarist played an SG almost exclusively.

Tony Iommi Signature SG

The Epiphone Tony Iommi Signature G-400 Electric Guitar is what you want for hardcore, heavy hitting sound. Classic SG attitude is enhanced with mother-of-pearl cross fingerboard inlays, black chrome hardware, and a matching black finish on the solid mahogany body. The slim-tapered mahogany neck is fast and the Gibson USA Iommi pickups put out the firepower required for maximum destruction.

I was somewhat conflicted between getting the Tony Iommi Signature SG or a Strat as my next guitar. Ultimately the Iommi SG won out. The difference between the Les Paul Studio and a Strat is the sheer weight of the Les Paul and tone. The Les Paul and Strat sound different from each other and occasionally you want more of a Strat type sound. The Iommi SG though peaked my interest and I totally am into Black Sabbath these days.

Les Paul Studio Electric Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Studio Electric Guitar: The arrival of the Gibson Les Paul Studio Electric Guitar in 1983 offered guitarists all the essential elements of a Les Paul Standard, including a carved top and humbucking pickups. Its simple yet elegant design quickly helped it become the most popular model in the Les Paul Series. Cutting-yet-rich tone- the hallmark of the LP- pours out of the 490R and 498T alnico magnet humbucker pickups, which are mounted on a carved maple top with a mahogany back. Rosewood fretboard with trapezoid inlays makes for great looks while dual volume and tone controls provide complete command of your sound.

The guitar I’ve always wanted has been the Les Paul. Rock guitar just would not be the same without the Les Paul, and everyone from Clapton, to Slash would agree, a Les Paul is a beautiful piece of art all by itself. I prefer the silver on black look. However on Les Pauls, gold is a good match for sunburst models like in this Studio Premium Plus.

I actually ended up getting a gold on black model instead of the silver. This is the best guitar I’ve ever bought. It came in a hard shell case, and compared to a standard Strat, it is smaller.

Les Paul Studio Premium Plus

Gibson Les Paul Studio Premium Plus: This Gibson Les Paul Studio Premium Plus sounds as great as it looks. The durability and superb performance of the time-tested Les Paul Studio is updated with a shimmering AAA flamed maple top and gold hardware. It’s a true beauty for the working guitarist. Traditional mahogany body and set ’59 Les Paul rounded maple neck generate great resonance for extended sustain from the 490R and 498T alnico magnet humbuckers.

Paul Reed Smith Custom 24 Electric

The PRS Custom 24 Electric Guitar is based on the original classic PRS guitars. The perfect combination of woods — maple top, mahogany back and neck, plus rosewood fretboard — meets the perfect electronics — HFS bridge and Vintage Bass neck pickups. Super-tight neck joint adds sustain and quality feel. 10″ radius fretboard on a wide, thin neck grants very speedy freedom on the 24 fat frets. 5-way coil-tapping pickup selector delivers precision tonal options. All crafted by master luthiers.

In the world of electric guitars, a PRS is almost perfect.

Tools:

Craftsman 26 Combo ToolchestBecause every man wants to play mechanic on the weekends or feel like he can build a house in his spare time.
Craftsman 26 Inch Combo Toolchest in Black: Tool storage collection with a 7 drawer chest (59778) and 5 drawer roll away (59779). All items feature black baked enamel shell and drawers, aluminum drawer pulls, and compound-action drawer slides.

A toolchest, because every man needs one. Even if you build yourself a nice workbench, you still need a toolchest for all those tools that you don’t want to lose in the garage. Again, black is my favorite color, so I have to go with it.

DeWalt 14.4 Volt Drill

DeWalt DC983KA 14.4-Volt Ni-Cad 1/2-Inch Cordless Drill: Torque, speed and great ergonomics: DeWalt pulled it all together in this 14.4-volt XRP 1/2-inch drill/driver. Even at its peak 450 inch-pounds of torque, you feel no twist. We’re impressed, too, with the patented three-speed transmission for whatever material you’re drilling into. Its max speed of 1,800 rpm is 29 percent faster than high speed. We like the all-metal ratcheting chuck with carbide jaws because we’ve had a bit slip every now and then, and the jaws help keep a tight grip on the shank. It’s well-balanced, comfortable to grip and a joy to use.

Speaking of tools, a good drill is always handy to have and the DeWalt 14.4 volt drill is a good quality cordless drill.

Computers:

Shuttle SN27P2 XPCBecause it’s what I do for a living.
Shuttle XPC SN27P2: Shuttle’s AM2 based XPC system includes the NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra chipset, 4 slots for a total of 8 GB of DDR2-800 memory, 1 PCI slot, 1 PCI Express x16 slot, GigaEthernet, and room for multiple hard drives.
SL3620-2S-LB2 RAID Ready NASD-Link DNS-323 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure

The SL3620-2S-LB2 comes with a Gigabit LAN network interface and a USB2.0 port. It is designed to be the best network attachable storage device for small and medium enterprises or SOHO users that need file sharing and access permissions control. The SL3620-2S-LB2 not only supports simple RAID 0 and RAID 1 but can also be used independently as extra storage. It can also be connected to a LAN as shared data storage.

D-Link’s 2-Bay Network Storage Enclosure (DNS-323) is a high performance solution for all your data storage needs. The new SATA hard drive bays allow for quick insertion and release, no tools are required. Utilizing a high performance CPU, read/write functions to and from the DNS-323 are exceptionally smooth. The DNS-323 also enables users to access files over the Internet with the built-in FTP server. For data protection, the DNS-323 features a variety of backup options including RAID 1, 0, and JBOD, ensuring that your data is safeguarded at all times. Additionally, the DNS-323 serves as a USB print server, allowing you to share a single USB printer with your network.

What I really have been waiting for is an affordable NAS to add to my home network. Now that Apple has Timemachine as feature, an affordable NAS would really be the best solution for daily backups. OtherWorldComputing is the only US reseller for the Stardom unit which is slightly more expensive than the D-Link. Although I can find reviews for the D-Link, I have not really found any for this lower end Stardom model. By all appearances the Stardom should run cooler than the D-Link, but I am not sure which has the better software.

SanDisk SDCZG-2048-A10 2 GB Gaming Cruzer Crossfire USB 2.0 (Retail Package)

SanDisk’s Gaming Cruzer Crossfire: is a U3 enabled USB flash drive. Unlike the regular Cruzer models, the Crossfire models are not retractable and appear to be more solidly constructed.

Linksys RVS4000 4-Port Gigabit Security Router with VPND-Link DGL-4100 Broadband Gaming Router, 4-Port Gigabit Switch

The RVS4000 features Gigabit ethernet connections, along with SPI Firewall protections and VPN access. The DGL-4100 has QOS features that are suppose to help with online gaming.

It is hard to find a decent Gigabit router period, so until the perfect 8-port Gigabit wireless router comes along, I’ll have to settle for a 4-port wired router.

Computer Upgrades & Other Technoglogy:

Intel NIC

I am really looking for a new DVD drive for my server. Newegg has some good models such as:

Electronic Toys:

Nintendo WiiBecause when you grow up, your toys have to cost more.

I really think Nintendo is going to be successful with their new console. There are many people that just want to play old style console games that we played as kids.

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