Last month, we showed you how to add DVD capability to your desktop (read it here), and this month, we look at upgrading your audio subsystem. But why limit your audio-visual entertainment to sitting in front of your PC? Why not listen to all those MP3 files you've been downloading on your home stereo system and watch DVD movies from the comfort of your own couch? You can do this even if your PC is in a different room than your TV and stereo.

X10's $69.95-direct MP3 Anywhere consists of an audio/video wireless transmitter and receiver, and a remote control. The wireless transmitter and receiver communicate with each other at a frequency of 2.4GHz with an effective range of about 100 feet. Using the supplied cables, you connect the audio line out from your sound card to the left and right RCA audio inputs on the transmitter. If your system has a composite video out from either the DVD decoder card or the graphics card, you can send the DVD video stream from one of these connections to the composite video input on the transmitter.

Next, plunk down the receiver near your TV and stereo. Run a cable from the receiver's left and right RCA audio jacks to your home stereo's line inputs. Now connect the receiver's composite video or coaxial video outputs to your TV's video input. Plug in the transmitter's and receiver's AC adapters and pop up their antennae, and you're done.

Whatever audio comes out of your sound card is now sent to your stereo. If you're really devious, you can reverse the audio connections, hooking up the transmitter to your stereo and the receiver to your PC. It's a great way to transfer all that old vinyl into WAV or MP3 audio files.