My son loves Oswald the octopus. He’s cute, he’s quirky, he’s blue. I love Marmitek’s Octopus. It’s not as animated, but it makes me just as giddy.

The Octopus is sort of a catchall for your entertainment setup.

Hook it up and you can transfer all of your analog videos to digital, which can be saved on the computer. The company doesn’t say anything about store-bought videos, so we’re guessing it’s just for home movies.

Once you are finished loading all of those memories, the Octopus doesn’t have to go into your yard sale’s bargain bin. Hook the thing up to your PC and it can tune into almost any TV station.

Available for about $115 (54,95 GBP), the system also includes DVD burning software and ShowShifter, which allows you to turn your PC into a media center.

Rachel Cericola - Contributing Writer

Over the past 15 years, Rachel Cericola has covered entertainment, web and technology trends. Check her out at www.rachelcericola.com.