Tell me about your PC Cablecard DTV tuner and your software setup (MythTV,SageTV,7MC)

[boomhower]

So this won't work?

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Set-up-a-Windows-Media-Center-Extender

Also real quick, do you guys have 7MC playing MKV's? I can't seem to get it to work. I installed CCC and still no go. Hoping to find a fool proof way of doing this.

I've read it's possible but I haven't had any luck, I tried with Sharks codec's.

Cool, thanks plugers I just replied. Hey what's a G520/620?

Low end Intel CPU's. ~$55 for lowish power 1080P capable power.

 

[Informant X]

Ahh nevermind, looks like a full-size PC llenovo. Man that's terrible I personally like something more discrete.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856173022

Everything I read about the Fusion chipset seems plenty more than enough to handle any TV playing/movie watching. It's even a good amount better than Atom/Ion setups. My g/f would be upset too if I replaced the cable box with a big wonky computer on the side of the TV table.

 

[Informant X]

Also let me share this then....

http://www.hack7mc.com/2009/02/mkvs-for-minimalists-on-windows-7.html

Shows how to get it to work. I've got it to work the first time I followed the steps. Since then I've formatted and it didn't work on a second clean install. However I think that maybe the fault of my own as I think I installed some codec pack's before following those steps. Anyway no bigs, I gotta format again soon anyway and will follow those step's to the T. Who knows I probably also messed something up.

 

[boomhower]

Also let me share this then....

http://www.hack7mc.com/2009/02/mkvs-for-minimalists-on-windows-7.html

Shows how to get it to work. I've got it to work the first time I followed the steps. Since then I've formatted and it didn't work on a second clean install. However I think that maybe the fault of my own as I think I installed some codec pack's before following those steps. Anyway no bigs, I gotta format again soon anyway and will follow those step's to the T. Who knows I probably also messed something up.

I'll have to give that a run through this weekend. I'm tired of having to go out of 7MC and into VLC.

 

[Plugers]

Ahh nevermind, looks like a full-size PC llenovo. Man that's terrible I personally like something more discrete.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856173022

Everything I read about the Fusion chipset seems plenty more than enough to handle any TV playing/movie watching. It's even a good amount better than Atom/Ion setups. My g/f would be upset too if I replaced the cable box with a big wonky computer on the side of the TV table.

The G520/620 is also just a CPU, there may just happen to be a PC with that model number. We are just referring to the chip though.

I have a mITX Zotac board running in one of these too. It just hangs on the back of you TV with the screw kit. You could always get an eSATA optical if you needed one. I just stream off the NAS though.

 

[Binky]

Real quick though doesn't 7MC have an extender built into it?

A second Win7 machine can read another Win7 machine's recorded TV, provided that they aren't protected, but it cannot replicate everything that an Extender (e.g. xbox360) can do.

Specifically, the extender can play live TV, see and change recording schedules, and use most of the add-in's that are setup on the primary Win7 machine. An example of an installed add-in would be commercial skip (I use DVRMSToolbox with ShowAnalyzer). A second Win7 computer can't do any of this.

An extender is also a bit limited, since it has trouble playing files using certain codecs.

 

[frowertr]

I use SageTV exclusively. I have three HD-300 extenders driving three TV's around my home and have a dedicated SageTV server running in a spare room that ties it all together. The server has one Hauppauge 2250 (dual tuner) and one HD PVR external unti for HD viewing. I ended up spending two weeks fishing and running Cat5 down the inside of my walls where my TV are and up through the attic so I could have whole house connectivity in every room.


But as mentioned, Sage was purchased by Google last year and is no longer officially supported. However, there is simply no alternative currently on the market that can do what SageTV can do with one piece of hardware. To be able to watch live/recording TV off of a server AND watch my 200+ Bluray movie collection would require me to have two pieces of hardware sitting next to every tv which I'm unwilling to do as it isn't a very elegant solution.

Now if someone would come out with a damn extender other than a Xbox 360 (360 can't decode a full bitrate bluray) that could decode 1080p BD streams and could also watch/record live TV via the Ceton InfiniTV I'd be one happy camper. Will probably have to wait till the Xbox 720 before anything of that nature becomes a reality.

 

[Plugers]

The Ceton Echo should be available this year.

 

[frowertr]

The Ceton Echo should be available this year.

Very cool! I just got done watching the vid. I am going to definately keep my eye on this. The Echos (when paired with a Ceton InfiniTV) could be the answer to replacing my SageTV system.

 

[Binky]

Ceton Echo huh? Where can I find an actual description of this thing? I want specs, not a video!

Integrated blu-ray player? That won't be cheap.

Sadly, all previous extenders have failed miserably in the market. I still have a linksys dma2100 and 2200 and they still work great. They are slightly slower than the xbox360, but they are smaller, silent, and more wife-friendly.

 

[thedarkwolf]

ps3 media server lets me watch 1080p bluray on my xbox 360. The problem I have is my old core 2 duo e6300 isn't power full enough to keep ps3 media server's buffer full so I can only watch about 5 mins at a time then I have to stop and let the buffer refill.

 

[Binky]

ps3 media server lets me watch 1080p bluray on my xbox 360. The problem I have is my old core 2 duo e6300 isn't power full enough to keep ps3 media server's buffer full so I can only watch about 5 mins at a time then I have to stop and let the buffer refill.

I doubt the problem is your CPU - it should be easily powerful enough (my server runs an Atom!). Your problem is more likely the PS3 or your network.

Unless, of course, the "server" is transcoding. I don't use a PS3 so I have no idea how that works.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Ceton Echo huh? Where can I find an actual description of this thing? I want specs, not a video!

Integrated blu-ray player? That won't be cheap.

Sadly, all previous extenders have failed miserably in the market. I still have a linksys dma2100 and 2200 and they still work great. They are slightly slower than the xbox360, but they are smaller, silent, and more wife-friendly.

The Echo is the extender. The device with the integrated BD player is the "Ceton Q."

Previous extenders failed because there just wasn't enough call for them at the time. Now that cablecard tuners are a reality, and a decent number of people are adopting them, an extender should do very well in the market. Also, Ceton listens pretty well to the desires of their customer base so the Echo should provide functionality beyond just being a vanilla WMC extender like the 2100 (which I also currently use).

As far as specs go, the Echo and Q are still in development. At this point Ceton has not released any specs and likely won't until the products are more finalized.

 

[boomhower]

Ceton Echo huh? Where can I find an actual description of this thing? I want specs, not a video!

Integrated blu-ray player? That won't be cheap.

Sadly, all previous extenders have failed miserably in the market. I still have a linksys dma2100 and 2200 and they still work great. They are slightly slower than the xbox360, but they are smaller, silent, and more wife-friendly.

The Echo doesn't have BR, that's the Q. They are saying the Echo is going to be competitive with the 360.

 

[frowertr]

Ceton Echo huh? Where can I find an actual description of this thing? I want specs, not a video!

Integrated blu-ray player? That won't be cheap.

Sadly, all previous extenders have failed miserably in the market. I still have a linksys dma2100 and 2200 and they still work great. They are slightly slower than the xbox360, but they are smaller, silent, and more wife-friendly.

From what I gathered on the video, the integrated BD player was for the "Q" not the Echo. The "Q" is a standalone DVR six tuner device with a BD player built in that can also work with their Echo extenders. I wouldn't need the Q as I have already built a server out but it is something to think about for people that want whole house connectivity with central DVR management/viewing that don't already have a dedicated server.

I'd guess the Echo would go for around $250. I can't imagine they could charge a whole hell of a lot more than a Xbox 360. No idea on what the "Q" would go for.

 

[thedarkwolf]

I doubt the problem is your CPU - it should be easily powerful enough (my server runs an Atom!). Your problem is more likely the PS3 or your network.

Unless, of course, the "server" is transcoding. I don't use a PS3 so I have no idea how that works.

The program is call PS3 media server because it was originally made to work with the ps3 but it works with a bunch of things now including the xbox 360. And yes the server is transcoding to make the file playable on the xbox.

btw my cpu can keep up with the transcoding when doing the samething on the ps3

 

[bobdole369]

The problem I have is my old core 2 duo e6300 isn't power full enough to keep ps3 media server's buffer full

My P4 2.4ghz worked perfectly for up to roughly 14mbit h.264 (most 720 and a majority of 1080p rips) - to PS3. C2D of just about anything is powerful enough.

 

[thedarkwolf]

My P4 2.4ghz worked perfectly for up to roughly 14mbit h.264 (most 720 and a majority of 1080p rips) - to PS3. C2D of just about anything is powerful enough.

Yes as I said it works fine with the PS3 but he has an XBOX. PS3 media server uses up more cpu power transcoding a bluray rip to the xbox than it does the PS3. Maybe it took a different codec to get it to work. I didn't bother keeping track of which ones worked on which console.

http://www.homemultimedianetwork.co...m-media-to-an-Xbox-using-PS3-Media-Server.php

 

[Informant X]

So that kinda sucks. There is no way to play an encrypted movie recorded on one PC on another? Are there any media extenders or something I can buy?

 

[Plugers]

So that kinda sucks. There is no way to play an encrypted movie recorded on one PC on another? Are there any media extenders or something I can buy?

As far as extenders go, yes. You can use a Xbox360 as an extender, or get a DMA2100/2200 on ebay. Ceton is coming out with a new extender also.

You can watch recorded encrypted shows on any extender.

 

[Informant X]

Ugh, ugly. Was hoping for something more minimal. Guess extenders are hardware, not software huh? Meaning there isn't something I can install software/hardware wise into the PC rather than buying a seperate device.

 

[Plugers]

Unfortunately no. It looks like MS was working on a software extender in the past, but shelved it at some point.

 

[frowertr]

Ugh, ugly. Was hoping for something more minimal. Guess extenders are hardware, not software huh? Meaning there isn't something I can install software/hardware wise into the PC rather than buying a seperate device.

Nope. No software extenders available for WMC.

I honestly can't wait for these Echo and "Q" devices. I have been wanting something like this for a long time. To be able to dismantle Sage and move to a newer supported hardware configuration that has a future really gets me excited.