| reply to Koil
Re: Homemade whole house dvr I have looked at those and the Ceton solutions. I currently have 2 double tuners in my box for a total of 2 digital and 2 analog at any given time. I currently just have a basic cable package no STB, so no need for cable cards yet either.
I beleive I will probably end up building a matx setup, I have found smaller boxes than the Xbox, and would be able to run full WMC from that location. I'm leaning this way due to offloading some network traffic on the LAN. If I'm running multiple hd feeds through the network, I could imagine computer traffic could also suffer. |
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robbinPremium,MVM
join:2000-09-21
Leander, TX
kudos:1 | said by sancraig: I'm leaning this way due to offloading some network traffic on the LAN. If I'm running multiple hd feeds through the network, I could imagine computer traffic could also suffer. I don't think it amounts to that much. The new Ceton InfiniTV USB has four tuners and works well over USB 2.0 which is about 12Mbps. I don't understand how putting a Windows microPC at every location solves the issue. Can you give more details on integrating everything into a whole house DVR system? |
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| Well instead of extenders at every location I could set up mini htpc's at each all operating independently. I had read some HD streams could be as high as 45Mbs streaming. How many concurrent streams could I have till my Gig network is overwhelmed?
Then I thought about better switches with QOS but that starts to get costly. For the same $300.00 for the xbox slim, I can put together an I3 2100 rig with more functions. I also got a chance to hear my nephews slim and its louder than my current Htpc.
I am open to ideas I have been reading for what seems like days on this. |
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arobertiSarcastic? Me? NeverPremium
join:2000-12-21
Norwalk, CT | reply to sancraig
The USB Ceton tuner has a bug that affects some people (I'm one of them) where it'll crash/reboot itself and Windows will lose the tuner. You're probably better off holding off on that particular device until they've released a firmware/driver update to solve that issue.
The SD network device is interesting. The problem, in my mind, is that you can't reserve tuners. In other words, you share out 3 tuners. You have 3 devices watching live TV and one of those devices was scheduled to record a program or two. Because your tuners were all in use, your show won't record.
The Ceton PCIe card is the best of both worlds in my opinion. It has a low-profile bracket if that helps fit in your case. It allows you to share out tuners over your LAN for other WMC PCs, but at the same time allows you to reserve a tuner or tuners for the host device to avoid the issue I mentioned above. |
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IanR
join:2001-03-22
Madison, NJ | reply to Koil
I recently purchased SD's HDHomerun Prime and connected to my router. It works well with it's own software and a multi-stream CableCard. Each PC attached to the network can be enabled to receive the programming by simply downloading and activating SD's software. However I have now installed the full WindowsMediaCenter and I can see the electronic guide and rwecorded programs through my XBox.
Seems to be running very smoothly. I am impressed. |
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 darciliciousCyber LibrarianPremium
join:2001-01-02
Forest Grove, OR
kudos:1
 ·Frontier FiOS
| reply to aroberti
said by aroberti:twork device is interesting. The problem, in my mind, is that you can't reserve tuners. In other words, you share out 3 tuners. You have 3 devices watching live TV and one of those devices was scheduled to record a program or two. Because your tuners were all in use, your show won't record.
Sounds like a software limitation; on SageTV for example I get prompted about changing the channel or not about 5 minutes before the recording is scheduled to start... |
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robbinPremium,MVM
join:2000-09-21
Leander, TX
kudos:1
1 edit | I don't know if I would simplify it to that level. I think it may have to do with how they handle (and got approved for) the DRM rules. In any case, there is a definite difference in how the SD product and the Ceton product work and how they allocate tuners. It was an important factor in my purchase decision of a Ceton product. |
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robbinPremium,MVM
join:2000-09-21
Leander, TX
kudos:1
1 edit | reply to sancraig
said by sancraig:Well instead of extenders at every location I could set up mini htpc's at each all operating independently. I had read some HD streams could be as high as 45Mbs streaming. How many concurrent streams could I have till my Gig network is overwhelmed?
Then I thought about better switches with QOS but that starts to get costly. For the same $300.00 for the xbox slim, I can put together an I3 2100 rig with more functions. I also got a chance to hear my nephews slim and its louder than my current Htpc.
I am open to ideas I have been reading for what seems like days on this.
OK -- lets start with the slim. The current price of a new 4Gb xBox 360 is $200, not $300. I am curious as to what you witnessed at your nephew's. Was he using the xBox as an extender or was he gaming? There is a major difference in noise depending on whether or not the DVD drive is being used. It is not needed for extender use. The only noise made when using as an extender is one computer fan. It is not very loud.
As to the mATX route, I fail to see how you can build such a pc, including Windows license, tuners, hard drive, etc., at every location for even the $300 you mention, much less $200.
HD streams @ 45 Mbps sound like Ble-Ray to me. You will not see anywhere near that streaming WMC to xBox. I believe the max is about 20 mbps for the MPEG-2 stream.
Still, having mini htpc's at every location does not solve the whole house DVR issue. I like a centralized computer with centralized storage which can be viewed anywhere in the house. You will not achieve that with your micro-computer solution at every TV. |
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| Hmmm maybe a game changer?
»www.engadget.com/2012/01/10/ceto···ands-on/
To answer your questions he was gaming.
Chip,board, memory and mini case w psu would run right at $300.00. I have a pc with win 7 I could retire to put it on new machine. Wouldn't need tuner It would extend from current htpc.
Bandwidth is the thing I'm not sure about just from skimming around picking up numbers here and there. Would love to see some real world saturation numbers. |
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Reviews:
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| That's an awesome looking solution! If they don't price it out of reach I think they'll have a hit on their hands. It could mean real trouble for TiVo and their "bill-you-for-life" business model... 
I'll be watching for more details on this device! |
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