Topic 'Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?' in forum 'W.O.W.' - dslreports.com

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 07:49:00 EDT

adam1991 posted : Oh yeah, you can do that.

I like browsing the web now and then, doing YouTube and the like, and of course I like the Netflix capability. With XBox, you pay extra for that--or else have a separate box to do Netflix (optical player or Roku or whatever).

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 21:24:40 EDT

NuclearXP posted : Yes server would be headless. Two 360 extenders and one echo. As long as we can schedule individual and series recordings and play them back we will be happy

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 20:18:48 EDT

adam1991 posted : Well, I use my own cable modem and the cableCARD rental is only $3/month.

My family has never expressed any issues using the extender UI for TV.

Were you thinking of not hooking your DVR/movie server up to the TV, but instead using solely extenders? I wouldn't do that, myself. There's flexibility available at the DVR that isn't passed through to the extender.

BUT: I will know more once the Ceton Echo is in my hands. We're all hoping some of those limitations disappear with the Echo. Head to thegreenbutton.tv and join in the discussions.

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 15:27:41 EDT

NuclearXP posted : Adam do you have any further input? I'm looking to do the same with a central server as the TV tuner/dvr/movie server.

I have a large movie library that makes movie browsing a bit pokey. I'm a bit apprehensive that the girls won't like the xbox-extender UI for TV browsing and recording. On the bright side, I was able to stream a blu-ray rip wirelessly so I have that covered.

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Sat, 08 Sep 2012 07:59:27 EDT

adam1991 posted : I've been running the Ceton tuner card for 18 months now, ever since the end of analog here in Columbus.

I like it a lot. I spent the money up front to build the PC and buy the tuner and a couple of XBoxes to uses as extenders, but don't regret it one bit.

Think of the Q/Echo as a TIVO alternative.

I'll be beta testing the Echo here in a few weeks. Although, I've gotten used to the XBox having an optical drive, because I still use actual DVDs.

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 20:01:52 EDT

Gremzor posted : I can confirm you do indeed get a $7 credit if you don't rent any boxes from WoW. I am running an HTPC I built with an infiniTV 4, and SB6121. You can actually dedicate one (or more) of the tuners on the infiniTV to another computer on the network and watch TV with out an extender. As far as I know it is just basic functionality though, I don't think you can watch shows recorded on the main PC.

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 10:38:51 EDT

qbwaggle posted :

said by NuclearXP:

Another thought I'm pondering is just what benefits the Q offers over just buying a PCI-E adapter and running your video services through a PC? I have a very fast server I could just leave on to serve up TV to my XBOXes and tons of server disks to record content to. This would even facilitate leaving my DLNA server on all the time that runs on the same server anyway. So I guess to re-ask the question, what does the Q get over a MediaPC setup? Different menu? Search? Anything scheudling related? I think internet TV is a moot feature because TVersity/PlayON could serve up the same content now that a MediaPC is an option.

Others have already answered, but here's my take:

Advantages of Ceton Q over PC w/ PCIe tuner
- Less complex setup (plug-n-play)
- Blu-ray integration (I don't think you could natively play BD from WMC... I could be wrong)
- Probably lower power / quieter ... won't know until it's released
- Looks nicer in your entertainment center
- 6 tuners (InfiniTV PCIe tuner only has 4 tuners)

Advantages of PC w/ PCIe tuner over Ceton Q
- Potentially more "hackable" to add more features/plugins/codec support/etc
- Cheaper (especially if you already have a server or spare PC)

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 15:49:53 EDT

Jim Kirk posted :

said by NuclearXP:

The advantage of the Q over building your own machine comes down to how much you want to mess with it. The Q is more akin to a cable box than a PC, from a hardware standpoint. It still runs Windows Media Center and everything that goes with it, but you have something that is supported by one vendor. I'm hoping they'll have Netflix, Hulu, etc. clients included as well, but nothing has been said in that regard yet.

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 15:41:59 EDT

Jim Kirk posted : I've been using WOW with a Ceton card for a few months now (and for over a year with Insight before that). Everything has been working fine. Never had any issues, aside from the occasional picture breakup.

WOW marks its channels Copy Freely, so you can watch the recordings on any PC running Windows 7 (and maybe Vista / XP) by just opening the file in Windows Media Player. You can also use the Media Center Extender functionality in the XBox 360, if you'd rather go that route.

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 14:00:27 EDT

alan92rttt posted : I'd pull the ultra videos with the analog HD output from ultra.

The advantages are probably power usage as its probably a RISC based system so it will run cooler and use less power then a PC. It looks like its a DVR that players can connect to so you would have it in the living room and player(s) elsewhere in the house. If it acts as a good DNLA client that would be nice. My blu-ray player is a DNLA client but anything that’s not a MPG needs to be re-encoded and that kills performance.

Roll your own Media systems can be more complex for users that are not as "tech" oriented. I used to have a media PC and prior to HD I has a Media PC and went through several software/hardware setups. Some of them were easy to use but twitchy7 others did not pass the wife test.

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 13:38:29 EDT

NuclearXP posted : Alan - good question, hopefully someone can answer that, although I'm pretty sure they encrypt that and use some sort of HDMI check to ensure you're not copying it. Also, I'm a bit unsure how you'd get an HDMI output from your UltraTV gateway/player into a PC?

Another thought I'm pondering is just what benefits the Q offers over just buying a PCI-E adapter and running your video services through a PC? I have a very fast server I could just leave on to serve up TV to my XBOXes and tons of server disks to record content to. This would even facilitate leaving my DLNA server on all the time that runs on the same server anyway. So I guess to re-ask the question, what does the Q get over a MediaPC setup? Different menu? Search? Anything scheudling related? I think internet TV is a moot feature because TVersity/PlayON could serve up the same content now that a MediaPC is an option.

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 10:18:01 EDT

alan92rttt posted : While the Q looks interesting its just a vapor product for now. I've seen reports saying it won't be available till sometime next year.

It does look nice and it will be worth taking a look at once its released. For me an important feature would be the ability to record from a direct HD analog feed(copy recorded content from the ultra system) and saving to a format that I can easily copy to a home PC.

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 09:31:00 EDT

qbwaggle posted : CableCard is $3.50 /mo. and it's possible that you might get a $7/mo. credit for not using any WOW! equipment. Check with WOW! though.

I really like the Ceton solution. Firstly, I already have a server PC that is on 24 hrs/day that I could install a $200 Ceton InfiniTV PCIe card instead of the Ceton Q (I've seen the InfiniTV as low as $175 too). This helps reduce the payback period to about 1 year. I'm guessing the Ceton Echo will come down from $180 pretty quickly too, if you can hold off a few months.

The one concern I have is the Ceton solution is based on Microsoft Windows Media Center. Since Ceton does not have full access to the software backbone of their system, I wonder how quickly bugs/issues will be fixed (if at all). Couple that with the fact that Microsoft seems to have abandoned Windows Media Center to a certain degree, and I worry that down the road we'll be left with a pile of unsupported hardware and software. But I suppose if the payback period is only 1 year then it's worth the risk.

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 21:01:47 EDT

anon posted :

said by NuclearXP:

Edit: According to this: »www.cetoncorp.com/support/index.···-content due to the nature of CableCards, VOD and pay-per-view looks doubtful.

PPV absolutely works, but it's a little tricky. Normally, you'd use your guide and buy it, but since you don't have a guide (remember, Cablecards can't talk about to WOW, only receive data), you need to call in the order. As long as the representative you get has their head screwed on straight, they'll order the program and authorize the Cabelcard, and you're good to go. I order a lot of UFC PPVs, and have problem done 15-20 since having gotten the Cablecard.

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 18:13:46 EDT

anon posted :

said by stet:

There is a lot of past season TV shows on it that she catches up on which are not currently airing so we can't record them with the DVR.

I hope she doesn't run in to a missing episode. Happens all the time, there will be episode 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 etc. (no episode 4 or 6). It may show up or it may not. I've wasted several phone calls trying to get WOW to understand this problem only to be told they use a third party for VOD so they have no control over it. Huh?

The one I particularly remember is the last episode of the first season of Boardwalk Empire took several weeks to show up. At least it did, there's plenty that never do. HBO specifically says "the program you have just seen will be available on demand starting tomorrow". With WOW it may take weeks. I know this issue doesn't happen with Comcast's VOD.

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 15:18:33 EDT

mogamer posted :

said by stet:

said by mogamer:

With six tuners and enough HDD space, who needs VOD? You can record everything you would want to watch. You can always rent from Amazon, iTunes or Vudu for the new releases.

We have 6 tuners now with Ultra TV and my wife still spends about half of her TV time watching VOD. There is a lot of past season TV shows on it that she catches up on which are not currently airing so we can't record them with the DVR. And I'm not a fan of having to subscribe to Netflix or other pay/month service for this.

Because of this I really wish that WOW had more HD VOD.

Also, it is because of this that I had to give up Dish for WOW in the first place when she moved in.

So unfortunately for me, no VOD means I can't consider it.

How far back does WOW! VOD go for series episodes. I can't imagine more than a year or so. I've noticed with my mom's WOW! stb, that there are a lot of newer movies available. With Netflix you can go back all the way to the start of the series.

I currently have Dish for my tv service and Netflix is well worth that extra $8 per month. A less expensive option than going up a tier or going with a provider who has a lot of VOD (Comcast or UVerse for example).

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 15:00:42 EDT

sparkydm posted : I don't think my troops have really dove into VOD yet. I'm praying that they don't! Can it be blocked? :)

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 14:03:23 EDT

stet posted :

said by mogamer:

With six tuners and enough HDD space, who needs VOD? You can record everything you would want to watch. You can always rent from Amazon, iTunes or Vudu for the new releases.

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 12:44:27 EDT

NuclearXP posted : FWIW: It looks to me, that you can use the central tuner (the "Q") as one of your display devices, so that may mean even less need for an extender (xbox/Echo).

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 10:43:04 EDT

sparkydm posted : I've been with WOW a long time. I've also never watched a VOD program so, no great loss there!

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 09:40:00 EDT

NuclearXP posted : I'd like to start a rolling list of pros/cons so others can make an educated decision. I'm really starting to lean towards this option due to the cost/disappointing performance of the vendor supplied hardware. It would be nice if another user from here could jump on-board early so we could work together to iron out any kinks.

ANyway, here is a start:

Pros
- Assuming you rent WOW Gateway, 2 extenders @ $25/mo + 1 more @ $15/mo, and you will replace that with Ceton Q @ ~$600 + 2x $180 Echos, your equipment will pay for itself in 2 years.
- XBOXes can serve as extenders negating buying add'l extenders
- 2TB DVR drive vs. 500GB
- What appears to be significantly better UI and search
- Given the cablecard connectivity, you should be able to switch cable providers and still keep all functionality
- Mobile apps for watching/scheduling content
- Provides internet video services, web browser etc.
- The children at WOW that don't understand networking will stop telling you running your own wireless AP to replace the garbage Arris packaged into theirs is unsupported.

Cons
- Will need to rent CableCard (~$4/mo) + rent/buy a modem. (Supposed supported modems: Motorola 6120/6121 and the 6580).
- Loss of WOW support (if you call this a con - as their best tech support is WOW_Dan patrolling this forum).
- Loss of VOD? Does anyone care with the liteny of other VOD services the Ceton would probably offer (Amazon, netflix, Hulu etc). Edit 2: according to various member testimony, VOD (PayPerView?) should still work, except you will need to phone WOW ahead to make the purchase, then tune into the channel yourself to watch your programming.

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 09:17:45 EDT

sparkydm posted : A surprising number of people don't even know it's possible! They are busy and would prefer one-stop shopping. They would prefer someone package it for them. For people who are time poor, decisions are made. For those who don't know other options exist, they aren't even looking.

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 08:50:01 EDT

mogamer posted :

said by NuclearXP:

I wonder if Dan has a good reason why we would continue paying WOW for equipment rentals?

I can tell you why, it's because most people are cheap and lazy. They would rather pay a monthly rental fee instead of paying upfront for equipment and they don't want to set-up a pc-based dvr system.

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 08:45:10 EDT

mogamer posted :

said by stet:

Can you watch VOD with it?

With six tuners and enough HDD space, who needs VOD? You can record everything you would want to watch. You can always rent from Amazon, iTunes or Vudu for the new releases.

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 08:32:10 EDT

sparkydm posted : Thanks for the update. Apparently, starting to be like cell phones with the updates. I wonder when they'll all start suing each other. I think it's hilarious that a company built on others ideas sues someone because they think one of theirs was jacked! Hopefully, nothing gets in the way of this progress.

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 08:13:15 EDT

anon posted : I'm waiting until after E3 in May of next year when Microsoft will be releasing details of the next generation Xbox that's supposed to launch by the end of 2013. Leaked documents, that Microsoft later had pulled, showed that the next Xbox is supposed to have whole-home-DVR capabilities built into it. They may be licensing something from Ceton, or building their own. I'm guessing that the next Xbox is going to have multiple SKUs like the previous one when it launched. There are rumors that there will be a cheap version that will only have home media portal functions, a mid-range version that has game capabilities, blu-ray drive, and a large hard drive, and then the top of the line box that will have everything and include the whole-home-dvr stuff.

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 08:05:37 EDT

sparkydm posted : Will we have to supply our own modem using the Ceton? I don't see any mention of one being part of the Q. I'd prefer using my own modem and router. After weeks of tinkering and lots of help on this forum I got my E4200 working. Hopefully, it will keep working. :)

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 07:52:16 EDT

sparkydm posted : I'm giving it some thought. It would keep me from buying a 3TB hard drive, $230, and WOW charges $25/mth to rent the gateway on ultra. Then, $15/mth for my daughter to rent a box when she already has an xbox.

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 07:04:39 EDT

anon posted : Ceton's InfiniTV hardware was great from the get-go, so I've got to assume that this will be as advertised too. The only problem you might run into is limited hardware, which seems to be about the only issue Ceton has ever faced.

Re: Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 05:47:39 EDT

stet posted : Can you watch VOD with it?
--
01011001

Anyone ditching WOW Ultra TV equip. for Ceton?

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 20:46:57 EDT

NuclearXP posted : Is anyone thinking about ditching their WOW provided equipment once Ceton releases the Q? Assuming it costs $500-$600 and I already have 2 xboxes, I'd only need 1 $180 extender. Doing that I'd drop $40mo in fees but add back $8.50 in cable card and modem rental so my situation the equipment would pay for itself in 1.8 years and I could always switch providers. I wonder if Dan has a good reason why we would continue paying WOW for equipment rentals?

I'm also curious what everyone thinks of the equipment itself. Seems the UI blows away Arris's, you can watch Netflix, 2TB dvr drive. It doesn't seem close to me. I think as long as I can use my boxes as extenders without missing any features of the ex tenders it'll be a no brainer for me.