Jun 05 2013

Review - Ceton infiniTV6 Ethernet

By Andrew Van Til

When it comes to Digital Cable Tuners (DCT), time has been extremely generous to the home theater PC (HTPC) enthusiast. What was once $200 per tuner is now just $50. With multiple options for connection and tuner count per device available, the market appeared complete, though obviously it was not with Ceton still holding an additional card to play - the $299 six(!) tuner infiniTV6. While Ceton cannot claim to be the first to put six tuners into a single chassis, they are the only ones to do it with a single Multi-stream CableCARD (M-CARD) – marking the realization on the technologies’ full potential and saving users some coin by reducing the number of M-CARDs required to push past four tuners. With the PCIe variant still “coming soon,” we examine the [much more interesting] Ethernet model--Ceton’s first native network-attached CableCARD tuner. 

Jun 03 2013

News - Asus Announces VivoPC home theater at Computex

By Kyle Button

Asus announces a New VivoPC home theater PC for use connected to your TV. They are claiming it can double as your main PC. They don't say much what hardware is in the machine, but they say it has the new 802.11ac standard wireless for HD streaming over wireless. It does have Windows 8 with fully upgradable hard drive and memory with easy access. They are also throwing in Asus SonicMaster Audio into this mini PC. Anyone interested?

ASUS just announced the VivoPC, a compact Windows 8-based home theater PC that can also double as your primary desktop. It'll let you stream HD video via a newfangled 802.11ac WiFi connection

Engadget

Jun 03 2013

Blog - Ceton Echo vs Microsoft Xbox 360...A Blogger's Perspective

By JeffLeppard

Since the Ceton Echo came out last November, there has been a lot of comparison and pricing justification to see if it is a better alternative than the Xbox360 or previous extenders. Through my experience with both in the last 4 months, I would like to give you my experience of the two from a consumer point of view. I myself already owned the Xbox 360 and it was O-K. I had a previous SageTV HD 200 extender and that was and still is the best extender I had ever used. My reasons for buying the Echo was to have a better user experience, to have a second extender and to have the possibility of Netflix and other streaming video apps in one device. Yes, their proposed future technology was an influence. If it worked well enough, I wanted to take my HTPC box, put it somewhere in the house that was out of sight and out of mind and have it all be ran by extenders. My set-up currently includes a gutted Acer computer sitting in an Nmedia box that has an AMD Athlon dual core 3.2 processor, 4 gigs DDR2 ram, Nvidia GT430, InfiniTV4 PCI, LG blu-ray/HD-DVD drive with a clean Windows 7 install 32 bit. Everything is wired directly to the LAN with CAT 5 or higher through a Verizon Fios Gigabite router using 50/25 gbps.

First off, my needs for a true media center extender involves TV tuner cards with DVR ability with the addition of being able to stream your movies, music, pictures and videos. Now, the reason that I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the Xbox-360 was that it can be a bit sluggish. It did not play main stream media such as VIDEO_TS, MKV’s and other similar containers.  It wouldn’t fast forward or rewind unless it is in a Windows Media format and I would have to pay $60 a year for a Live Gold membership so that I can watch YouTube, Netflix or VUDU on it.

Jun 01 2013

Review - Intel Core i7-4770K (Haswell) / Intel DZ87KLT-75K and Intel DH87RL Motherboard - First Look

By Andrew Van Til

For home theater PC (HTPC) enthusiasts, the 4th generation Intel Core “Haswell” family of processors has been greatly anticipated. Expectations have been set both for its GPU performance, and that the long-standing issue with refresh rate accuracy will finally be put to rest. Unfortunately time with the new integrated processor graphics (IPG) was limited to just a few hours, but a significant amount of information was gleaned in the available window, with the high-end Intel Core i7-4770K and two Intel motherboards, the DZ87KLT-75K and DH87RL, provided for testing. Of course, because this is a desktop IPG “high-end” speaks only to the CPU half of the chip. Unlike previous generations, Intel’s GPU breakdown is much more complex this time around with the high-end “Iris” graphics not available on the i7-4770K; it provides only Intel HD 4600 graphics. This will limit our ability to truly examine how far 4th generation graphics have come, hopefully something that can be addressed at a later point as the lineup widens. Now let’s get into our first look.

May 31 2013

News - Are you having trouble logging in?

By Mike Garcen

We've heard some complaints that the password reset function is having some issues we're working on. In the meantime, if anyone is having trouble logging into the site, please e-mail me directly and I'll manually reset your password. Sorry for the inconvenience

My address is mike (at) missingremote.com

May 30 2013

Blog - Phoenix 2 for Sage TV Now Available!

By Daniel Schoerner

While SageTV may have been acquired by Google, this has not put much of a damper on a very active user development community. New tools and plugins are still being released for SageTV all the time. The latest new release is Phoenix 2, a sleek, streamlined, and very responsive new user interface that takes advantage of the existing metadata and fan art features provided by the Phoenix APIs while still allowing the ability to build custom content libraries using your own filters.

Phoenix Landing Zone

May 28 2013

News - GIGABYTE Launches BRIX Mini-PC

By Andrew Van Til

GIGABYTE BRIX

As we march towards more efficient CPUs it is great to see OEMs taking advantage of the inherent capabilities to deliver smaller form factors. We saw it with Intel's NUC, where they provided a very cabable bare-bones HTPC, and now GIGABYTE has come out with something similar. I'm really happy to see more vendors/competition in this space.

Full PR after the click.

May 16 2013

News - Integra Announces DTR-30.5 - "First" AV Receiver with Built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth

By Andrew Van Til

While I wish that they would do more to officially embrace a position in orchestrating the home theater it is still interesting to see how AVR OEMs evolve their products. At least from Onkyo it appears to be the year of integrated Wi-Fi & Bluetooth - which is a nice get. I'm not that interested in their custom integrator (CI) targeted Integra line personally because I don't need the CI features (or the associated price tag), but it is a great signal of where the consumer line will end up so well worth some attention.

Full PR after the click.

May 16 2013

News - VidaBox LiivNAS Gets Rackmountable Dune Edition

By Andrew Van Til

VidaBox LiivNAS

When it comes to no-hassle media playback it's quite easy to recommend picking up one of Dune HD's media streamers. They provide a simple "just works" content experience, but there is still some work to do when it comes to unified file storage and delivering a rich, navigable UI. Which is where VidaBox comes in with the "LiivNAS: Dune Edition".

The rackmountable NAS's 500GB of storage is a bit limited out of the box, but as that's fixable we'll agree to look the other way when considering its support for bi-directional control with metadata and MyMovies integration. No word in the PR (after the click) on the hardware/software inside, so the $1700 price tag could be on the high side (although to be fair, not to the CI market), but if you'd rather not DIY - convenience is a feature worth paying for.

May 13 2013

Forum - InfiniTV 6 PCIe - InfiniTV 6 ETH

By Night Rider

InfiniTV 6 PCIe = $299

InfiniTV 6 PCIe is the most advanced internal cable TV tuner for the PC. With six tuners that require just one CableCARD™, InfiniTV 6 PCIe turns your desktop PC into a killer cable box and DVR. Never run out of tuners again when recording your favorite shows! If you want whole-home TV and DVR, simply pair your PC with one or more Ceton Echo media center extenders or an Xbox® 360 and enjoy live TV and DVR recordings on any TV set in any room. You can even start watching a show in one room, pause it and resume watching in another. Replace your expensive cable boxes and enjoy premium cable on TV sets throughout your home! With a Ceton InfiniTV your PC becomes that nirvana entertainment box you've always wanted. Have all your media -- TV, DVR, music, photos, videos and Internet media services -- available from one awesome device.

 

 

 

InfiniTV 6 ETH = $299

May 07 2013

News - Kwikset Announces Updated Connected Deadbolt

By Andrew Van Til

Kwikset Deadbolt #2

No Home Automation (HA) is really complete without connected deadbolts making it possible to manage access. Which is exactly why I have the original Kwikset Z-Wave locks in my home. Frankly, I'm a big fan and there's a lot to like about the locks, especially SmartKey which lets you re-key the locks whenever you want without involving a locksmith. There is one thing that I'm not in love with though; it doesn't have a full numeric keypad which dramatically decreases the number of possible codes. I'm sure that Kwikset heard this complaint from a few sources because they will be selling an updated version later this year which addresses it.

Unfortunately, there's no word on price yet (I did ask) so hopefully they keep it consistent with the current generation. Full PR after the click.

Apr 25 2013

News - HD Guru Reviews/Loves Panasonic TC-P65ST60

By Andrew Van Til

Panasonic's ST line of plasma display panels (PDP) usually win the cost/benefit valuation for HDTVs, but it looks like this year they also topped last year's best display. This is great news not just for 2013 ST buyers, but also hints at the good-things-to-come from the VT & ZT models.

Panasonic’s ST60 models fall smack in the middle of their 2013 plasma line. Below it are entry level models and above it, the VT60 and ZT60 lines with a new drive system and every Smart feature Panasonic offers. The ST60 series is packed with the latest Smart apps, streaming services, Skype video (with accessory camera sold separately) a new GUI “home screen”, 3D and oh, the best overall image of any HDTV we’ve ever reviewed.

HD Guru

Apr 24 2013

Review - Intel Next Unit of Computing - DC3217IYE

By Andrew Van Til

DC3217IYE

With a 17 watt integrated processor graphics (IPG) in a four-by-four inch chassis, Intel’s Next Unit of Computing (NUC) is of obvious interest to home theater PC (HTPC) enthusiasts. This footprint and low-power consumption, coupled with Intel HD 4000 graphics, promises to deliver an incredibly capable client system. It is small enough to hide away, or place discretely next to the other little-black-box content consumption devices; its laptop CPU doesn’t  make much fuss either. This does not come cheap however, with the commanding a $300 MSRP for what is essentially a “bare-bones” system. You will need to add RAM, an mSATA SSD, and, strangely, a power cable to make it go; let’s find out if it lives up to the potential or ends up just an expensive curiosity.

Apr 11 2013

News - Panasonic Prices 2013 Lineup, Crushes Dreams, Kills Puppies

By Andrew Van Til

OK, they didn't really kill any puppies (that I know of), but it certianly feels that way because they won't be building better plasma display panels than the 2013 crop. It's unclear what this means exactly - hopefully we'll still be able to buy them until OLED's production issues are sorted.

Update:

According to the HDGuru (who asked Panasonic), they aren't stopping PDP research. I'm confused.

 The bad news? While Panasonic's plasma manufacturing will continue, The Verge reports VP Kiyoshi Okamoto confirmed at the event that development has ceased on its plasma models, although some engineers have been shifted to work on OLED displays. We'll see if its recovery efforts and technological developments lead to new large-size OLEDs anytime soon, but for now it appears we're seeing the last of its efforts to push plasma technology forward.

Engadget

Apr 09 2013

Review - Yale Real Living Electronic Touch Screen Deadbolt with Z-Wave

By Andrew Van Til

Yale Real Living

Even those without a Home Automation (HA) system can appreciate the value in a keyless entry option for the home, but the real value for a lock like the Yale Real Living Electronic Touch Screen Deadbolt is realized by leveraging Z-Wave to integrate it in a HA system. After doing that, it unlocks a wide array of actions that simplify home security; offering features like: conditional access, short term key codes, and automated responses to lock and other device events. Other Z-Wave locks offer the same automation features, but the YRD220-ZW full numeric touch screen and excellent build quality set it apart. The additional features demand a premium versus competing devices; let’s find out if it is worth it.

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