what exactly is the hd100?

[rwc]

I've got a couple questions about the new HD extender--maybe somebody can help me?

1. Is the HD100 just a stripped down computer running sage (a small linux box, maybe?)? Or is it a completely hardware driven device?

2. I saw somewhere that people love that you don't have to configure codecs, etc. for it. Is this because there simply isn't anything better? Or is it, since it was created by Sage itself, it's a perfect match of video card & codec?

3. Would an HD extender look "better" on a SD tv than a regular mvp or client would?

thanks

rwc

[sleonard]

1. It's not a PC. It is a dedicated media playback device that runs Sage SW.

2. There simply isn't anything better!

3. Yes, most likely.

S

[Taddeusz]

3. Yes, the HD100 looks better than the MVP on an SDTV. That's how I'm running mine until I can get an HDTV.

[Mitch G]

I like to think of it as an ethernet-enabled video card where everything is done in hardware. (Somewhat of an over simplification, but it gets the point across that you don't need anything but the cheapest or on-boardest vga video capability on the server if using the HD100.)


Mitch

[bastafidli]

1. Pretty much yes. It is very specialized hardware running Linux that is able to communicate with server ad display/play any media the server running SageTV sends it.

But the other way to put it. I like to think about it as a little miracle since it is
1. small
2. nice looking
3. absolutely quiet (no fan)
4. usable within seconds by anybody who see it (we just have guests over who never saw anything like this but just picked up the remote while we were gone and enjoyed some movies)
5. playing almost everything I own (come on sage, how about adding support for TIFF and PhotoCD images)

[mrwolf]

It's a little box of goodness that has saved many marriages.

[drewg]

Originally Posted by rwc

1. Is the HD100 just a stripped down computer running sage (a small linux box, maybe?)? Or is it a completely hardware driven device?

It is a diskless ARM box running an embedded version of Linux. It is a "small linux box" in the same sense as a Linksys NAT box is.

Originally Posted by rwc

2. I saw somewhere that people love that you don't have to configure codecs, etc. for it. Is this because there simply isn't anything better? Or is it, since it was created by Sage itself, it's a perfect match of video card & codec?

It is using a video output chip which apparently supports most popular formats in hardware.

Drew

[DOS64K]

Originally Posted by mrwolf

It's a little box of goodness that has saved many marriages.

Can I get an AMEN!

[djseto]

Any one know when these things will be back in stock?

[dkemme]

May is the rumor.