SageTV HD Extender Update

[valnar]

Originally Posted by lfilomeno

O.k. I do agree with everyone who said tht many mini-itx board will fail to render HD. I am building my homebrew extender out of an embedded System board from Portwell. (here is the one I am using:http://www.portwell.com/products/det...R1=PEB-2731VLA ) it is for SD rendering. It has a low voltage Celeron processor and it will be attached to a projector or a flat screen TV via VGA. It is a very small, ECX (Embedded Compact Extended Technology) form factor board. Believe me , it is small and silent and should do the trick. In case the HD bug bites the wife, then I am considering building a box based on the Jetway NC62K mobo. It does handle HD but you have to use a series of tricky heat sinks to make it totally silent. I like the board but don't have/order it. The Portwell's PEB-2731 is just waiting to be activated. It is on my little cobbyhole I call a home-office. More later.

OK, no HD. That makes sense then. Thanks!

[paulbeers]

Originally Posted by lfilomeno

O.k. I do agree with everyone who said tht many mini-itx board will fail to render HD. I am building my homebrew extender out of an embedded System board from Portwell. (here is the one I am using:http://www.portwell.com/products/det...R1=PEB-2731VLA ) it is for SD rendering. It has a low voltage Celeron processor and it will be attached to a projector or a flat screen TV via VGA. It is a very small, ECX (Embedded Compact Extended Technology) form factor board. Believe me , it is small and silent and should do the trick. In case the HD bug bites the wife, then I am considering building a box based on the Jetway NC62K mobo. It does handle HD but you have to use a series of tricky heat sinks to make it totally silent. I like the board but don't have/order it. The Portwell's PEB-2731 is just waiting to be activated. It is on my little cobbyhole I call a home-office. More later.

Seems to me, if you are going to the trouble of building an SD only client, why not just order a Hauppauge MediaMVP? Then if the HD bug ever bites you, the server can transcode the HD content to a level the MediaMVP can handle....with the above you don't have that even as an option. You litterally would have to scrap it. For only 80 bucks from Newegg, seems like a better choice......

Just my .02 worth.

[bigbill]

Originally Posted by gplasky

Yes it has been validated. With KillaWatt and other tools. And it's actually between 6-8 watts.

Gerry

I sure hope Frey brought in enought of these so they aren't gone in a few days. It sounds like the perfect device..

[mistergq]

my advice, when they become available, don't think twice, forgo the mortgage or rent...eat Mac and Cheese for the rest of the month...tell the kids Christmas came early...and buy a couple of these!

[lfilomeno]

The MediaMVP is an option I didi not contemplete since I like to build PC stuff but sincerely, if they are available, i might buy one and use it! I will search for the mediaMVP to learn more about it. Thanks for the suggestion.

[lfilomeno]

By the way, I am assuming that I can purchase a wireless model and should work fine for SD, right? The SageTV manual mentions that you can use the MediaMVP for videos, music, and pictures. How about live tv? Thanks in advance for your response.

[valnar]

FYI. I don't think the video quality of the MediaMVP is very good. Others have differing opinions. You can get better quality with a PC, but of course it takes more tweaking. The HD extender quality is top notch - if only they were still available.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by lfilomeno

By the way, I am assuming that I can purchase a wireless model and should work fine for SD, right?

I wouldn't assume that, wireless seems to be very hit-or-miss. SageTV stopped selling the wireless models, presumably because they were too "hit or miss".

[rubell]

So is this the new extender?

STPHD200

I don't really understand from the description if this works like the HD100 or not. It shows a screenshot of the "SageTV Servers" option, so maybe?

[chrisc983]

Not sure if its been posted yet but does anyone know anything about the new media extender HD200. I just ordered it before it goes out of stock but more info on it would be great.

[toricred]

Where did you see this new device?

[rubell]

in the sagetv store of course! i've already ordered 2. hopefully its what i think it is.

[chrisc983]

its on SageTV homepage. I ordered one I wanted two at least but Black Friday took all my money already.

[rubell]

haha. i just did the same thing and put in an order for 2. seems like it may just have popped on there. hope this is what we've been waiting for!

[chrisc983]

yeah same here. I kinda like the older design though but as long as it works just as good as the previous one or even better. I just finished upgrading my SageTV server to 6.4.8 so it ready for the extender.

[popechild]

1080p is good. But does this thing work the same way as the old one I wonder? I'm looking at this screenshot from the webstore and wondering what it means. Does it still use STVs, or do I have to use that ugly interface all the time? (And the box itself isn't really a thing of beauty, even compared to the HD100). Maybe I'll be able to pick up a used HD100 for cheap from an upgrader. If 1080p's the only "new" feature, I don't really have a need for it right now.

[peternm22]

From the pictures of the new extender we can determine:

-Much smaller footprint than the HD100
-No more control buttons on the front of the unit
-1 USB port has been moved to the back (maybe they will have a use for it now)
-Power cord is no longer attached to the unit

From the specs of the unit, it appears to be running the same guts as before (I don't see any new features).

[bug1124]

I hope this is it, I ordered two just in case.

[Apap]

I just jumped on this.
No more screwing with clients.

[evilpenguin]

From that description it sounds like this one will function without a sagetv server. That would address the biggest complaint from reviewers who didn't get what the orig extend was intended for. That screenshot looks like it's from the extended bootup menu.