HD200 vs. Popcorn Hour A-100

[Beefcake550]

stanger89:
I've read the same comment by Narflex a few weeks back. While I hope it happens, I made the choice to not wait. Given that, it's coming in a beta firmware this afternoon.

Heck if it comes soon, and it works well, I can then ebay the A-110.

-B

[emveepee]

Does the HD200 do Internet Radio in standalone mode? The PCH's do Shoutcast style mp3 and aac+, and a few windows media streams, but it is not pretty and I was going to write a standalone player. If SageTV does this well, I might save myself some time.

Martin

[Brent]

Originally Posted by emveepee

Does the HD200 do Internet Radio in standalone mode? The PCH's do Shoutcast style mp3 and aac+, and a few windows media streams, but it is not pretty and I was going to write a standalone player. If SageTV does this well, I might save myself some time.
Martin

No internet radio on the HD200 or HD100 yet at least. We're getting Hulu in SageTV (including the extenders) soon according to the news from CES so internet radio such as pandora and shoutcast; and Amazon Unbox and Netflix Watch Now seem to be a great next step Here's me wishing at least....

[emveepee]

Originally Posted by Brent

No internet radio on the HD200 or HD100 yet at least. We're getting Hulu in SageTV (including the extenders) soon according to the news from CES so internet radio such as pandora and shoutcast; and Amazon Unbox and Netflix Watch Now seem to be a great next step Here's me wishing at least....

Thanks Brent, I really wanted a reason to buy one. I could do it via TVersity or another UPnP service I suppose, but that isn't what I am looking for

And while nice for the most users I suppose, almost all of these new internet services are of zero value here in Canada.

Martin

[stanger89]

For internet music (for any music really) I'd just get a Squeezebox.

[topperdude]

Originally Posted by Brent

No internet radio on the HD200 or HD100 yet at least. We're getting Hulu in SageTV (including the extenders) soon according to the news from CES so internet radio such as pandora and shoutcast; and Amazon Unbox and Netflix Watch Now seem to be a great next step Here's me wishing at least....

I wonder if there might be an additional charge for this functionality?

Thoughts?

Thanks,
-Topper

[Brent]

Originally Posted by stanger89

For internet music (for any music really) I'd just get a Squeezebox.

You can get a squeezebox receiver for what, $150 each? What I think would be a very nice addition to the HD200 or comparable future device would be to add squeezebox capability in to the device. Basically all they would have to do is build in the "slimdevices receiver" capability. Do that and you could run slimserver on your HTPC server, control it via a iPhone, iPod Touch or Squeezebox remote. And you could have the TV on or off depending on your preference.

Possible?

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by topperdude

I wonder if there might be an additional charge for this functionality?

Thoughts?

My best guess would be no, for standalone mode on the HD200, if there's any charge it would probably only be in the form of an upgrade fee for SageTV 7, as it would be possible that they'd push new online functionality into that.

But that's just a guess. I seriously doubt there'd be a service fee, or any fee at all if they put it in Sage 6.5.

Originally Posted by Brent

You can get a squeezebox receiver for what, $150 each? What I think would be a very nice addition to the HD200 or comparable future device would be to add squeezebox capability in to the device. Basically all they would have to do is build in the "slimdevices receiver" capability. Do that and you could run slimserver on your HTPC server, control it via a iPhone, iPod Touch or Squeezebox remote. And you could have the TV on or off depending on your preference.

Possible?

Doesn't someone have a Squeezebox client? My understanding is a Squeezebox controller can control any Squeezebox client. I just always come back to there needing to be some display other than a TV for any sort of music device.

[Brent]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Doesn't someone have a Squeezebox client? My understanding is a Squeezebox controller can control any Squeezebox client.

Yes, one that works on SageTV, but not extenders yet at least.

I just always come back to there needing to be some display other than a TV for any sort of music device.

Why would you need to use a TV? Check out the Squeezebox Client. I would envision using the HD200 with software like that on the squeezebox client connected to a receiver. Use a remote control or iPhone/iPod Touch to control it and browse the music selection.

What would be even nicer is to include the ability to "sync" playback of two or more HD200s. Do this with music and/or video and you would have yourself a very, very popular device imo. You could even add a HD250 (mythical device) with a LCD screen on the front for a slightly higher fee to show the playback track information

[emveepee]

Originally Posted by stanger89

For internet music (for any music really) I'd just get a Squeezebox.

I had one but I considered it overpriced for what it did plus, since this is the standalone thread, the server has grown too fat, I used to run mine from an nslu2. I remain underwhelmed by the 70's era 2 line interface. However the Squeezebox does have it's fans, and in the Popcorn Hour world someone has gone as far as writing a front end that runs on the PCH's monitor that controls audio playing from a Squeezebox.

I do think any standalone networked media extender needs to be able to play Internet Radio to stay competitive. Why should anyone need and audio and a video device in 2009? (okay I probably have 10 extenders but still)

Martin

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by Brent

Why would you need to use a TV? Check out the Squeezebox Client.

I said "other than" a TV Since the HD200 currently needs a TV.

I would envision using the HD200 with software like that on the squeezebox client connected to a receiver. Use a remote control or iPhone/iPod Touch to control it and browse the music selection.

Yeah, it would be rather nice if you could control it like that.

[Destro]

Something that has surpassed the HD200 and A100 in some ways already is Boxee, which can run on the AppleTV hardware (plus Linux, Mac, and soon Windows). I have the HD100 and have been following Boxee as a long-time fan of XBMC, which it is based on.

It has been able to play Hulu, CBS, and other online content for a couple of months now, and also can play Netflix (not on the AppleTV yet)

http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Hack_You..._TV_With_Boxee

On their blog, they are talking about building their own hardware box...

[Brent]

Originally Posted by Destro

Something that has surpassed the HD200 and A100 in some ways already is Boxee, which can run on the AppleTV hardware (plus Linux, Mac, and soon Windows).

Boxee is definitely cool when it comes to online content. But it is extremely lacking in most areas in my opinion. I'm beta testing the windows version currently and it is pretty weak when it comes to performance and stability. And no PVR functionality makes it nothing more than a toy for me...

Try to play HD content on that AppleTV and see how well it does. Still, it will be great when SageTV gets Hulu - I'd also like to see it get Netflix native support, Amazon Unbox and Pandora. But I wouldn't say that Hulu has surpassed the HD200 or A100 other than its ability to play back those online providers content.

[cat6man]

TrueHD/DTS-HD decoding

+1, that is a showstopper for me

hopefully it will come