new purchase help

[voipguy]

Hi,

I looked and read reviews. I think this is the unit for me. I am looking for a unit that will operate stand alone and my driver really is Internet based content and not local server or NAS based.

I wrote sales but did not get an answer. I'm hoping I can get some help here.

I'm assuming the HDMI output will play fine into the TV speakers but I can select the optical if I'm watching something with full surround and have it connected to my AV receiver. I understand it's HDMI 1.2 and not 1.3 but 5.1 surround is ok with me so that's not a problem. Do I have to go into the setup to turn on one audio output to use the other? Or will they both just work when needed.

Also, Hulu is big decision factor. Does this unit connect direct to Hulu as a client or do you need a separate PC running playon to connect to Hulu and this unit must stream through the PC's hulu client?

Thanks, in advance, to anyone offering help.
-voipguy

[Slack]

Originally Posted by voipguy

Hi,

Also, Hulu is big decision factor. Does this unit connect direct to Hulu as a client or do you need a separate PC running playon to connect to Hulu and this unit must stream through the PC's hulu client?

Thanks, in advance, to anyone offering help.
-voipguy

You will need a seperate PC running play-on.
and it is s-l-o-----w. unsupported, and might very well stop working all together if Hulu gets around to it. It's so bad I gave up on it (Hulu) completely. As an extender it is really a fantastic device.

A nice Hulu client it is not.

[voipguy]

Thanks for the honest reply. <BIG TEARS>

Where to now from here....

It appears to me, from reading web reviews, this unit offers more Internet content than any other player and that SageTV did a top notch job on their interface. Ignoring Hulu do you see more available to watch on the web, (free not Netflix, You Tube shorts, but older TV programs and maybe a movie) ? Or is my desire to watch Internet streams just plain unrealistic?

I have a good solid 6MB minimum down stream so getting it to me is not an issue. I use the Squeezebox for audio and have become very fond of music delivery from the web. I was hoping to do the same with Video.

Thanks again.
- voipguy

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by voipguy

Ignoring Hulu do you see more available to watch on the web, (free not Netflix, You Tube shorts, but older TV programs and maybe a movie) ?

Is there even a legal online source for older TV shows and movies, outside something like Hulu?

- Andy

[stanger89]

Anything Flash based is really just a non-starter these days with extenders or network media players. I don't think anyone has a particularly good "pc-less" solution for Flash. And from what I can gather, Flash is the "tool of choice" for pretty much all commercial content out there.

And maybe it's just me, but I haven't seen anything on the "free" internet video front worth getting excited about.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by Opus4

Is there even a legal online source for older TV shows and movies, outside something like Hulu?

- Andy

There are a few other streaming sites out there, but I think almost all of them use Flash if it's commercial content.

[voipguy]

What started all this was we find our viewing habits at home have changed. We will DVR shows on the local cable delivery and use cable for local news but find ourselves regularly watching Internet video streams.

My wife has a Win-7 laptop that she uses and I sit in from of my Mac. We are watching network TV and of course Hulu for some older shows and movies.

We actually find more to watch, when we want to watch it, on the streams verses what comes over cable just between the network web sites and Hulu.

That's what we hoped we would gain access to in a plug & play solution by buying the SageTV media player, or any of the others out there, verses connecting our TV to a possible messy DIY solution and PCs.

Thanks.
- voipguy

[alfi33]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Anything Flash based is really just a non-starter these days with extenders or network media players. I don't think anyone has a particularly good "pc-less" solution for Flash. And from what I can gather, Flash is the "tool of choice" for pretty much all commercial content out there.

Why does this have to be a show-stopper? Youtube is Flash and it's available on at least a few network media players.

[stanger89]

Maybe it's everyone else uses some sort of DRM on their Flash videos. I just know there's something different about the likes of Hulu vs YouTube.

[voipguy]

In response to the question above asking where can you get content I took a quick look and here's a quick short list.

I know all the network channels and of hulu since we use them regularly.

I was reading a manual I downloaded on the HDX 1000 and it lists what you will find in their menu. Ignoring their RSS, Photo and Audio sites they have 21 Video sites listed. These are not all direct "TV" programming or movies and a lot are podcast based but it's an interesting list.

Youtube, Veoh, Videocast, DL.TV, Cranky Geeks, Blip.tv, Podfinder UK, Vuze, Break, Revision 3, The Larry King Podcast, Anderson Cooper 360 Daily, The CNN Daily, In case You Miss it, Meet The Press, NBC Today Show, CNET TV, CBNS Face teh Nation, NBC Nightly News, Mevio, Mediafly.

This shows me there's interest from the content makers and the list will only grow form here.

- voipguy

[alfi33]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Maybe it's everyone else uses some sort of DRM on their Flash videos. I just know there's something different about the likes of Hulu vs YouTube.

OK...So it's the DRM that gets embedded that makes this difficult. I wasn't sure if you were saying that Flash was inherently problematic for this.

[stanger89]

I'm probably confusing things since honstely I haven't been paying close attention. I mainly remember reading comments along the lines of "if only they'd support flash, that would give us Hulu".

The other possibility is that YouTube uses flash to play normal videos, while Hulu and other actually have the video somehow embeded in the flash player. I'm pretty sure the Extenders work by bascially reading the video file directly, and not by actually "running" the flash player. I think Hulu only works if you "run" the flash player.