HD-300 ordered - first observations thread

[impro]

So should I share with the groups an easy 2 minutes mod to make the hauppauge IR work with hd300?
Sage?

[Tomahawk51]

Yes! I don't have a 300 yet, but I want to know how for the sake of knowing!

I do have at least a few Hauppauge IRs sitting around, so this would be great to know.

[bcjenkins]

Originally Posted by impro

So should I share with the groups an easy 2 minutes mod to make the hauppauge IR work with hd300?
Sage?

I say no, take it to your grave!

[impro]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

I say no, take it to your grave!

Before SageTV says it is ok I will not say. It is not that hard but it takes a lot of trial and error.

[bcjenkins]

Originally Posted by impro

Before SageTV says it is ok I will not say. It is not that hard but it takes a lot of trial and error.

No offense, but I don't think SageTV cares how you rewire a 3rd party cable. They provided the diagram so you could make your own if you are so inclined.

B

[stanger89]

Especially not if you figured it out yourself.

[infocus13]

Originally Posted by Chriscic

Got my H300 yesterday and not off to a great start. Definitely glitches during the first 10 seconds or so playing HD-PVR recordings which weren't there with 100 or 200. Some mkv's seem fine, others not smooth like it's dropping frames, others will glitch in the same spots every time

I'm running the latest version of 6 and updated the 300 firmware as advised at startup.

Disappointed I have to mess with it now, but when I have time I'll try the latest beta firmware (if there is any yet) and maybe go to version 7 before I take time for bug reports.

I have the same issue. Audio momentarily drops out after about 5 seconds of playing a DVB-T live TV program. Does not happen with recorded content, just live TV.

Came from a HD100 in the same location, same connection, etc. Never had any issues.

Also noticed the scrolling is a bit jerkier on the HD300? for example when scrolling through large lists of music, etc. It seems quicker than my hd100 but jerkier....

any help would be appreciated!

[bits]

The form factor is great! and the included HDMI cable is a very nice touch.

Keep in mind that this is the first wave of production systems so it is to be expected that there are a few bugs to be worked out. I am comparing this to my HD200:

- I personally do not see any difference in speed of navigating through videos or recorded stuff. The system does power on a little quicker but pretty much everything else runs very much at the same pace as my HD200.
- Video PQ seems to be the same
- The system is more finicky when it comes to AVR settings, resolution and the network. Currently my system will lockup 85% of the time when I start it after it has been shut off for a while. I have also had several instances where it took numberous unpluggings to get it to respond and to see the network. I am not currently running the latest version of Sage, which may or not be the issue and I run exclusively in extender mode. I am running the latest firmware and the HD300 is physically in the same location and is using the same LAN, power connects as my HD200 did(my HD200 has never locked up). My HD200 is running just as smoothly as it did in its new location.

My comments above may seem a little negative but I am basically quite happy with the unit and I am optimistic that Sage and I will figure out what is causing the starup/lockup issue.

[Chriscic]

Originally Posted by dkatchalov

I have the same issue. Audio momentarily drops out after about 5 seconds of playing a DVB-T live TV program. Does not happen with recorded content, just live TV.

Came from a HD100 in the same location, same connection, etc. Never had any issues.

Also noticed the scrolling is a bit jerkier on the HD300? for example when scrolling through large lists of music, etc. It seems quicker than my hd100 but jerkier....

any help would be appreciated!

I have to retract part of my original problem statement. I went downstairs on my HD200 and tried all three mkv's I was having trouble with, and had the exact same issues with playback. So, it wasn't the HD300's fault; either I have a server glitch, or (more likely) the video files themselves contain those glitches. Guess I am hypersensitive to potential issues with new equipment.

Did seem like I was getting more problems initiating a HD-PVR stream (recorded or live) on the HD300, but I'll have to compare back to the HD200 on that too before I declare a (minor) issue.

As to the scrolling, haven't paid attention to that. Will let you know what I find. Certainly overall subjectively I didn't notice any real speed boosts moving around the interface (version 6), but then again the HD200 always seemed plenty peppy to me.

[dstanley]

Originally Posted by peternm22

Have any Canadians received ship notices yet? I ordered on Sept 6 and haven't received a shipping notice yet.

Ordered mine on September 1st and it arrived today - woohoo.
No shipping notice but maybe that is because I am in Canada too!?

Paid Ontario HST charge of $15.71 to the post office for mine.

[paulbeers]

Originally Posted by dstanley

Ordered mine on September 1st and it arrived today - woohoo.
No shipping notice but maybe that is because I am in Canada too!?

Paid Ontario HST charge of $15.71 to the post office for mine.

I'm in the US, and all my shipping notices always come from UPS directly. I wonder if they (UPS) do not send email notifications for shipments made outside the US?

[impro]

OK
you cut the Hauppauge cable.
Connect and solder red to red.
And cross the other 2

That is it.

[paulbeers]

Got and hooked up one of my new HD300's today (I originally ordered on the first day, but had to cancel my order so that I could add the IR receivers).

I need to say it: Awesome.

1. My biggest complaint was the fact that when I would scroll thru my DVD collection (over 600 now and well on my way to 700), the images and the scrolling were so slow. The HD200 was decent, but still was not as fast as I would like. The HD300 crushes the HD200 (and kills the HD100).
2. DTS decoding is awesome. Too bad I ripped all my DVD's without DTS (as not to confuse my wife). I can now watch Blu-Rays in the bedroom which is something we couldn't do before (yes yes, I could have gotten some kind of decoder but it wasn't a priority).
3. The 1 stop shop remote. For people like my wife and I, we watch a lot of tv in the bedroom. We do not have room for a big sound system and we use sage for all our TV viewing. We had to have the TV remote solely for the purpose of turning the tv on and volume..... No longer. That remote makes life so much easier. We can now hide away the original TV remote and only bring it out if something happens to the remote.
4. Ir Receiver. Yes I probably could have made my own, but 8 bucks just means I don't go out to lunch one day..... This is pure sweetness. I never thought Sage would build an extender with it. I understood why many wanted it, but never thought a fairly inexpensive Consumer electonic would have it! I just threw my HD300 behind my tv between the wall and the tv in the bedroom and taped the receiver to the front..... I may never use the built in receiver.

Now my biggest decision: Where to put the other one! HD100's are being moved to the guest room and our upcoming nursery, but which of the other two main tv's get the other HD300?!?! I might need to buy a third.....

[spacecadet]

Originally Posted by paulbeers

4. Ir Receiver. Yes I probably could have made my own, but 8 bucks just means I don't go out to lunch one day..... This is pure sweetness. I never thought Sage would build an extender with it. I understood why many wanted it, but never thought a fairly inexpensive Consumer electonic would have it! I just threw my HD300 behind my tv between the wall and the tv in the bedroom and taped the receiver to the front..... I may never use the built in receiver.

Even better: I didn't even need to tape the IR receiver to the front. I just made sure the receiver was pointed at the wall behind the TV and it does a pretty decent job of still picking up the IR signal (from reflections off of the wall). And no unsightly mess! YMMV, but give it a shot!

[patja]

Great product! I am loving it. Especially the Blu-Ray HD audio bitstreaming and title selection.

[peternm22]

Got an e-mail back from Sage, they say it was shipped on the 14th and to check my junk mail folder (which I stated in the original e-mail that I did).

Has ANYONE outside of the US gotten a proper shipping notice with a tracking number?

[HittR]

Impro,

Do you have to solder or can you wire nut the connections cable to cable? And are you saying red to red, bare to white and bare to white?

Thanks

[impro]

Originally Posted by HittR

Impro,

Do you have to solder or can you wire nut the connections cable to cable? And are you saying red to red, bare to white and bare to white?

Thanks

I soldered and used heat shrink on every wire.
But any other way of connecting should work

correct
red to red brown to white
white to brown

I have 8 more hauppauge IRs that I have not used before.
Now I can use them for installations.

[MCE-Refugee]

Originally Posted by MCE-Refugee

I am in France not Canada & ordered on 4th September but haven't received a shipping notice yet. When I checked yesterday there had been no payment taken from my card either.

Anyone know what the status of orders is?

I just noticed that Sage have now charged my card but I have still not had a shipping notice.

[starfire]

Originally Posted by peternm22

Got an e-mail back from Sage, they say it was shipped on the 14th and to check my junk mail folder (which I stated in the original e-mail that I did).

Has ANYONE outside of the US gotten a proper shipping notice with a tracking number?

Same as me, in the UK and no shipping notice and not in spam.

Just emailed back orders@sagetv and got the tracking number no problem.