Any chance of rolling Placeshifter and Client into one product?

[brainbone]

Originally Posted by sdsean

The issue here is WAF. . . she says "can i watch our recordings on my laptop?", And I say yes from anywhere within reason. I could install just Placeshifter. . . but then she can't play any dvd rips. . .

I think the problem here is not solved by placeshifter and client being merged, but rather placeshifter gaining the ability to play ripped DVDs -- or at the very least play/transcode certain titles from DVDs. I've often wished I could play a DVD on placeshifter. (and no -- bringing all my DVDs along with me is not the answer)

[sdsean]

Yeah I agree, I find it strange that if you use an extender (HD200/HD300), and its suposedly always placeshifting, that it can play dvds, but yet the placeshifter software cannot.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by sdsean

Yeah I agree, I find it strange that if you use an extender (HD200/HD300), and its suposedly always placeshifting, that it can play dvds, but yet the placeshifter software cannot.

It's not that it's always placeshifting - it's that placeshifter is always extending (that is, simply displaying a UI that is rendered on the server). The placeshifting difference, however, is whether it is playing the raw stream, or a dynamically transcoded stream.

[stanger89]

It's not always placeshifting though. And I haven't tried, but I bet DVDs don't work on extenders in "placeshifter mode" (ie over the internet).

[Spectrum]

Originally Posted by stanger89

It's not always placeshifting though. And I haven't tried, but I bet DVDs don't work on extenders in "placeshifter mode" (ie over the internet).

This demands a test! Of course, I don't have an extender to do it so someone else will have to do the grunt work I will provide moral support though.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by Skirge01

Personally, I don't see a benefit to using Placeshifter at home. If I'm home, why not use the full client?

i have many PCs in my house and it is nice to be able to run Placeshifter on any and all PCs without having to buy a license for each one. Rarely do I watch content on these PCs - it is more often a case of going into the Sage UI to check something, delete shows or schedule a recording.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by wayner

i have many PCs in my house and it is nice to be able to run Placeshifter on any and all PCs without having to buy a license for each one. Rarely do I watch content on these PCs - it is more often a case of going into the Sage UI to check something, delete shows or schedule a recording.

Same here - this is why I wish the clients had been licensed per connection all along - even if they were $45/connection, instead of $30/seat, I'd prefer it that way.

[sdsean]

well i'm glad all this thread got some feedback. . .

i'll stick to my guns in that i think from a software perpective they should just be bundled together and run in different modes. . .i get they are different architectures. . .but i just seems to me like this would make life easier. . .

on the other hand, if placeshifter could just play dvds/blu ray, i suppose that would solve my problem. . .

i would just take a hd200/300 with me on the road when travelling for work, but using a laptop actually works better, b/c the network connect is usualy so spotty, and you have to have cookies set b/c you need to login and accept terms for paid or free connection. . .which makes connecting hardware a bit more tricky. and also it would mean (if wired) no connection for my laptop.

anyway it was great to get everyone's feedback. . .

[Skirge01]

Originally Posted by wayner

i have many PCs in my house and it is nice to be able to run Placeshifter on any and all PCs without having to buy a license for each one. Rarely do I watch content on these PCs - it is more often a case of going into the Sage UI to check something, delete shows or schedule a recording.

I remote into my server for some of that. I also frequently use the web interface for checking upcoming recordings, deleting shows or scheduling a recording. If you enable multiple concurrent sessions on your OS, couldn't you remote into whichever one has the client installed? Anyone using the computer wouldn't even know you were there.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by Skirge01

I remote into my server for some of that. I also frequently use the web interface for checking upcoming recordings, deleting shows or scheduling a recording. If you enable multiple concurrent sessions on your OS, couldn't you remote into whichever one has the client installed? Anyone using the computer wouldn't even know you were there.

I also will use the web interface, particularly if I am sitting on the couch and have my iPad in my hand (note that with young children I rarely get to watch on the big TV until they're in bed) but you can't do everything from the web interface - installing plugins is one thing that you can't do.

I also find that RDPing into the server can cause you to have to restart the Sage UI (but not the server process) as it has issues with changes in resolution and/or color depth. RDPing can be more of an issue if you are outside of your LAN as well.

[Fuzzy]

You can use something besides RDP to log into the server (VNC would be best) - It doesn't create a new session (or take over an existing session) - it simply clones/remotes the console session, so no problems with resolution changes, etc.

[Skirge01]

Originally Posted by wayner

I also find that RDPing into the server can cause you to have to restart the Sage UI (but not the server process) as it has issues with changes in resolution and/or color depth. RDPing can be more of an issue if you are outside of your LAN as well.

I'm pretty sure I've done some plugin installs via RDP, but maybe not. I've found that many (most?) of the plugins I use require a restart of the client. It's annoying, but it works. Using WHS, I'll RDP into the server, but not to the client (mainly because I can't, since it's on 64-bit W7). That said, what I do via RDP outside the LAN is only critical stuff which can't wait until I get home and, to date, I've not run into anything I couldn't do in an emergency. Thankfully, most of it can wait until I get home, though.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by Skirge01

...but not to the client (mainly because I can't, since it's on 64-bit W7).

There are hacks to allow RDP on home premium w7, I use them routinely. That said, As mentioned earlier, UltraVNC is free, and will work on any OS - without any hacks.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

You can use something besides RDP to log into the server (VNC would be best) - It doesn't create a new session (or take over an existing session) - it simply clones/remotes the console session, so no problems with resolution changes, etc.

I know and I use Logmein.com as it works through a browser on any computer (you can even get an iPad app for $30) but using these other remote apps do create some security risks and they are generally not as seemless as RDP. That's why I found it so annoying that MS didn't include the RDP server in Win Vista/7 HP as they did in Win XP MCE which, arguably, is the predecessor OS version.

You can install the hack but this still isn't 100% perfect as I like to use WHS as the front end for my Remote Access and as far as it is concerned Win 7HP (even with the termsrv.dll changed) is not available for RDP connections.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by wayner

I know and I use Logmein.com as it works through a browser on any computer (you can even get an iPad app for $30) but using these other remote apps do create some security risks and they are generally not as seemless as RDP. That's why I found it so annoying that MS didn't include the RDP server in Win Vista/7 HP as they did in Win XP MCE which, arguably, is the predecessor OS version.

You can install the hack but this still isn't 100% perfect as I like to use WHS as the front end for my Remote Access and as far as it is concerned Win 7HP (even with the termsrv.dll changed) is not available for RDP connections.

I tihnk that's an issue of the higher security system used in the new RDP protocol. I think you can disable that setting in the win7 configuration, but havne't verified.

[mickp]

Hey there,

I voted no as they're different products with different architectures and if it's not convenient for SAGE to build them as a single image I'd rather they went with what was the most stable, easy to manage approach.

The client and client like capabilities (i.e. you need to use Placeshifter client on Linux servers iirc) only exist on the Windows platform (or do macs have a client too???). I'm assuming that there's a good reason for this but some clarification would be welcome.

If SAGE has to manage the Placeshifter source/app anyway then I reckon that's fine. I'm happy to run both.

What I would be interested in seeing more than the two being combined is to add some local caching options to the Client so that it could work in disconnected mode. Allow the most recent x shows or y GB of shows to be automagically synched when I plug my laptop/tablet into the network so that when I'm roaming about I have a ready supply of TV to watch. A similar scheme for videos and music would also be cool.

What do you reckon?

Mick.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by mickp

What I would be interested in seeing more than the two being combined is to add some local caching options to the Client so that it could work in disconnected mode. Allow the most recent x shows or y GB of shows to be automagically synched when I plug my laptop/tablet into the network so that when I'm roaming about I have a ready supply of TV to watch. A similar scheme for videos and music would also be cool.

I agree with this as I would like to be able to use Sage to play back content on my laptop while on a plane or in a hotel. Once you get used to the playback controls like SkipFwd (10 secs) and SkipFwd2 (2:30) it makes it much easier to watch shows. And a lot of playback software like VLC, etc has trouble will some of my .ts files from the HD-PVR as they sometimes begin at 480i and then switch to 1080i after a channel change.

[mickp]

Originally Posted by wayner

I agree with this as I would like to be able to use Sage to play back content on my laptop while on a plane or in a hotel. Once you get used to the playback controls like SkipFwd (10 secs) and SkipFwd2 (2:30) it makes it much easier to watch shows. And a lot of playback software like VLC, etc has trouble will some of my .ts files from the HD-PVR as they sometimes begin at 480i and then switch to 1080i after a channel change.

Agreed, though having an automated process to look after the synch of cached media along with selecting these via the interface with the usual metadata etc would be the main benefits over manually copying the media and watching with vlc et al by clicking on them imho.

Mick.

[valnar]

Sage client = fat client. GUI runs locally and accesses database/files remotely.
Placeshifter client = remote control client. Think "VNC" or "RDP", but better.

Those are some bad analogies, but maybe it will help wrap the naysayers head around the architecture.