HD300 look-a-like

[Bacon2002]

Hi,

Is it just me or does this "Sumvision Cyclone" look a lot like an HD300?

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/245715

Good price and available in the UK but I expect there's no chance it will work with SageTV?

David

[matt91]

Certainly does look very, very similar - at least the form factor does. I didn't compare the listed specs.

I think you're right that there is no way you should assume that it'd offer any "Sage-ability".

[Oddity]

Spotted this just the other day, yes the specs look the same and the price is very cheap. I would think the only way to get it to work would be to flash the rom.

[MCE-Refugee]

It's very cheap at £55. The WDTV Live which has similar specifications is about £85.

[pukka]

who's going to try it then?

[Nelbert]

It'll be a safe bet to say no unless someone can change the HD300 libraries and drivers. The Sumvision is a Realtek based unit not a Sigma like the HD300.

The full sized Cyclone enclosures had Mvix and traxdata firmwares flashed into them successfully but when the AC Ryan firmware was tried you got a brick.

The WDTV Live as well as being older is also Sigma based, also worked where as the Sumvision owners went through alot of pain with updates, and for quite a while you couldn't even download the original firmware from Sumvision. It why effort was put into trying alternative firmwares. The Sumvision one sucked.

Sigma players usually cost more than their Realtek equivalent, but Sigma chipsets are proven whereas Realtek came in promising the moon on a stick for less and couldn't deliver and are still going through their teething phase. The original HD Audio capable Realtek chips turned out not to be and it was a silicon problem not an SDK problem, so updated chips were needed. Certain manufactures still kept using the outdated chips claiming HD Audio capabilities though. Hopefully this year Realtek will have sorted out all the Silicon issues and then everything will just be firmware fixes.

[SidKnee]

Has anyone tried this new Hauppauge MediaMVP-HD? It's around the same price as an HD300 (if you don't include the import tax), and it says it's a Sigma based unit.

http://www.hauppauge.co.uk/site/prod...diamvp-hd.html

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/251161

[Brent]

Originally Posted by SidKnee

Has anyone tried this new Hauppauge MediaMVP-HD? It's around the same price as an HD300 (if you don't include the import tax), and it says it's a Sigma based unit.

http://www.hauppauge.co.uk/site/prod...diamvp-hd.html

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/251161

I have one given to me for testing by Hauppauge. Nobody supports it so... save your $ and get a HD300

[MCE-Refugee]

Originally Posted by Brent

I have one given to me for testing by Hauppauge. Nobody supports it so... save your $ and get a HD300

What support does it need? It's priced almost identically to the WDTV Live & has almost identical facilities. For Sage of course the HD300 is the only choice.

[Brent]

Originally Posted by MCE-Refugee

What support does it need?

Oh. I thought you were wanting to use it as a HTPC extender - and it's not supported by SageTV, MediaCenter, XBMC, etc etc. It works okay as a media player, but honestly there are others that have much better UI, better online streaming services and more frequent firmware updates. That's my opinion anyway.

[Bacon2002]

Hi,

I asked this question several month ago in the UK forum, the view was it would definately not work with SageTV but in view of the recent announcements and a need for available HD300s I was wondering if anyone thought this:-

http://www.saverstore.com/product/20...rsion-2--1080p

Could be used as a SageTV extender, no doubt I'm clutching at straws but it does look to be exactly the same (physically) as an HD300.

Anyone think it's worth looking into?

Ta,

David

Here is another one:-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cyclone-Su...item3cb993655d

* merged *

[logsvp]

As you say, it appears to be an exact duplicate and only 52 quid - a bargain if it could be made to work

[Spectrum]

Doubt it. You would need to load the HD300 firmware on it for it to work and from Jeff's previous comments it's not as easy as just flashing the firmware. The conclusion was he was alluding to signed hardware. If anyone on that side of the pond tries it out, let us know how it goes

[graywolf]

Originally Posted by Spectrum

Doubt it. You would need to load the HD300 firmware on it for it to work and from Jeff's previous comments it's not as easy as just flashing the firmware. The conclusion was he was alluding to signed hardware. If anyone on that side of the pond tries it out, let us know how it goes

Yep, if someone over there got it work, I wouldn't be opposed to buying stuff from across the pond. Wouldn't be the first time.

[Bacon2002]

I would give it a go were it not for me having no idea whatsoever how to go about the whole process.

One assumes the Hauppauge MediaMVP-HD unit does not work with SageTV either?

[GKusnick]

That Sumvision Cyclone box is obviously not an exact HD300 clone since it lacks the front-panel IR jack and the rear-panel breakout connector. There's also no DTS decal on the front, for whatever that may mean.

[Bacon2002]

It is a good point that the IR jack and breakout connector are missing so the hardware is not going to be exactly the same.

For information the spec does show that it supports DTS.

[starfire]

That Sumvision runs a different Realtek chipset while the HD300 runs Sigma.

[valnar]

I wonder what kind of encryption Sage did with their Sigma boxes and firmware. If we could find the Chinese OEM, maybe we could request some more? Whadaya suppose the minimum run would be?

[GKusnick]

Those hardware designs and manufacturing contracts belong to Google now (as do these forums). I expect they would not look kindly on attempts to bypass them and deal directly with the OEM.