Alternatives to Extenders

[david1234]

Originally Posted by brainbone

I think an HTML5 interface is a good idea, though there could/would be issues with codecs, etc.

I don't think this would be all that difficult to modify the web-interface to handle. I've been playing around a little bit with the <video> element of HTML 5, and it seems to work pretty well.

You would have to convert the mpeg2 recordings to something that's HTML5 friendly (mp4, ogg, or webm), but you could always configure your server to just automatically convert to the one you know you'll use, and serve that up. The biggest problem I've seen is that the conversion to these other formats can be slow.

[BobbyDing]

Just discovered tonight that the encore wireless usb stick sold by Sage works fine with the WD Live Plus. If anybody's interested in that.

Bobby

[DrP]

what i did recently was following.

I took a mini PC having a DVD-ROM and capable of playing full HD and installed a clean XP. To install all necessary codecs i use the 'zpic.exe' which is a part of Zoomplayer. Just install once on any pc, find the file and keep it before deinstalling Zoomplay - it will run on its own on any other system.

Now i installed the EWF-Option which is used on embedded windows installations. This will enable HORM:

Hibernate Once Resume Many

Energy management was set to hibernate once Start/Stop Button is pressed - press on Remote Shutdown button will shut down.

After installing SageTV Client and having made all setting for standard use i run Sagetv in full screen mode then press shutdown button so the a hibernate file is beeing created which i will start from every time the PC turned on.

When everything worked out properly i imaged the harddisk and restored it to a cheap 8GB SSD drive (Transcend TS8GSSD25H-M).

Booting and shutting down - both is quite fast.

Differences to my HD200:
· i can't start it with my remote
· it takes a very little more time for starting
· it takes a very little more time for shutting down
but
· i can play DVDs
· it probably take less power when down
· i can use a wireless keybord/mouse on my couch for browsing the internet

Maybe this is an alternative to the HD extenders for somebody who has client licenses in spare.

regards Franz

[PLUCKYHD]

Except in no way would I recommend xp over w7 for the client. W7 is recommended for the w7 decoder alone.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by PLUCKYHD

Except in no way would I recommend xp over w7 for the client. W7 is recommended for the w7 decoder alone.

The only reason I'm guessing he's using XP is to get HORM support. I dont' believe anyone's gotten win7 hacked up to support it yet. I did toy around with the idea of using win embedded 7 for my cilent, so that I can use EWF and HORM (makes it much more appliance like), but licensing is a strange beast with embedded windows versions.

[Flash69]

Originally Posted by DrP

what i did recently was following.

I took a mini PC having a DVD-ROM and capable of playing full HD and installed a clean XP. To install all necessary codecs i use the 'zpic.exe' which is a part of Zoomplayer. Just install once on any pc, find the file and keep it before deinstalling Zoomplay - it will run on its own on any other system.

Now i installed the EWF-Option which is used on embedded windows installations. This will enable HORM:

Hibernate Once Resume Many

Energy management was set to hibernate once Start/Stop Button is pressed - press on Remote Shutdown button will shut down.

After installing SageTV Client and having made all setting for standard use i run Sagetv in full screen mode then press shutdown button so the a hibernate file is beeing created which i will start from every time the PC turned on.

When everything worked out properly i imaged the harddisk and restored it to a cheap 8GB SSD drive (Transcend TS8GSSD25H-M).

Booting and shutting down - both is quite fast.

Differences to my HD200:
· i can't start it with my remote
· it takes a very little more time for starting
· it takes a very little more time for shutting down
but
· i can play DVDs
· it probably take less power when down
· i can use a wireless keybord/mouse on my couch for browsing the internet

Maybe this is an alternative to the HD extenders for somebody who has client licenses in spare.

regards Franz

Can you give us details as to the hardware you used for the PC?

[Jason]

Originally Posted by cobrew

I really need an extender,

How about using XBMC with the pleXBMC/plex addon to sync the SageTV media?

fonceur's post about Plex got me thinking here and as an added benefit, you can stream to your phone (iOS/Android)!

-Jason

[Yalbik]

Originally Posted by brainbone

I think an HTML5 interface is a good idea, though there could/would be issues with codecs, etc.

Does anyone have experience with the Viewsonic VMP75?

The nice thing about it (over say the WD Live) is that it has a built-in web browser. Host a custom web interface on the sage server, point the VMP75 at it.... voila, instant extender, no client licensing required.

I'd much prefer an HD300, but I'm thinking this might work until something else catches up with where Sage was....

Are there better similarly priced devices ($100 USD) with built-in browsers?

[gplasky]

Just saw this review.
ASRock Core HT HTPC Sandybridge
Everything you need except the OS. Includes a nice remote.

Gerry

[dinki]

Originally Posted by gplasky

Just saw this review.
ASRock Core HT HTPC Sandybridge
Everything you need except the OS. Includes a nice remote.

Gerry

Is this the price:

UK pricing is competitive, with the version we tested today on sale at £599.99 inc vat.

[emotionnotion]

Maybe this is where sage-google could go.

http://www.theandroidbox.com/?gclid=...FUdMpgodlmt_Yg

The AndroidBox M6.

With SageTV as an App/UI?

Heres hoping as it says it plays all content

[jptheripper]

Originally Posted by emotionnotion

Maybe this is where sage-google could go.

http://www.theandroidbox.com/?gclid=...FUdMpgodlmt_Yg

The AndroidBox M6.

With SageTV as an App/UI?

Heres hoping as it says it plays all content

boo local storage USB only (no network). Looks like it has potential!

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by jptheripper

boo local storage USB only (no network). Looks like it has potential!

Specification:
CPU
Amlogic Cortex-A9 800MHz

Operating system
Android 2.2

DDR RAM
512MB

Nand Flash
2GB

Storage device
Support External Storages via USB host
Support External Storage via.SD/MMC card

Network device
Bult-in WIFI , Ethernet LAN cable

Internet application
support Flash 10, support online video, music, internet chat, view pictures

Video
Video Decoding:Mpeg1/2/4、H.264、VC-1、Divx、Xvid、RM8/9/10、VP6
Video Formats: MKV,TS,TP,M2TS,RM/RMVB,BD-ISO,AVI,MPG,VOB,DAT,ASF,TRP,FLV etc

Video Output
1920*1080P,720P,576P,480P

Picture Formats
JPG、BMP、GIF、TIFF、PNG.

Interfaces
Video: HDMI1.3, CVBS,YPbPr port
Audio: A/V port, YPbPr port, Optical port.
Ethernet : RJ45 LAN 10/100M port, Bult-in WIFI N module
Storage: 2 USB-HOST ports, SD/MMC

Subtitile supported
SRT,SUB,IDX,SSA,SMI

Languages
Chinese, English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Russian, others can be developed.

Accessories
A/V cable, HDMI cable , AC adapter, Remote-control, User Manual

Power Adapter
External adapter,5V/2A

Now slap TaSage on it and you may have something.

Gerry

[Fonceur]

Originally Posted by gplasky

Now slap TaSage on it and you may have something.

Being an Android 2.2 device, it might limit the streaming capabilities... I wonder if I could simply "play files through the network" instead of having to stream...

EDIT: Looking around, there seems to be a bunch of those "Android TV box", just like there was a bunch of cheap Android tablets from China before the big guys woke up...

[farfromuman]

I just tried the WD Live Plus, everything works except for bluray iso playback through network. It seems to work for about a minute and then the audio and video drops out. I did some searching and it seems to be the norm. Does the Boxee box do any better?

I did some more testing and was able to play a bluray ISO by connecting an external hard drive but only 1 out of 4 movies work. I guess I did not realize how good the HD300 is, I just cant justify spending $400 on a used one.

[MattHelm]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

My Sony Bravia with the Bravia 3 engine plays back all my Sage recordings via Windows Media Player on the Sage server. I can't schedule recordings, but as a dumb playback terminal, the Bravia does it without needing any external box. Internet hookup is either wired or wireless (with optional dongle), so it's pretty much plug and play.

Can it handle high bitrate videos? (like Bluerays)

[ybrew]

I've got two client licenses.
I've been thinking about maybe getting a boxee or WDLive Hub, but now I'm wondering if a PC client might be better.

[will]

Originally Posted by ybrew

I've got two client licenses.
I've been thinking about maybe getting a boxee or WDLive Hub, but now I'm wondering if a PC client might be better.

The PC client will cost you more but you know it will work with Sage...

[IVB]

Originally Posted by will

The PC client will cost you more but you know it will work with Sage...

and anything else....

[PiX64]

Except u canbuy client licenses anymore..

Check out the boxee extender thread... It's a promising alternative.

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56535