Great Solution for Small Cheap Client

[Tomahawk51]

So, is the slightly beefier version of the Foxconn extender preferred over the other one, that has an SSD bundle now?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16856119070
vs
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16856119072

And for those that have used an HD200 and these clients: I've been unsure of whether or not to build a client (yes I have a license) vs. shelling out for an extender. I only have an HD100 and HD200, so will this thing match the 200 in performance (I don't want to regress)? Will following the steps outlined above allow me to setup something that won't require tons of babysitting? (yes, I'm very technical and comfortable with all I read, but not experienced in building clients)?

Appreciate any advice!

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by Tomahawk51

So, is the slightly beefier version of the Foxconn extender preferred over the other one, that has an SSD bundle now?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16856119070
vs
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16856119072

And for those that have used an HD200 and these clients: I've been unsure of whether or not to build a client (yes I have a license) vs. shelling out for an extender. I only have an HD100 and HD200, so will this thing match the 200 in performance (I don't want to regress)? Will following the steps outlined above allow me to setup something that won't require tons of babysitting? (yes, I'm very technical and comfortable with all I read, but not experienced in building clients)?

Appreciate any advice!

The black on has a more powerful gpu, and 50 more MHZ on the cpu. That's it. No other difference. I'd go with the one with the free ssd. Can't go wrong there. I may have to grab one.

[jbrandon]

I've built three of these (and another NTA350 the way) using both the products you mentioned above. I do prefer the Foxconn NTA350 as it seems to handle the video better than the nt-3700, I do not know why as specs suggest the nt-3700 "should" be better. They both have ATI video, just a number difference, 6310 vs 6320. I configure mine to use the full 512k for video, not auto and it seems to be better. . I put 4gb of memory in them. I have Window 7 on all of them. They are all hard wired but I have tried the wireless and it does work well.

With Newegg's special on the NTA350 of a free SSD they come in just under $200, about what you would pay for a used HD200 on eBay. Of course this does not include the cost of the keyboard, IR remote, Windows or the SageTV client license.

The only problem I have had is if the little computer gets "busy" doing system stuff video will shudder, both SD and HD. Things like backup (which I have stopped doing due to the SSD), system updates which I have configured to manual. I get the computer set up and make a monthly backup to the network just in case.

I use a Windows 7 Vista XP Media Center remote receiver, I do not use the remote just the IR receive and my Harmony One remotes and a Logitech Wireless Touch Keyboard K400 at each location for input. The reason I use this IR receiver is very broad angle of reception and you do not have to aim the remote in its direction. I use EventGhost for IR input to the computer however I do not use the remote for the computer other than to launch or exit SageTV. I am sure there are other and maybe better solutions but these work very well for me.

For the novice they are not as easy to use as the HD's, there is no substitute for the HD200/330 when it comes to ease of use. The HD's are rock solid - period! The reason I went to them was for future proofing, I will not out grow the PC at the locations they are in our house. I have mine configured to come up to the SageTV main menu upon power up, they sleep and wake well. One bit of training is necessary, when coming out of sleep the network connections is not always instantly available and it can take a minute or so before SageTV will show the networked stuff i.e. Recordings. I have wireless keyboards available for use also. My family is getting use to them and will most often grab the keyboard and "cruse the net" (you know, facebook) instead of grabbing my laptop or tablet.

Another plus, I have SoftSqueeze player and use the computers as part of our "whole house audio".

Originally Posted by Tomahawk51

So, is the slightly beefier version of the Foxconn extender preferred over the other one, that has an SSD bundle now?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16856119070
vs
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16856119072

And for those that have used an HD200 and these clients: I've been unsure of whether or not to build a client (yes I have a license) vs. shelling out for an extender. I only have an HD100 and HD200, so will this thing match the 200 in performance (I don't want to regress)? Will following the steps outlined above allow me to setup something that won't require tons of babysitting? (yes, I'm very technical and comfortable with all I read, but not experienced in building clients)?

Appreciate any advice!

[MattHelm]

Originally Posted by wreuvers

Went with this, but the video still skips. Upgraded to the new Realtek 1Gbps drivers (7.61.612), installed Java 7u5, increased heap to 512, increase network to use 9k Jumbo Frames. Set video Renderer to EVR, MPEG2 Decorder to Microsoft DTV-DVD, MPEG2 AUdio to AC3, and the rest at default. HD Audio Output ENabled.

Video is Super SMOOTH....

Hey,
can you post what software (32/64/version) of all the software/drivers you have installed, and any "hacks"??? (you have most listed, but drivers?) I'm setting something like this up, and was having a few issues, but it looks like you have things going great. please share!

BTW, have you tried any HD MKVs? (mp4 and VC-1) (like a high bit rate BR)

[Tomahawk51]

Originally Posted by jbrandon

I've built three of these (and another NTA350 the way) using both the products you mentioned above. I do prefer the Foxconn NTA350 as it seems to handle the video better than the nt-3700, I do not know why as specs suggest the nt-3700 "should" be better.

Excellent response and I appreciate the write up. I'm now very much considering/leaning towards buying the 350 with the SSD deal, adding 4gb.

I use a Harmony. Does this have on board iR? Looks like not? Suggestions on cheapest HW for IR?

Finally, thanks for the response on the HDXXX comparison. What I guess I really want to validate is whether, using this box, I can get Smooth Video playback and performance to match the HD200. I understand the need for codec and other tweaks - but will it match or beat in video performance?

(note: this response in another thread was very helpful to me http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...25&postcount=5 )

[jbrandon]

I don't think anything will actually do the job better than the SageTV HD's within SageTV.

The computer based client only future proofs your purchase - as far as I am concerned. I love the HD's but with the demise of SageTV they have become quite expensive and are limited in what they can do compared with other hardware solutions. Everything you did on the HD's can be done on the PC plus a bunch more without jumping through hoops. We love the fact we can watch our son's basketball games on the big screen instead of the laptop.

No the NTA350 does not have built in IR receiver. I also use a Harmony One remotes, I picked the Windows 7 Vista XP Media Center because of the IR receiver only, it is about .5w x .375h x 1.0 long and has a fairly long wire so it can be remoted easily and importantly it only cost $15.00. I tried a couple of others purchased from Best Buy and returned. I had one of these in my junk drawer for some reason. But what I have found is the receiver is sensitive and of course the Harmony's are powerful transmitters so no need to point at the receiver, just in the general direction. This in conjunction with EventGhost is almost fool proof. The only complaint I have is there are far more buttons on the Harmony One than are available on the mentioned remote so you will have to scratch your head to come up with what function to use to get the action you want with in SageTV - but it can be done with EventGhost (and others I assume).

I'll not deny that I've had to do some tweaking with video memory in the bios, codex within SageTV and some network changes to get everything working as smooth as the HD's. The biggest complaint my family had when I first put them in service was the slowness of the video starting, especially HD recordings, the audio would start instantly but It would take 12-15 seconds for the video to show. Now you and I know most often there is junk before the actual program stats but my 30 something kids wanted it right now. The solution was to enable jumbo frames on the server only and make sure full duplex was enabled on the clients and wow the video and audio start "right now". They still don't understand how it skips commercials and I'm not telling...

To answer your last question, I think (and this is my personal observations) the playback of both SD and HD is equal to the HD's. I have these computers on a 65", a 42" and a 36" Samsung. The HD picture quality is excellent on all TV's, the SD quality is oaky only because I stretch the picture to fill the screen so the image is a little soft, and of course if your cable company (TWC) transmits junk it will display junk.

And honestly I have not looked into other aftermarket codex as the SageTV provded ones are doing the job for me.

Originally Posted by Tomahawk51

I use a Harmony. Does this have on board iR? Looks like not? Suggestions on cheapest HW for IR?

Finally, thanks for the response on the HDXXX comparison. What I guess I really want to validate is whether, using this box, I can get Smooth Video playback and performance to match the HD200. I understand the need for codec and other tweaks - but will it match or beat in video performance?

[Tomahawk51]

You did answer all aspects, and i think ill be following in your footsteps on this. thanks for sharing and ill look to revisit your description of the tweaks that worked for you. Share any you didn't already!

Future proofing and a project to play with will be my driver.

[jerryt]

Originally Posted by jbrandon

The computer based client only future proofs your purchase .

My NTA350 can run WMC with OTA from HDHomeRuns and Satellite thru DVBlogic.

[MattHelm]

Guys,
Do you think this:
http://www.zotacusa.com/forum/topic/...-ad12-mini-pc/
Could handle a high bit rate HD file???

[davephan]

Originally Posted by wreuvers

Went with this, but the video still skips. Upgraded to the new Realtek 1Gbps drivers (7.61.612), installed Java 7u5, increased heap to 512, increase network to use 9k Jumbo Frames. Set video Renderer to EVR, MPEG2 Decorder to Microsoft DTV-DVD, MPEG2 AUdio to AC3, and the rest at default. HD Audio Output ENabled.

Video is Super SMOOTH....

BUT

A recorded HiDef ts file takes 16s to start playing!

So went to server and increase Java Heap to 1Gbps, switched on Jumbo Frames to 9K. Also, replaced she sh*tty Realtek 1Gbps with a Intel (best $35 EVER spent!!! my other identical server causes the 16s delay and the only diff is that it has the onboard Realtek cr@p).

Also, recommend animations are switch off on the Foxconn A3700 - and it is super sweet!

Thanks to all the folks on this and other threads for the insights!

Did increasing the Java Heap to 1 Gig size (I assume you mean size, not speed) and switching out your on-board Realtek NIC with an Intel NIC eliminate the 16 second start up time for a TS file playback? If so, what is the start up time now? Can you post a link to the Intel 1 gig NIC?

Dave

[MattHelm]

Originally Posted by bond00

... Cyberlink PowerDVD 11 ...

Did you "buy" it, or install the demo?

[George M]

I just received my a3500. It has the WiFi card installed. However it is not recognized by win7. What drivers are you all using for the WiFi?

Fixed --- The included card is an Intel. There were no drivers on the CD for this card so downloaded from Acer.

[George M]

Is anyone here running their Foxconn a350o through a receiver? If I connect directly to the tv (via hdmi) it connects fine. However when going through an AV Reciever no signal gets through.

[panteragstk]

I'll be getting my foxcon a3700 on thursday. Hopefully it will do what i need it to. I'll post results once I receive it.

[Tomahawk51]

I got the <white > 3500 unit from Newegg, it came with a 60gb SSD, and I bought 8gb of ram (which is fully working). I now have Win7 64bit running, and SageTV Client loaded up. It's working great so far!

So, now I'm trying to figure out how I should be configuring Codecs <IR comes next>. I've never done this, so hoping someone can help validate:

-I see that PowerDVD is often recommended. I don't need to use a DVD drive, but I have lots of rips. How do I configure SageTV to use this <link?>?
-I see that the standard MS codecs with Win7 are recommended. I *think* I set this up correctly: I just looked at any codecs where it was possible to use it.

In summary, is there a guide or "best practice" we can document for this Foxconn hardware in terms of what codecs, and how to set them? I see 3D features, etc, and really have no idea what I should go with.

(I realize it's asking alot to recap this, so don't feel a need for click-by-click guidance!)

[panteragstk]

My best luck is with the arcsoft codecs and MS decoders. MS for mpeg2 and arcsoft for everything else. I haven't had any issues since I've used this combination. FFdshow for audio.

EDIT: Haven't tried this on a foxconn unit (don't have mine yet, thursday), but I use an AMD card now so I don't see how there would be a difference.

[MattHelm]

My input on getting one of these working. Go into CCC, disable everything, use the MS codecs! Silky smooth on everything. For Audio, as panteragstk said, ffdshow.

(mines not as low end as the one all of you are talking about, but until I turned off the AMD stuff, I was having issues!)

[mechling-burgh]

I just setup the White 3500 from new egg with the 60 gig ssd. I installed the windows 8 consumer preview with star dock start button. I'm just using the codecs that came with windows 8 and I'm not having any tearing or studder problems with this unit when playing back recordings. I did have to fix the wireless card I was getting 10 meg connections on it until I found out the wires were crossed on the wireless. The black wire needs to be on pin one. I was watching tekzella Sunday night and it did studder a bit twice. I still need to look into that. The video play back is almost as good as the hd300 and hd100 but the skip forward and rewind don't work as nice as the extenders. So I would think if you have windows 7 the stock codecs would work fine.

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by mechling-burgh

I just setup the White 3500 from new egg with the 60 gig ssd. I installed the windows 8 consumer preview with star dock start button. I'm just using the codecs that came with windows 8 and I'm not having any tearing or studder problems with this unit when playing back recordings. I did have to fix the wireless card I was getting 10 meg connections on it until I found out the wires were crossed on the wireless. The black wire needs to be on pin one. I was watching tekzella Sunday night and it did studder a bit twice. I still need to look into that. The video play back is almost as good as the hd300 and hd100 but the skip forward and rewind don't work as nice as the extenders. So I would think if you have windows 7 the stock codecs would work fine.

You're using it on wifi? What router do you have?

[mechling-burgh]

Netgear N600, It works on the wireless network but if my wife is surfing or downloading it does stop every once in a while. If no one is using the wireless it seems to work okay but that is with the limited testing I have done. I want to play with it more on the wireless to see how it goes. I have a moax setup I use on the hd100 and it defiantly works better hard wired. I thought the fast forward and rewind being funky was the wireless, but it didn't seem that much better on the hard wire. I also want to install eventghost and see if I can get it working better as and HTPC. Right now in windows 8 it's hit and miss about starting up sagetv in full window mode, a lot of times it seems to start in reduced mode on the task bar.