whyy does everyone continually say the HTPC is dieing when clearly looking at all the forums around more and more people are trying to build one
Not only are they much more customizable than this but the interface / Metadata is much better
a lot of work still needs to go into the automation of media ripping i.e. DVD to MKV/ISO on insert of the disc and meta data grabbed automatically and stored in a tidy location
but this will come over time (also BD is still an issue on most HTPC software)
whitlst i agree that this may be easier you still need to know how to put media onto an esata drive and if you can do that you should be able to configure an HTPC
Well it seems that A.C. Ryan's offering is considerably more expensive, though the Western Digital media actually seems fairly priced and remarkably good value overall. For me Asus products have always either been amazingly brilliant or a complete failure and this one goes in to the failure bin for me.
Originally Posted by tad2008 Well it seems that A.C. Ryan's offering is considerably more expensive, though the Western Digital media actually seems fairly priced and remarkably good value overall. For me Asus products have always either been amazingly brilliant or a complete failure and this one goes in to the failure bin for me.
i was looking at that after reading this review, it seems to be identical to the non-mini Bit-tech reviewed, just without the hard drive bay and 40mm fan.
really tempted for my parent's TV, it's a fanless mini solution that seems to work very well.
Ion nettop costs more than £200, these costs around £100 and includes a remote.
i was looking at that after reading this review, it seems to be identical to the non-mini Bit-tech reviewed, just without the hard drive bay and 40mm fan.
really tempted for my parent's TV, it's a fanless mini solution that seems to work very well.
Ion nettop costs more than £200, these costs around £100 and includes a remote.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. When they sort out a media streamer that does spotify and last.fm (and has a decent quality audio output) I'm in, not before.
I looked and looked for the perfect media player to fit my needs. They all seem to have some fault or another so I went with the Acer Revo 3610 mini-HTPC instead and extremely happy I did. Sure it cost $300 (U.S.) but it does everything I need without worrying what formats it supports.
Its cheaper than WD's offering and it has the ability to be equipped with an internal 2.5-inch hard drive.
I have an xtreamer as well. It's just a fantastic piece of hardware. Never had problem with it and I read enthusiastic reviews everywhere.
Bit-tech review was the only one with thumbs down.
WOW aside from the main interface, everything else interface wise is exactly like Patriots Box Office, although the Box Office supports ISO playback which was added with a simple update so I would suspect the same is possible with the O!Play.
I like the addition of weather and online content, as well as gigabit and wireless N, I dont know why most of the others are 10/100. So if ASUS updates this to have ISO playback then I think it would be ideal.
Originally Posted by p3n ion nettop + xbmc is practically the same price, these products feel like a con Oo
You won't see a decent Atom Ion nettop with HDMI and S/PDIF and a remote for this type of price. In most cases XBMC requires some configuration. I have a Western Digital WDTV and I just plug it in and turn it on. It plays every MKV I toss at it.
Originally Posted by p3n ion nettop + xbmc is practically the same price, these products feel like a con Oo
You won't see a decent Atom Ion nettop with HDMI and S/PDIF and a remote for this type of price. In most cases XBMC requires some configuration. I have a Western Digital WDTV and I just plug it in and turn it on. It plays every MKV I toss at it.
All of them have HDMI (with audio), S/PDIF is ancient.
I have an xtreamer as well. It's just a fantastic piece of hardware. Never had problem with it and I read enthusiastic reviews everywhere.
Bit-tech review was the only one with thumbs down.
Strange reviews at bit-tech lately.
they gave it a thumbs down probably because the firmware wasn't mature enough hence the issues but they've pretty much ironed out almost everything at this point so it might be worth looking into...bit-tech?
All of them have HDMI (with audio), S/PDIF is ancient.
Really? So if you have a set of speakers with decoders, Z-5500 for example, how would you connect them via HDMI? :)
'You people' need to open your eyes, I hope bit-tech can do some 'real world' explanations in the future; you may have "Z-5500" hooked up to your computer (they are PC speakers) but the rest of the world uses a 'receiver' to output sound to their speakers, which will have HDMI inputs if it was built in the last 4/5 years...
For example my ion machine is hooked up to an onkyo sr605; another benefit of HDMI audio is 7.1 and all the higher def audio codecs.
Originally Posted by p3n 'You people' need to open your eyes, I hope bit-tech can do some 'real world' explanations in the future; you may have "Z-5500" hooked up to your computer (they are PC speakers) but the rest of the world uses a 'receiver' to output sound to their speakers, which will have HDMI inputs if it was built in the last 4/5 years...
For example my ion machine is hooked up to an onkyo sr605; another benefit of HDMI audio is 7.1 and all the higher def audio codecs.
Not everyone uses a receiver and not everyone will use this device with their TVs. I know enough people who plug it into a monitor and sit in bed and watch stuff. S/PDIF is still a useful interface for those using other connections and still provides surround at DVD quality which is enough for the vast majority of people. Hell most of us still use Stereo.
Originally Posted by p3n ion nettop + xbmc is practically the same price, these products feel like a con Oo
You won't see a decent Atom Ion nettop with HDMI and S/PDIF and a remote for this type of price. In most cases XBMC requires some configuration. I have a Western Digital WDTV and I just plug it in and turn it on. It plays every MKV I toss at it.
All of them have HDMI (with audio), S/PDIF is ancient.
RCA is ancient. S/PDIF is necessary for those that do not have receivers with HDMI inputs. My old Onkyo TX-SR600 is an example.
The cheapest Ion nettop that I found was the Acer Aspire Revo @ $199 USD. It's still double the $99 USD price I paid for my Western Digital WDTV and requires configuration/installation with XBMC. It doesn't even come with a remote. Sorry, I will take plug and play over something like a HTPC.
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ReplyNot only are they much more customizable than this but the interface / Metadata is much better
a lot of work still needs to go into the automation of media ripping i.e. DVD to MKV/ISO on insert of the disc and meta data grabbed automatically and stored in a tidy location
but this will come over time (also BD is still an issue on most HTPC software)
whitlst i agree that this may be easier you still need to know how to put media onto an esata drive and if you can do that you should be able to configure an HTPC
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductID=1132287 Try that one. It's also very good, but we have yet to write a review.
really tempted for my parent's TV, it's a fanless mini solution that seems to work very well.
Ion nettop costs more than £200, these costs around £100 and includes a remote.
Nope. http://www.ebuyer.com/product/167153
+ cost of a Win 7 license to make use of DXVA ;)
http://www.xtreamer.net/xtreamer/overview.aspx
Its cheaper than WD's offering and it has the ability to be equipped with an internal 2.5-inch hard drive.
xbmc linux has had hardware accel. for donkies years...
www.pauljroberts.com/acer-aspire-revo-3610-atom-ion-330-review
Windows 7 came with mine.
I have an xtreamer as well. It's just a fantastic piece of hardware. Never had problem with it and I read enthusiastic reviews everywhere.
Bit-tech review was the only one with thumbs down.
Strange reviews at bit-tech lately.
I like the addition of weather and online content, as well as gigabit and wireless N, I dont know why most of the others are 10/100. So if ASUS updates this to have ISO playback then I think it would be ideal.
You won't see a decent Atom Ion nettop with HDMI and S/PDIF and a remote for this type of price. In most cases XBMC requires some configuration. I have a Western Digital WDTV and I just plug it in and turn it on. It plays every MKV I toss at it.
All of them have HDMI (with audio), S/PDIF is ancient.
they gave it a thumbs down probably because the firmware wasn't mature enough hence the issues but they've pretty much ironed out almost everything at this point so it might be worth looking into...bit-tech?
Damn you for your technicalities!
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2009/12/03/building-an-ion-powered-linux-media-pc/1
Damn me for forgetting I even did a fear about it.
'You people' need to open your eyes, I hope bit-tech can do some 'real world' explanations in the future; you may have "Z-5500" hooked up to your computer (they are PC speakers) but the rest of the world uses a 'receiver' to output sound to their speakers, which will have HDMI inputs if it was built in the last 4/5 years...
For example my ion machine is hooked up to an onkyo sr605; another benefit of HDMI audio is 7.1 and all the higher def audio codecs.
Not everyone uses a receiver and not everyone will use this device with their TVs. I know enough people who plug it into a monitor and sit in bed and watch stuff. S/PDIF is still a useful interface for those using other connections and still provides surround at DVD quality which is enough for the vast majority of people. Hell most of us still use Stereo.
Playing any movie which download from internet.
No error happen like this prejudicial review mentioned above while I using.
Check the ASUS forum for advisory.
http://vip.asus.com/forum/topic.aspx?board_id=19&model=O!Play+HDP-R1&SLanguage=en-us
RCA is ancient. S/PDIF is necessary for those that do not have receivers with HDMI inputs. My old Onkyo TX-SR600 is an example.
The cheapest Ion nettop that I found was the Acer Aspire Revo @ $199 USD. It's still double the $99 USD price I paid for my Western Digital WDTV and requires configuration/installation with XBMC. It doesn't even come with a remote. Sorry, I will take plug and play over something like a HTPC.
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