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12/15/09
12/15/09
12/15/09
12/15/09
12/16/09
12/16/09
i'm not well versed in these things. But how does a tuner get shows. don't you still have to pay a cable company for a signal? Can you get specialty channels like showtime or setanta sports and stuff?
12/17/09
No. Broadcast television is free and in HD in most areas, now. With a tuner card, you just hook it up to an antenna (you CAN hook most of them up to cable also, though, if you want to pay for cable). If you have a really new TV, you wouldn't need a tuner card (unless you want your computer to be a DVR for HD versions of network shows), because you could just hook the antenna up to the TV like the old days. If you have a slightly older TV (my 1080p, 42" LCD bought in 2008 is apparently old enough for this, sadly), then you need a digital tuner / tuner card. In this case (my case), you can either 1) buy a tuner card for an HTPC, 2) not watch network TV, or 3) buy a set-top digital tuner box (~$30), which for some reason is a totally separate device from a set-top media box even though it's something that can fit on a USB stick (many tuner cards are just little USB sticks, though these are lower quality than actual cards).
"Most people don't have htpc and most don't see the need for it."
You're right, but the same people that don't see a need for an HTPC also wouldn't see a need for a set-top box like the one in this article. Thus, it stands to reason that the people who want a set-top box are the same sort of people who want an HTPC. It just seems like common sense to me for a manufacturer of one of these set-top boxes to go "Oooh...if I put a tuner card in there, then this becomes a DVR on top of everything else - suck it, HTPC manufacturers!" And even though I already have an HTPC, it's really just my gaming rig hooked up to my TV. I would totally spend the $100 on a set-top box and another $30 on an antenna and have my gaming rig devoted totally to gaming and net-surfing if the set-top covered all of my needs. Admittedly, my need for over-the-air HD broadcasts is minimal, but certain shows my wife and I watch together (Big Bang Theory, for instance), cannot be watched online with any sort of regularity or convenience unless you are a pirate, which I'm very much against, and other shows we watch that CAN be accessed online (The Office, etc) are 1) not in HD if watched online and 2) now owned by Comcast, a business that really hates people watching ANYthing for free. So, that's why I'm currently shopping around for a tuner card.
12/17/09
"Broadcast television is free and in HD in most areas, now"
see that's the rub. other then 30 Rock i pretty much watch nothing on those channels. Viacom properties like MTV are not even in HD. But i like the foodtvs, discovery, ect. I watch mostly cable, and specialty cable channels Like showtime or FSC or Setanta for soccer games. And i didn't see those mentioned. So i'm not sure it would be perfect. I do get the dvr angle but then you have to consider this has no hard drive so the manufacture is probably thinking he'd have to add one. And doesn't #1, buy a tuner card for your pc accomplish the same thing in a less integrated form? Regardless i feel your pain on a need not being met. I don't listen to FM radio. i do like AM sports talk radio but Apple refuses to put an AM radio in ipod.
" the same people that don't see a need for an HTPC also wouldn't see a need for a set-top box like the one in this article. "
This is where i'd disagree. like i said. i like this. all i want is to stream video and music from a hard drive. And i don't want a HTPC for several reasons. And trust me i've seriously considered building them. Even researched different OS's and tuner cards. But one, it's time consuming, two, can't justify the cost now just to have it sit under my tv, three, noise, i don't want to hear the fans and drives, don't want to have to buy more remotes or recievers, they look large and ugly unless you buy an attractive case which is more money. Last, i've no interest in doing anything on my computer on my tv.
not to mention. i have a dvr, get most of my channels, Now i still hate the cable company but that's a different matter. i'm probably getting the WDtvhd but like the popcorn and the stuff with extra hard drives just add more things i don't need and elevate the price to a point i won't go. I think a tuner would be a similar item at least from the perspective of a buyer in my situation. i'm not saying your tuner idea is bad, or that nobody needs it, just offering an explanation as to why they may think they don't need to integrate one. All that being said, my cable company does have some way you can plug a hard drive into the cable box and access media. but i think it's only pictures. it's a start though. Sadly from your perspective it's still coming from a crappy cable company.
12/15/09
11/30/09
11/30/09
1080p that you have on your computer is likely highly compressed using some sort of MPEG codec. The throughput needed is pretty low. USB 2.0 and 5400 RPM will do juuuuust fine.
11/30/09
11/06/09
11/06/09
He's happy, I'm happy, WD TV gets two thumbs up. #hdmediaplayers
11/06/09
11/06/09
Yeah, I'm aware of that thanks. Thanks to a recent firmware update, the only difference between the WD HD TV and the WD TV Live (version reviewed above) is the newer model has an ethernet port. #hdmediaplayers
11/05/09
11/05/09
11/05/09
i like the idea of the Patriot, BUT I just don't see them following up with sequential firmware updates like WD will do (and has done with the previous WD TV).
I LOVE the specs of the Popcorn Hour box, but at that price and size, I would go for a PS3.
For features, support, and price, I think I am going with the WD TV Live (as soon as it actually freaking shows back up in stock somewhere). #hdmediaplayers
11/05/09
My PC has Windows 7, I purchase this thing next year: [www.cetoncorp.com]
I rent 1 cable card for $4 a month. That device will allow me to record up to Six Live HD Channels Simultaneously.
Then I just use my Xbox 360 to watch TV.
Beats the PS3, let's face it. Most people watch more TV than they do movies. #hdmediaplayers
11/05/09
11/05/09
The card pays for itself in one year if I get ride of my two DVRs from the cable company. #hdmediaplayers
11/05/09
11/05/09
11/05/09
11/05/09
[store.apple.com] #hdmediaplayers
11/05/09
I'm hoping WD will add those, or Roku will add Hulu and the ability to play media off a connected drive (which is rumored). But, if neither of those things comes to fruition by the end of the year, I'll probably go with a Mini. #hdmediaplayers
11/05/09
11/05/09
11/05/09
10/30/09