Extenders -my opinion

[Elmo Putney]

What PC are you suggesting I would want in my bedroom/kitchen & bathroom to replace my extenders?

I just put one of these in the Kitchen : AD02

It does have a fan but as far as I'm concerned it's inaudible, I did consider a PCH but the lack of availability and the additional functionality a pc brings won it for me.

Don't get me wrong the PCH is great, and I've had years of reliable service from it (current issue accepted) but I want to be able to use skype, spotify etc.... Perhaps it's a case of horses for courses, in the kitchen I want to be able to do all that extra stuff, in the bedroom I only want NPVR... so the PCH fits the bill. My only gripe on the PCH front is I can't just hit the off button and walk away, I have to hit it a couple of times with a pause between, and I don't ever want to see the popcornhour UI.

The NMT's "just work" & never need anything done to them (I haven't even updated the firmware since I did it on first getting them) apart form the occasional cold boot (about once a month I would say) they just go

My experience on my client PC with windows 7 has been similar, I really don't touch it it sleeps and wakes for a month or so I just give it the occasional cold boot.

Then go through the whole of codec hell etc

I have not touched the codecs on the client PC, straight out of the box as Microsoft intended it, perhaps that is just lucky?, but my server is also win 7 and the same applies.

The biggest issue as we all know is having to fork out to MS, and perhaps going to a different OS removes this but brings back all the issues like codecs.....


This is a good discussion, I just wanted to get it out there as currently I don't see the way forward with PCH type extender devices they are now hard to come by, and looking around at different potential extenders there is a massive choice and a fast moving landscape. PC's are getting cheaper, quieter and smaller....at some point there has to be a crossover....except for the MS tax.

[bgowland]

...with PCH type extender devices they are now hard to come by...

There are currently five A-100/A-110 versions on sale on ebay.

[Elmo Putney]

There are currently five A-100/A-110 versions on sale on ebay

I have an unused one, but I still elected to go the PC client route in the kitchen.

[roy]

Extenders work great in my household. My PC upstairs is the "HTPC" which does all the recording and is the server for the family media. We have a PCH at the two big TV's in the house which the family knows how to use and work the same at each TV. I sometimes consider getting another PCH just to have, but I learned not to do that after getting an extra MVP years ago, never using it and selling it here cheap when it was obsolete for me.

The PCH's work great with nPVR and are a perfect solution for me right now, all thanks to the fine work from Martin and Sub.

A couple months ago I thought the end was in sight for me as my analog cable was going away. Along came the DCR-2650 and I'm back in business, full HD. Now my good old PVR150 and 500 tuners collect dust at the bottom of the case with nothing to record. Who knows what the future holds, but I'm sure this community will continue to create a bright one for us, where we get to keep control of our media.

[bgowland]

I have an unused one, but I still elected to go the PC client route in the kitchen.

lol, I was being facetious.

As for this debate, I personally don't feel I'm likely to want/need to use a PC as an extender. I have a simple setup - one npvr server, one living room, one TV, one PCH. Everything pretty much just works as I need it to. As you say, you want the extra functionality for skype, spotify etc but I have no need so I'm definitely on the side of boxes like the PCH.

You mention Android although in the context of the 'Android x86' project which again relates to 'PC' hardware. Taking a slight side-ways step, the future of npvr (and other such software) could as easily include mobile devices, for some people at least.

One nice aspect of Android is that it is essentially modular - if one app can't do something it can pass the task on to another (3rd-party) app installed on the same device. Admittedly this has the potential of making the npvr experience more fragmented but users of Android tend to understand that's how things work and that it lends a great deal of flexibility. When I started with the nDroid project I didn't have much in the way of plans for streaming - music was a strong possibility at some point but not necessarily video due to the complexity of writing video streaming code myself. Having played around with the MX Video Player app (thanks Martin for pointing me at that), I intend in a future version of nDroid to allow users to browse their Recordings/Videos folder and stream content to their phone/tablet using a 3rd-party video player app. I'll probably add music streaming through 3rd party apps too.

Getting back to the point of the thread, traditionally the term 'extender' may refer to a wired/wireless device such as MVP/NMT/PC which either connects to a TV or perhaps a large monitor but I see the future will also include self-contained devices such as Android tablets and iPads.

Just my two penneth.

Cheers,
Brian

[Elmo Putney]

lol, I was being facetious.

I clocked that Brian.

Martin,

Do you see a hardware (other than PC) based extender out there that you think is stable - (i.e. will be around for a while), suitable and you can work your magic on?

[toboR]

My only gripe on the PCH front is I can't just hit the off button and walk away, I have to hit it a couple of times with a pause between, and I don't ever want to see the popcornhour UI.

+1

That was the deal breaker for my wife. As a result, I switched from the A-100 to a pc client running XBMC Live, and added my NPVR recordings folder as a Source. The result is that I can play all of my recordings, but with no episode title or synopsis. I can't schedule recordings from the client, but on the plus side, it's silent, turns off in seconds and the codecs are included. Maybe more importantly, no Microsoft tax. It's a compromise, but one we will accept until something better comes along (like an NPVR add-on for XBMC!).

[Grampz]

I will once again throw in my desire to use the Roku channel to access NPVR's recordings. Member Ioaship's work on it was exactly the solution that I was looking for, but sense that he does not have the time to mess with it anymore.

With the Roku I have many choices as to what I could watch via the various channels. It's requirement of .mp4 feeds, and the conversion from .ts was not working well to say the least. I had a recommendation to try Playon, as it converts on the fly. To be honest I have not pursued this, as my spending many hours on other issues I desire to not waste another day to wind up frustrated.

From what Sub has told me there are some royalty issues regarding the ability to save recordings to the .mp4 format, which he won't, and shouldn't pay for.

So where does that leave me? Chase down older extenders that are getting harder to find (from what I have read through the posts) and will be obsolete within a few years anyway, build a client PC for every tv in my home, hope that Windows Media Center improves, or just keep bitching?

Maybe we need to find a way to get more money into this project? I have donated, but not enough are from what I have been told. Am sure that Sub could sell his program, and be done with it. I do not see that from what I gather, but sure his life would be simpler if so. This app is cutting edge and deserves to be profitable at least enough to pay for other companies royalty compensations. A suggestion is to sell some advertising space for newer cutting edge components on the web site. Extenders, preconfigured mini quiet pc's, even the Roku unit. All with everything figured out and the ability to offer complete support, with quick solutions for the end user.

I do not want to give up, and empty my wallet for commercially available solutions. Sorry to rant, but am curious what the plans are...

Greg

[Jaggy]

I wasn't going to reply to this message (partly as I thought I had done enough damage in the last few days ) but then thought better (or worse maybe) of it....

So where does that leave me? Chase down older extenders that are getting harder to find (from what I have read through the posts) and will be obsolete within a few years anyway

Yes they are older now (I guess) but only because the manufactures keep putting out new (improved?????) models very very VERY quickly these days (boy I'm glad they don't do these type of new version that are so different that old versions are incompatible as quickly for things like TV's, Washing machines, fridges etc. etc.) but at the end of the day sooner or later all things will be obsolete one day & if it does the job does it really matter if it's obsolete, no one can see into the future to see where technology is going to be in a years time..........

[Elmo Putney]

"That was the deal breaker for my wife."

bingo...me too.

but xmbc or roku don't do live tv to my knowledge which makes it a deal breaker for me.

in my eyes an extender should be live tv capable as a minimum.