Devices > JRiver Id -- Hardware by JRiver
POLL: Would you consider the JRiver Synapse (a PC to TV connection device)?
datdude:
--- Quote from: JimH on December 23, 2008, 03:49:20 pm ---Thanks, Osho. Great feedback.
--- End quote ---
Yeah, I do this as well too.
I think the benefits are fairly obvious, but there are numerous not so easy to solve problems (which could be a good thing if solved by JRiver):
1) Screen DPI. You can fairly easily make everything bigger in Windows, but then some programs don't change well (including MC http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=47801.msg327678#msg327678).
a) If that's not fixed, you have to get a third party plugin to make Firefox auto zoom and it only works fairly well.
2) Noise and heat from the PC. PCs, especially multimedia PCs, get hot and transfer lots of data meaning lots of noisy fans and hard drives and sometimes means my system freezing up on me from doing too many things at once or for too long.
3) If this is going to be a true HTPC you have to make it easy to add LOTS (5+tbs) of HD space with out the problems of above, not easy.
4) Form factor. Most entertainment centers don't have room for a full tower so the 2 problems above become magnified.
5) Can you suppress all the stupid things Windows does that annoys the hell out of you, like slow boot times, random prompts for inane things, BSOD, horrible BR support, Hokey Auto Play system, etc...
If not I will continue to tweak my own system (with MC of course) and work to eventually build a better HTPC learning all the problems I have found through buying an off the shelf system.
I think what you are proposing can be done but could be a bit like going down a rabbit hole in order to get it just right. Would take lots of R&D imho so the cost would be high to get it to market if you want to offer something better then what is already out there.
The other way to approach it from a business perspective is to assume you can't just 'get it right' solving all of these types of problems with the perfect box, but instead figuring out what is the one or 2 things you could solve and add value to this market that would get people to raise an eyebrow and convert?
One of those things I think clearly is turnkey HD content playback. There are so many problems getting this to work right including disk space, sources for the content, and basic support for the playback. Get that right, and I definitely would consider it just for that alone.
Robo983:
I voted maybe, I go with what Osho said above. I use BTV for recorded video and JRiver for Audio and Image. Now thanks to MC13 and Nested menu and other great new features as compared to MC12 I just shut down Meedio for playing my network video files.
I am generlly opposed to single use devices. If MC had a plugin for Rendering UPnP (like XBMC) it would allow it to be somewhat expandable to other services MC does not support. My example is NetFlix and Blockbuster video on demand. Both sell a specific box tuned to there service that do only that one thing. Or you could spend a little more and now get an XBOX 360 that has UPnP, connects to Netflix and you can play your games. The XBOX 360 also works with MC UPnP and you get very good access to all your media. With UPnP rendering you could add on Playon and Tversity to access the preloaded content. I find adding online content to MC a little too much work as compared to the preloaded stuff on PlayOn and Tversity.
So if your box or MC had a render it could have some expandability. I too want to get away from HTPCs and go with a non-windows set up for the reasons previously mentioned.
pank2002:
This would be tempting if the price was right. I do think it would be nice if it was not based on Windows though. Maybe a nice, stable Linux system would be better? It should be low on power usage as well. And it should utilize a fanless design to reduce noise to a minimum, if possible.
I have no idea abput hardware, but I do have some thoughts on the software-side.
I would love to use MC with a PC. However, as Osho said, MC is not the best at everything. This is definitely a problem. I have said before and I will use this opportunity to repeat myself; MC should use a more unix-like approach to software. You cannot be best at everything. Instead integrate the best. If SageTV is the best TV-interace use that instead of building your own interface. It is a wase of resources to make a solution that is no better than what is already out there.
I do not know if this is possible with the current license, though.
I think the new Theaterview looks great, but is it greater than XBMC? Would it be better to work on the core of MC and integrate it with XBMC? I know it is opensource and that might make some trouble.
Also, I think MC needs to be more open to user extension. For example, I would like to integrate cool music-stores such as Magnatunes or Jamedoo into MC. Why not provide a interface to do it? As far as I know this is not possible, but maybe it should.
What is the point of all this? If MC want the nice, cozy place beneath the TV being the central media hub it needs to provide the best possible solution. However, this is not possible! Only by realizing this can MC be the best. Only by using MC as the backbone and providing the best components-integration can MC be the best. That is at least my humble opinion.
The people in this thread who has set up impressive HTPCs all use more than one application. I doubt this is avoidable. To quote Doof what is needed is a "one box that can do all of that stuff, from one interface". I guess all the things are available via PC but not with one interface. This is where MC should strike IMO.
--
Also regarding the whole handheld thing: some time ago I wanted to burn a DVD for a friend with some TV-shows. I have no other burner-software installed. However, it does not seem like MC has a DVD compatibility setting when burning. The shows were xvid and plays nicely on the computer. However, it did not work in her DVD-player. It would be nice if shows were easily converted when burned. I think it is already possible with MC, it is just not very easy.
Cheers,
Rasmus
MrHaugen:
I voted "No - I've done it". I'm way to picky to hope for this box to be of my taste. I also like them to be stereo component sized. Allready have a unit set up, and it would probably be a long time untill I need another one.
For people that don't have such a unit today, this could be a good option though! I would recommend it to any of my friends with "normal" media need. The thought of a full MC box fully set up and ready to use is tempting.
The one thing I'm sceptical to is the TV Tuner support. There are DVB-T, DVB-C, DVB-S and the Canadian broadcasting type (don't remember the name). And some (if not all) of this types comes with MPEG2 as well as MPEG4 encoding. All of this should be supported. At least one good TV tuner for each broadcast type, so everyone could use the box for PVR.
IlPadrino:
I voted yes... I'm in the market for some dedicated hardware like I indicated in the post http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=49714.0 which mentioned the Neuros Link (http://www.neurostechnology.com/neuros-link). The Synapse (cool name!) sounds like it would do the same thing, except it's more about the hardware (something beefy) than the software (MC vs. open source would seem to be a clear win for MC in any packaged solution where the user didn't have to worry about any of the integration). If you guys could manage the HDMI, digital audio out, HDTV tuner, remote, and access to networked media (which, to me is better than trying to cram sufficient storage into your device), all on top of MC, then I'd be ALL IN for a reasonable price.
Still, the open source community may provide a level of innovation unmatched by any single integrator.
Quiet would be the added killer feature that would let me put it right next to my AV receiver, Xbox360, and DVD player.
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