Morning all.

I've been reading all the posts on here regarding the above units. Could somebody please tell what the advantage / disadvantage is to buying one or the other. Originally i was going to buy the limhd200i, but looking through the threads it seems to have quite a few issues, which i don't mind having as it seems as though new firmware is being released every now and again. Looking at some threads for the Tvix's it seems almost the same.??

Hopefully someone can shed some light for me...

Thanks again

Oh, man.
This could be a long fighting thread.
You'd better list your requirements for a media player and the community will find a player for you. The main question would be if you want HD playback only or need features like photos, music, ftp, etc.

Oh, man.
This could be a long fighting thread.
You'd better list your requirements for a media player and the community will find a player for you. The main question would be if you want HD playback only or need features like photos, music, ftp, etc.

Brave man....that's why I keep shut....

But you are right, let everyone know what you are looking for, and you'll get some opinions I'm sure...lol

K

hehe nice statements but i would say wait 2 months then new devices will come out with all features and complete features, not only syabas devices also Mvix, Tvico, and some other brands so i f you dont need it right now then wait, is only my personal meaning, if you dont need vc1 and h264 then there are many devices you can take.

cHarOn

Hi Guys,

I thought it might end up being 100pages long.....

The main features that i'd like are basic really....

1, be able to playback the majority of video formats including MKV containers and other HD content.

2,GUI needs to look and feel organised, and easy to navigate the features.


Thats all, the additional features like ftp, and audio playing isn't really a must.

Both the Lim and Tvix units have most of the same features already apart from the Tvix units aren't really ready for the x264 format due to the older less powerful chipset 8622/23, although newer units are promised to be manufactured next year.

So what i'm really asking is...do i go and buy a Lim from Ripcaster tomorrow, and use the support available on AVSForums helping me to update the fm each time and hope that when christmas comes the fw is mature enough and all features work as you'd expect, rather than go for an already outdated piece of hardware....or wait for a totally different unit.

Hi Guys,

I thought it might end up being 100pages long.....

The main features that i'd like are basic really....

1, be able to playback the majority of video formats including MKV containers and other HD content.

2,GUI needs to look and feel organised, and easy to navigate the features.


Thats all, the additional features like ftp, and audio playing isn't really a must.

Both the Lim and Tvix units have most of the same features already apart from the Tvix units aren't really ready for the x264 format due to the older less powerful chipset 8622/23, although newer units are promised to be manufactured next year.

So what i'm really asking is...do i go and buy a Lim from Ripcaster tomorrow, and use the support available on AVSForums helping me to update the fm each time and hope that when christmas comes the fw is mature enough and all features work as you'd expect, rather than go for an already outdated piece of hardware....or wait for a totally different unit.

For the sake of not starting WWIII, I will give my answer in a few days when the next firmware cut is public (I've just finished testing the new beta and feedback is now with Jackie and Tomacro)....I can't say fairer than that...

K

Hi Guys,

I thought it might end up being 100pages long.....

The main features that i'd like are basic really....

1, be able to playback the majority of video formats including MKV containers and other HD content.

2,GUI needs to look and feel organised, and easy to navigate the features.


Thats all, the additional features like ftp, and audio playing isn't really a must.

Both the Lim and Tvix units have most of the same features already apart from the Tvix units aren't really ready for the x264 format due to the older less powerful chipset 8622/23, although newer units are promised to be manufactured next year.

So what i'm really asking is...do i go and buy a Lim from Ripcaster tomorrow, and use the support available on AVSForums helping me to update the fm each time and hope that when christmas comes the fw is mature enough and all features work as you'd expect, rather than go for an already outdated piece of hardware....or wait for a totally different unit.
If I am not mistaken the Lim and the 4100 use the identical sigma design chipset.

IMO I would wait a bit more to see what shakes out.

if you want real mkv support then wait for the upcoming 8634 based devices because the tvix and the tommacro device has the 8623 chip inside and there you wont get full mkv support without problems!

cHarOn

Thanks for the wise words...

There seems to be conflicting stories with the chipsets that are used, but looking at about 20 different posts it seems to have the 8623 chipset :(

Looks like i'll be waiting for either the new firmware details from "oldpainless68" once its been tested or a new unit in the future with the 8634 chipset.

This reminds me of the time when i purchased a personal cd player that played mp3 files direct from cdr....ooh the good old days, i paid about £150 from maplins, then about 6weeks later the prices came down and you could pick them up for £100 with a million extra features built in.....

Thanks for all the info

The main features that i'd like are basic really....

1, be able to playback the majority of video formats including MKV containers and other HD content.



I vote LIM! Unless you want macro-blocks in your movies. :p


Both the Lim and Tvix units have most of the same features already apart from the Tvix units aren't really ready for the x264 format due to the older less powerful chipset 8622/23, although newer units are promised to be manufactured next year.


and will be facing the same rush to production before quality control processes have even started. In a nutshell it will take months to iron out the issues with the new design when it finally arrives.


So what i'm really asking is...do i go and buy a Lim from Ripcaster tomorrow, and use the support available on AVSForums helping me to update the fm each time and hope that when christmas comes the fw is mature enough and all features work as you'd expect, rather than go for an already outdated piece of hardware....or wait for a totally different unit.

Thats a question for the wife *cough* *cough* I mean wallet.


There seems to be conflicting stories with the chipsets that are used, but looking at about 20 different posts it seems to have the 8623 chipset :(


The chip inside is this:
http://img456.imageshack.us/img456/4615/limhd01lq6.jpg
* captured by an anonymous source


This reminds me of the time when i purchased a personal cd player that played mp3 files direct from cdr....ooh the good old days, i paid about £150 from maplins, then about 6weeks later the prices came down and you could pick them up for £100 with a million extra features built in.....


How does that famous saying going, "You pay to play!" I remember $250US for a single tray (yes the entire tray pops out) top opening CD-ROM 1X for my pc years ago .. now you can get DVD+R (DUAL LAYERS) for around $30. :D

I vote LIM! Unless you want macro-blocks in your movies.

Ah.
Just wanted to open eyes regarding limHD and TViX bugs/features with impartial comparison but then decided to restrain myself. There are so many limHD promoters so I give up.
Maybe energetic Hi-Jack will do.

It's totally up to the individual user requirements. If your read up earlier the user asked for a specific feature-set that the LIM can provide. This was a result of a limited subset of decisions, namely Lim vs TViX.

I could of easily said build an HTPC box that can do 200% more than any of the Sigma based devices and spend a little extra to be set for the future, but that defeats the purpose.

BTW, what good is a discussion/debate/review/opinion without critical review of the facts. I'm only speaking the facts based on my knowledge of the subject matter at hand.

av_noob,

So I take it that you own both and have been comparing the performance side by side?

and will be facing the same rush to production before quality control processes have even started. In a nutshell it will take months to iron out the issues with the new design when it finally arrives.


funny because the syabas software is there where the lim already is so i think you dont have an syabas device, the different is the syabas is an software developer so they cant make an buggy software so they wont sell it. mkv is no problem anymore on syabas device and yes it has features what lim will never get.
But i dont wanna fight the question is what chrisjkerr wants, as i said if he dont needs it right now then he should wait 2 months and buy then an 8634 device, when he has no time then he can take tvico, novatron or the limhd.

cHarOn

I think it's best to just wait and see what happens over the next week or so..;)

Then I'll give my view...

K

Hi Again,,

I didn't mean for everyone to get highrate!

I've been speaking to the suppliers here in the uk and i've decided to wait for a few months. Just before christmas i'm sure something will crop up on the market with all bells and whistles, if nothing appears i'll then go for the Lim as i said previously the firmware should have matured enough, if that still isn't the case then im looking at building a HTPC using all sorts of components stored around various parts of the house (the missus will approve of this) i'll just need to buy the cpu and a good gc.

I'm the sort of guy that see's something and wants it lastweek, no matter what it takes.....

Thanks again,

Hi Again,,

I didn't mean for everyone to get highrate!

I've been speaking to the suppliers here in the uk and i've decided to wait for a few months. Just before christmas i'm sure something will crop up on the market with all bells and whistles, if nothing appears i'll then go for the Lim as i said previously the firmware should have matured enough, if that still isn't the case then im looking at building a HTPC using all sorts of components stored around various parts of the house (the missus will approve of this) i'll just need to buy the cpu and a good gc.

I'm the sort of guy that see's something and wants it lastweek, no matter what it takes.....

Thanks again,

Nice to see someone else on UK time..lol....

You wont need to wait for Christmas!..for HD playback and picture quality, and the lack of a fan, I'd recommend it now, but for MKV 720p & 1080p PERFECT playback....like I said, give it another week...

K

Hi Guys,


Yeah, i'll wait a week and see how things develop with the new Firmware..it can't do any harm seeing as im supposadly waiting till xmas...what's a week?

Seeing as Oldpainless68 is on UK time, i'm almost guranteed to get a response once i start to harrass him lol...

Cheers

funny because the syabas software is there where the lim already is so i think you dont have an syabas device, the different is the syabas is an software developer so they cant make an buggy software so they wont sell it. mkv is no problem anymore on syabas device and yes it has features what lim will never get.
But i dont wanna fight the question is what chrisjkerr wants, as i said if he dont needs it right now then he should wait 2 months and buy then an 8634 device, when he has no time then he can take tvico, novatron or the limhd.

cHarOn

When is the Syabas Media Tank suppose to come out? Any idea on price?

Thanks,
Enrique

there will come different devices out with syabas software on price is not really known now but it should be between 300 - 500 euro.

chrisjkerr, i'm a newbie and I don't know what i'm talking about (concerning some pro
limhd200i fans) but listen to common sense and buy neither of TvIX or LimHD200i if mkv
is your main requirement. Although both can handle it, the LimHD200i handles things
better, firmware updates will however constantly shift between lim and TVIX being in
the lead depending on where you stand on all the rest that makes a player.

Even though lim can perfect it's mkv playback, it will bump into limitation of offering you
handlers for files (ff/rw fluent, ways to copy files to the player, bookmarks and a whole
list of other stuff).

The new EM8634 players will have MMU and be much more stable because of it and will
be able to combine good features with playability as to where Tomacro reaches performance
by leaving out user convenience and options, and DVICo performs less for offering these
two asside.

DvICo is a general media player with added MKv support within limits. Tomacro is a
general player that concentrates on tweaking H.264 while leaving out all the rest that
makes a good generic player that can please asside from it's HD performance. The EM
8634 will have it's issues when first released, but it will be capable of combining the
best of both TViX and Tomacro and it will have an easy task doing so with much more
power under the hood.

It's your money... so you decide.
Both camps have loads of people voting for their favorite. It doesn't change that either
one of them will be a match against the much more powerfull EM8634 players... and
they are only a few months away and will have the same price tag as these players
today.

Unless you are an early adopter and freaky video guy, just wait for the next thing to come along :-)

chrisjkerr, i'm a newbie and I don't know what i'm talking about (concerning some pro
limhd200i fans) but listen to common sense and buy neither of TvIX or LimHD200i if mkv
is your main requirement. Although both can handle it, the LimHD200i handles things
better, firmware updates will however constantly shift between lim and TVIX being in
the lead depending on where you stand on all the rest that makes a player.

Even though lim can perfect it's mkv playback, it will bump into limitation of offering you
handlers for files (ff/rw fluent, ways to copy files to the player, bookmarks and a whole
list of other stuff).

The new EM8634 players will have MMU and be much more stable because of it and will
be able to combine good features with playability as to where Tomacro reaches performance
by leaving out user convenience and options, and DVICo performs less for offering these
two asside.

DvICo is a general media player with added MKv support within limits. Tomacro is a
general player that concentrates on tweaking H.264 while leaving out all the rest that
makes a good generic player that can please asside from it's HD performance. The EM
8634 will have it's issues when first released, but it will be capable of combining the
best of both TViX and Tomacro and it will have an easy task doing so with much more
power under the hood.

It's your money... so you decide.
Both camps have loads of people voting for their favorite. It doesn't change that either
one of them will be a match against the much more powerfull EM8634 players... and
they are only a few months away and will have the same price tag as these players
today.

Unless you are an early adopter and freaky video guy, just wait for the next thing to come along :-)

Hi-Jack....I'm starting to warm to you...you are right, if chrisjkerr wants a general media player, Tvix is best....if Hi-def and H.264 is the driver, as you say, the Lim's the one.

I'm not sure the Lim will ever compete with the Tvix in terms of a general media player...that's just my view, but the Lim will continue to focus on Hi-Def (that may not be to everyones tastes, but it is the future)...and as you maybe starting to understand....if you have some goods points to make (as you do!...from time to time (joke!))....these will get added to the user dev log.(although, as you know, I will not add to the log just for the sake of it)......

On the last point, I do wonder how long it will take the next gen 8634 systems to work out their bugs.....remember, the future is ALWAYS tommorow...
K

I get that, but it's not there i see difference to make.

You know how people buy something for some reason and then want more after they got used to it or start finding that things should be better...

That's the mistake many make by hearing wonderfull things. No doubt for
pure HD power the LimHD200i is better placed, but if there's no urgence in
buying one today, would it not be best to buy one in 2 months that has a
wider and brighter feature?

If both Tomacro continuously improve and EM8634 side by side and have the
same price tag, the obvious choice would be who offers more value for
money. Then I would look at the companies behind it, Syabas is an oldie
and well progressing even if they missed the boat on a couple occasions,
Tomacro is new and still has to earn it's stripes...

The new cut will probably change my opinion that for those who can't wait should buy Tomacro for HD playback, but if they can, I doubt any firmware will be able to make me change my mind that the EM8634 is the future. What I would say is that it helps you pass time until it'zs there and even a couple months longer to have more choices come up as more brands come...

Guess we could do the same with Tomacro and TViX (3rd = IAMM NTD37HD)
but then we can wait forever. 2 months is however very close and
concerning issues and some instability / limitations, the Tomacro doesn't
convince me just yet (based on what i've seen so far, can't look in the
future)

We should test it... :-)
chrisjkerr, buy the LimHD200i...
If you don't like it or if you feel sorry when the EM8634 pop up, let us know :-)

Ok guys,

I gave in yesterday and purchased the Lim....:)

To my suprise it's pretty good. I have played some of the HD rips i have and so far it impresses. The GUI is pants and im sure i could bring something together better with a chalk. However i'm not going to slag it off just yet, but hopefully tonight, ill get a good few hours testing the various fileformats i have..

Thanks to all that helped .....

Chris

Ok guys,

I gave in yesterday and purchased the Lim....:)

To my suprise it's pretty good. I have played some of the HD rips i have and so far it impresses. The GUI is pants and im sure i could bring something together better with a chalk. However i'm not going to slag it off just yet, but hopefully tonight, ill get a good few hours testing the various fileformats i have..

Thanks to all that helped .....

Chris

You are right...the GUI sucks...lol....so it's a good job I didn't buy it for that...lol..;)

Have fun and if you have any issues, drop in on the Lim thread...

K

Forgot to add...welcome on board as a Lim owner..

K

Ok guys,

I gave in yesterday and purchased the Lim....:)

To my suprise it's pretty good. I have played some of the HD rips i have and so far it impresses. The GUI is pants and im sure i could bring something together better with a chalk. However i'm not going to slag it off just yet, but hopefully tonight, ill get a good few hours testing the various fileformats i have..

Thanks to all that helped .....

Chris

Welcome!
And you're right about the interface. Let's hope it's possible to make it skinnable.
Enjoy!

Hi Guys,

Just a quick one hopefully.

I downloaded the Casino Royale rip from a certian somewhere till i can get the relevant sw to rip my Bluray and HD-DVD's. When i play the 7.9gb file on the pc with VLC player i have no issues with the sound etc, however when i play it on the Lim i don't get any sound at all. When i play another mvk, "Shooter HD-DVD" the audio and video are perfect?

This is all the info i have on the file, if you know of any other bits of software that might give me more info let me know.
HDTV 1280x528, ENG 5.1 DTS, mkv format,
video bitrate 6300 kbps, 23.976 fps, audio bitrate 1536 kpbs
Source: BluRay disc (1080p)

any suggestions would be appreciated.

Chris

Download mediainfo (http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en/Download) and post the results of the file. Its possible the audio is DTS-HD which is NOT supported on the lim.

Hi av_noob

This is the info using the Mediainfo software.

As this looks like the DTS is causing the sound issues then, is there any software to re-encode on my pc etc?

General #0
Complete name : D:\Casino Royale.mkv
Format : Matroska
File size : 7.87 GiB
PlayTime : 2h 24mn
Bit rate : 7814 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2007-03-16 14:16:05
Writing application : mkvmerge v2.0.2 ('You're My Flame') built on Feb 21 2007 23:40:55
Writing library : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1

Video #0
Codec : MPEG-4 AVC
Codec/Info : MPEG4 ISO advanced profile
PlayTime : 2h 24mn
Width : 1280 pixels
Height : 528 pixels
Aspect ratio : 2.424
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Language : English

Audio #0
Codec : DTS
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Sampling rate : 48 KHz

I know that tvix support sub/idx subtitle, is limhd supporting sub/idx image based subtitle as well?

hey guys, isn't 862x not supporting all the losses codec like DTS-HD and DD-True-HD?

by the way, is there any clip that plays extremely well on the Lim but will hang or make 4100SH looks ugly? hehe......are both players using different OS and decoder although they are built based on the similar design ?

hey guys, isn't 862x not supporting all the losses codec like DTS-HD and DD-True-HD?

My understanding is that you need additional chip in addition to the Sigma for this to work.

Any word on the update to the limHD200i?

chrisjkerr: there are ways to get FTP if you want to fiddle a little..

but it isn't for everyone I guess...

Anyone?

Any word on the update to the limHD200i?

Tomacro is supposed to be announcing new products at the end of this month. That could spell the end of updates for the limHD200i (which still is hardly mature).