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Official Ceton Echo Extender Info Thread - Page 113

post #3361 of 7593
11/26/12 at 1:51pm
While I think the continued limitations of 720p output and 2-channel PCM audio should be embarrassing for Ceton, I could probably live with that for a while. Personally I find the quality of 1080i playback to be the more serious issue. Who knows, maybe there's a grand firmware update just around the corner that includes from fixes from Freescale.

This could be an interesting launch. I'm kind of curious how it will be received by the tech blogs. Many of us probably aren't representative of the market. In particular, a lot of Sage users are hanging out in this thread. I suspect the long-term WMC users will be more forgiving when it comes to several of the Echo's limitations. We've already seen some of that in this thread.
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post #3362 of 7593
11/26/12 at 2:08pm
I am sure even the WMC fans, will not want ot live with the 1080 issues. But then that can be fixed at some point, I suspect. In fact I would be suprissed if that isn't the #1 hit list item at this point.
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post #3363 of 7593
11/26/12 at 2:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by skybolt View Post

Well for most of us, no 1080 support, even scaled down at this point is an issue for most, and PCM 2.0 only audio. I see your point not too serious. rolleyes.gif
I know there are a few days before release, they can still fix EVRYTHING before the first person plugs there's in.
Does the beta end on the 30th? biggrin.gif
EDIT: Don't forget most of us want to replace the HTPC with the Echo, and put the server back where it belongs.

There seem to be a great many different setups that everyone is looking at doing. I wouldn't even consider replacing my HTPC with an Echo or any STB. I am looking at the Echo for the kitchen, bedroom and office, all of which have smaller t.v. screens.
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post #3364 of 7593
11/26/12 at 2:14pm
I'm super excited for this product but I'm trying to vision a way that Ceton could launch this product as planned knowing the current limitations. It just doesn't seem feasible at this point.
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post #3365 of 7593
11/26/12 at 2:21pm
IDK, maybe I'm not "most of us" but I never even considered replacing the HTPC and my PC works fine as the "server". The Echo is an extender for other rooms were I don't want an HTPC and the TV and audio is not as important. My HTPC works fine right were it is, in my Family Room / Home Theater. I guess I'm just repeating Haba here.
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post #3366 of 7593
11/26/12 at 4:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

IDK, maybe I'm not "most of us" but I never even considered replacing the HTPC and my PC works fine as the "server". The Echo is an extender for other rooms were I don't want an HTPC and the TV and audio is not as important. My HTPC works fine right were it is, in my Family Room / Home Theater. I guess I'm just repeating Haba here.

Exactly how I plan to use mine, it will feed a 42" in the living room and a 28" in the bedroom via HDMI. I have a HTPC in my theater room that has a tuner from the InfiniTV4 assigned to it, the InfiniTV4 resides in a my "server" that holds our files and keeps my weather website updated (already on 24/7)...$40/month savings over Dish and decent return on power savings that looks to be around 30 kWh/month or another $30/year...
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post #3367 of 7593
11/26/12 at 4:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tstolze View Post

Exactly how I plan to use mine, it will feed a 42" in the living room and a 28" in the bedroom via HDMI. I have a HTPC in my theater room that has a tuner from the InfiniTV4 assigned to it, the InfiniTV4 resides in a my "server" that holds our files and keeps my weather website updated (already on 24/7)...$40/month savings over Dish and decent return on power savings that looks to be around 30 kWh/month or another $30/year...

Do you have gig ethernet to the living room and bedroom?
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post #3368 of 7593
11/26/12 at 4:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

Do you have gig ethernet to the living room and bedroom?

Yes to all necessary areas...1 extender will be shared between the living room and the bedroom.
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post #3369 of 7593
11/26/12 at 4:34pm
Okay. I just wanted to make sure you were wiring to the extender using ethernet, not HDMI. Your reponse begs another question. How do you plan to have one extender feed two locations?
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post #3370 of 7593
11/26/12 at 4:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

Okay. I just wanted to make sure you were wiring to the extender using ethernet, not HDMI. Your reponse begs another question. How do you plan to have one extender feed two locations?

Harmony 890 and the HDMI splitter and cables have been in use for almost 3 years now... biggrin.gif
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post #3371 of 7593
11/26/12 at 5:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

I hardly call the issues serious. My echo works fine, excepting HBR mkv's but mkv was never even promissed.

No container support was promised but the files inside were.

To be clear the echo is not doing anything to those MKV's the codec packs on the HTPC is opening and sending the files to the echo for playback. drop the codec packs and the echo is capable of no MKV streaming. If anything the credit goes to mpc or shark. wink.gif
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post #3372 of 7593
11/26/12 at 5:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

IDK, maybe I'm not "most of us" but I never even considered replacing the HTPC and my PC works fine as the "server". The Echo is an extender for other rooms were I don't want an HTPC and the TV and audio is not as important. My HTPC works fine right were it is, in my Family Room / Home Theater. I guess I'm just repeating Haba here.

I don't blame you. I just have a real nice server closet and would like to keep the pc's out of the HT. But the past week I set up a new HTPC for testing and it's quite nice, the only issue is storage. How do you deal with your 20T, is it on the HTPC?

Edit: Your recording is local? or do you have network share as the recording drive?
Edited by skybolt - 11/26/12 at 5:31pm
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post #3373 of 7593
11/26/12 at 5:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mariob33 View Post

No container support was promised but the files inside were.
To be clear the echo is not doing anything to those MKV's the codec packs on the HTPC is opening and sending the files to the echo for playback. drop the codec packs and the echo is capable of no MKV streaming. If anything the credit goes to mpc or shark. wink.gif

LOL, that's priceless.
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post #3374 of 7593
11/26/12 at 5:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by skybolt View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

IDK, maybe I'm not "most of us" but I never even considered replacing the HTPC and my PC works fine as the "server". The Echo is an extender for other rooms were I don't want an HTPC and the TV and audio is not as important. My HTPC works fine right were it is, in my Family Room / Home Theater. I guess I'm just repeating Haba here.

I don't blame you. I just have a real nice server closet and would like to keep the pc's out of the HT. But the past week I set up a new HTPC for testing and it's quite nice, the only issue is storage. How do you deal with your 20T, is it on the HTPC?

Edit: Your recording is local? or do you have network share as the recording drive?

Recording to network shares is not by default available in WMC. Hacks and work arounds exist but any Protected content is sure to break.
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post #3375 of 7593
11/26/12 at 5:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mariob33 View Post

Recording to network shares is not by default available in WMC. Hacks and work arounds exist but any Protected content is sure to break.

That's been my experience so far, but I am fairly new to 7MC. I could not get the network share working reliably for the recording drive. The only way I had any sucess was with a VM runnign 7MC and the network share on the same server. But even that was not %100.
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post #3376 of 7593
11/26/12 at 5:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by skybolt View Post

I don't blame you. I just have a real nice server closet and would like to keep the pc's out of the HT. But the past week I set up a new HTPC for testing and it's quite nice, the only issue is storage. How do you deal with your 20T, is it on the HTPC?
Edit: Your recording is local? or do you have network share as the recording drive?

I have an Antec NSK- 1380 case for my HTPC. It has 2-2TB HDD'S and a 1TB 2.5" Samsung HDD as well as a SSD boot drive. There's room for one, maybe two, more HDD's. The Samsung is my DVR drive so I record locally.

In my PC there is 6-2TB drives and 2-1TB drives as well as a SSD boot drive. I also have a 3-TB external that I got while externals were cheaper. That drive is destined to be in my case eventually. I have all my drives shared and mapped across a gig network.
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post #3377 of 7593
11/26/12 at 6:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mariob33 View Post

No container support was promised but the files inside were.
To be clear the echo is not doing anything to those MKV's the codec packs on the HTPC is opening and sending the files to the echo for playback. drop the codec packs and the echo is capable of no MKV streaming. If anything the credit goes to mpc or shark. wink.gif

LAV, actually.
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post #3378 of 7593
11/26/12 at 6:41pm
The Echo can not play any 720p or 1080p H.264 .M4V files that work on the Apple TV 3. These also work on the Xbox 360 with the media pack.

They finally fixed whatever issue was causing my HTPC to crash in the latest firmware.

1080i is horrible. The main reason I use extenders is to avoid the 29/59 frame rate issue. My HTPC handles it quite well, but gets uncomfortably warm dealing with 29/59 frame issue content. The 1080i problem with the Echo is as bad or worse IMHO.
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post #3379 of 7593
11/26/12 at 6:59pm
You guys still bitching about a beta product? If it's still got issues when it's released to the general public then you have reason to complain. Until then, keep it in the proper context. The folks at Ceton are working their butts off to resolve the current issues so cut 'em some slack, willya?
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post #3380 of 7593
11/26/12 at 7:58pm
The problem is I'm sure there are people pre-ordering that don't understand the limitations that the Echo is going to have at launch. Obviously things could change with another firmware update, but as you know there are a lot of outstanding bugs that have been known for white a while. I don't have a lot of confidence they're going to patch them all this week. Now, people that pre-order before reviews should certainly know they're taking a risk,but this seems like an extreme case. I'd be pretty upset, for instance, if I got an extender that was limited to 720p output without some indication of that limitation on the product pages. And I'd probably be upset if I got a device like this that couldn't play high-bitrate H.264 videos despite claiming support for that video codec. And, perhaps naively, I'd probably assume AC-3 passthrough support because why wouldn't a extender have passthrough support?

At best, Ceton will come out with a miraculous new firmware version right at launch that adds some missing features and patches some big bugs, but will largely be untested. Probably more realistically, the Echo isn't going to be even feature-complete at launch, and people will essentially be joining an open beta program without warning.
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post #3381 of 7593
11/26/12 at 9:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by reggie14 View Post

The problem is I'm sure there are people pre-ordering that don't understand the limitations that the Echo is going to have at launch. Obviously things could change with another firmware update, but as you know there are a lot of outstanding bugs that have been known for white a while. I don't have a lot of confidence they're going to patch them all this week. Now, people that pre-order before reviews should certainly know they're taking a risk,but this seems like an extreme case. I'd be pretty upset, for instance, if I got an extender that was limited to 720p output without some indication of that limitation on the product pages. And I'd probably be upset if I got a device like this that couldn't play high-bitrate H.264 videos despite claiming support for that video codec. And, perhaps naively, I'd probably assume AC-3 passthrough support because why wouldn't a extender have passthrough support?
At best, Ceton will come out with a miraculous new firmware version right at launch that adds some missing features and patches some big bugs, but will largely be untested. Probably more realistically, the Echo isn't going to be even feature-complete at launch, and people will essentially be joining an open beta program without warning.

Again, I will have to disagree. Companies routinely have been releasing new software and hardware that needs updates to get the final bugs fixed and add new features. Even really big companies like Microsoft has done this routinely, just look at the Xbox 360 wink.gif The difference is that this product is being made for a niche market by a small company. Most people ordering this product should know what they are getting into since they are using it with WMC. A great many of those know about Ceton and their proven record of product support. Early adopters of a new product can expect to have issues and that is why I stay away until the product is working good be it software or hardware.
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post #3382 of 7593
11/27/12 at 4:14am
Well, here we go.

Just got an email from Newegg; my pre-order Echo has been charged for. I would guess it ships today.

***Actually in the Order Verification step***
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post #3383 of 7593
11/27/12 at 4:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by flipper59 View Post

Well, here we go.
Just got an email from Newegg; my pre-order Echo has been charged for. I would guess it ships today.
***Actually in the Order Verification step***
I see Newegg changed the release date to 11/29. The $10 gift card also ends 11/29.
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post #3384 of 7593
11/27/12 at 4:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by flipper59 View Post

Well, here we go.
Just got an email from Newegg; my pre-order Echo has been charged for. I would guess it ships today.
***Actually in the Order Verification step***

I got the same thing. The good news is it is Iron Egg eligible, which means we have until January 31st to return it, and if the price is lower at any major retailer between now and December 24th, we can get a refund for the difference.
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post #3385 of 7593
11/27/12 at 5:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Munkee Boy View Post

I got the same thing. The good news is it is Iron Egg eligible, which means we have until January 31st to return it, and if the price is lower at any major retailer between now and December 24th, we can get a refund for the difference.

Me too - they have charged my credit card.... Excited!

I plan to be patient while they work out the additional issues. I can live with 720p for a while. I just hope they can make this extender as rock-solid as my Sage HD300 units were. smile.gif
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post #3386 of 7593
11/27/12 at 5:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by captain_video View Post

You guys still bitching about a beta product? If it's still got issues when it's released to the general public then you have reason to complain. Until then, keep it in the proper context. The folks at Ceton are working their butts off to resolve the current issues so cut 'em some slack, willya?

with newegg charging people's cards, it is no longer a beta product.
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post #3387 of 7593
11/27/12 at 6:00am
Probably discussed before, but does the Echo work with DD5.1 high def channels?

Mainly wondering about the 1080i/DD5.1 FIOS HD channels...

I've read a bit here and it sounds like it down samples to 720/2 channel PCM?
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post #3388 of 7593
11/27/12 at 6:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by flipper59 View Post

Well, here we go.
Just got an email from Newegg; my pre-order Echo has been charged for. I would guess it ships today.
***Actually in the Order Verification step***

Wow, I might get my newegg echo before my beta unit.
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post #3389 of 7593
11/27/12 at 6:14am
Mine says its in packaging, wonder if they are shipping so they arrive on the release date....biggrin.gif
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post #3390 of 7593
11/27/12 at 6:57am
Welcome to the beta program?
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