Official Ceton Echo Extender Info Thread - Page 29

I know they said they were aiming for cheaper than a Xbox. Also don't forget this is the MSRP so who knows what the stores might put the box on sale for. I bought the InfiniTV4 from Newegg when they had it on sale for $229 while it was $399.

I have seen them before for hardware betas.

I think it is also a way to eliminate those who want to play with the Echo rather than test since the testers who pay will have more of an incentive to report issues.

Maybe they need the capital for further R&D or production.

I'm in. I'll definitely be putting this through it's paces. I'm looking forward to it and will share all of my experiences that are not constrained by an NDA.

I hope they are going to give us some more info before they want payment. Has mkv support been officially announced yet? I don't see it on the ceton echo page. Also DTS? If I have to convert all movies to AC3 like you had to do with the WDTV V1 its a no go for me as mine will be going straight to a tv which would need DTS to be decoded.

Definitely disappointed at the $179 price. I was holding out on buying an XBox until I found out more about the Echo, but at $179 and not available until November or so, it's making me want to find a used XBox on eBay. But maybe innocentfreak is right and they'll be discounted at some retailers. I bet that won't happen until it's been on the market for a while, though.

Yah the ceton quad tuner took a while to drop in price. I would expect this to be similar since they will be the only product on the market besides the xbox of course.

was selected but am weighing whether or not to participate. In the process of buying a house and currently have a number of expenses

Dang, left out again . Was really hoping to give one of these a spin. I see some folks got rejection notices. I got neither so makes me feel even more left out.

no one got rejection notices. 2 emails were sent out today. A status update, and a beta invite if you were lucky.

People here are talking as if Ceton is going to want back the echo. You're going to be able to keep the echo if you're selected for the beta. The hardware is finale, the software is what is being tested.

I was assuming the status update told folks if they were in or out, no? I got neither so assumed my registration didn't go through.

I'm in! Didn't expect to have to buy it outright but oh well.

Not only that, you will get updated to the final software when it it released, and if I remember correctly the warranty doesn't start until the device is available to the public.

nope, it just told them the status of the echo, and that beta will be starting soon, and emails were sent out. Basically the same thing it says on their latest blog entry http://cetoncorp.com/blog/its-been-a-busy-6-months/

I'm assuming if you ever got emails from ceton (besides support tickets), then you would have gotten the status update one too - since at one time or another you signed up to be notified about stuff.

I also got selected, but I want to know more about what it can and can't do before I commit to paying for one so I'm going to hold off on accepting or declining the invite for a few days and see if they provide more details. In case someone from Ceton can provide answers, here's some of what I'm looking for:

1) Does it have discrete on/off IR commands? (this is important for integration with programmable remotes, whether Harmony or the high end AMX / Crestron stuff)
2) Does it have an IR input jack on the back?
3) What functionality will it provide over and above what an XBOX 360 provides as an extender?

#1 is a must have for me (even if it isn't there in the initial software and will be added later), #2 is really nice to have as it keeps wiring neater, and at least some info for #3 is a must have for me to accept the invite.

In early press releases the Echo was to include a remote and to support CEC-HDMI for control.

The inclusion of a remote is very interesting. I wonder how Ceton is using CEC in this product and if it relies on an IR receiver for control and it controls the other HDMI connected devices. This would help guarantee that dedicated Media Center buttons would work. CEC is supposed provide for pass through of commands to other devices, but I wonder how well CEC implementations have improved.

I'd flip that around. You can work around non-discrete IR codes and lack of an IR input jack, but there's nothing you can do if it doesn't support anything beyond the Xbox.

I'm really kind of surprised at the negative feedback at the $179 price. There isn't another device on the market that does what the Echo is expected to do - period. Even the XBox poorly supports high-bitrate playback, and its form-factor makes it ill-suited for mounting on the back of your flat panel.

There are plenty of POS $99 playback devices on the market, but who wants another one of those?

OTOH, if Ceton fails and doesn't get this right, I'll completely agree with all the naysayers, and the Echo will just get thrown on the ever-growing pile of 'WD Live's and their brethren.

You can't always work around not having discrete IR power codes and many times the workarounds that actually work (such as light sensors to see if the power light is on) can cost almost as much as the Echo will. For me, not having discrete power commands would be a show stopper.

But I'm looking for answers to all 3 questions before I part with my money. Your priorities may be different than mine .

that isn't true. since ceton hasn't been forthcoming with details, all we know is that it will play recorded and live tv. they have been very non-committal when pressed for details about support for other media playback. with the information we have now, it isn't any better than the xbox.

plus, hd300s are still available (on ebay) and will do everything, and they were cheaper when originally sold!

I'd be hesitant to send them $180 without guarantees isn't just a repackaged linksys extender.

I'd probably be happy with the Echo if it is truly an extender of my WMC HTPC and also plays MKV files easy enough. We have a WDTV in the bedroom and I can't get it to play MKV, which isn't that big of a deal, but if it could, I'd probably be ripping more media to MKV instead of VIDEO_TS and BDMV folders.

the green button would turn on xboxes and other media center extenders. I'd assume this would work the same way.

you can always leave it on. there is probably little difference in power between off and on.

When the Ceton guy that was participating in this thread ignored questions about multimedia capabilities of the Echo, I assumed it was just a matter of the company's PR folks wanting to announce features their way. But, now that they're asking people to spend $180 on the thing and they're still not telling people, I'm starting to think they don't know. Is there a technical reason it would be challenging? Are the blu-ray folks giving them a hard time?

Yes, I know how to handle discrete power on the XBOX. But I'd rather hear something definite from Ceton rather than make assumptions.
That's probably true, but in the case of a power failure, it would be nice to have a reliable way to turn it back on.

I'm using a Crestron control system in my house, so things like discrete power controls happen to be important for my needs. All I'm looking for is answers (not speculation or assumptions) to my questions so I can make an informed decision before making a purchase.

I think I have a decent grasp of what the Echo is supposed to do but am not clear about its multi taksing capability. Here I am taking about an existing setup with Inf4 tuner and a Win7 (WMC) PC. With the Echo set up in another room, can the person there watch one recorded show while the person at set one watches another? (same PC of course). Can they both access the internet simultaneously (I don't see how). I do assume they can both watch different tv channels live, but am curious how flexible the Echo is beyond that.

yes. this is how extenders work.

what would you be doing on the internet with an extender?

yeah, the power failure scenario is a problem without a discrete on. I wonder if it supports wol?

I think they do know the answers to these questions, but I think we are not going to like the answer...

at this point in the development, they know without certainty if the hardware is capable of playing back br rips. now, whether or not the sw to do this is worked out yet is a different story or if some license agreement with msft is prohibiting them from doing so.

Until I hear (and see) otherwise, this thing is a tv-only playback device.

I was thinking something much simpler than that, like just leaving a power button on the remote to turn it on if it gets into the wrong state.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I think discrete codes are important to, I have URC remotes at all the places I'd put an Echo and I'd love discrete power codes for them. That said, (assuming good media format support), there is simply nothing out there that will do what the Echo does. If there were multiple similar options I'd definitely go for the one with the discrete codes.

But are you really saying you wouldn't get an Echo if it doesn't have discrete IR codes? And if you were to not go with it, what would you get in it's place? It's not like the Xbox or other WMC extenders are suitable substitutes.


I think you need to read between the lines a bit more. Eric all but said that it would support MKV early on.

Except their HBR bitstreaming is horribly buggy.

I agree with that though. I highly doubt it's just the same old WMC extender in a new package, but I would like confirmation before plopping down any cash. Though I guess they don't charge you til September so you could always opt to not pay then if more details don't emerge.

Not really, SageTV and any number of media players can do it. There's tons of media player SOCs out there that support Blu-ray audio/video streams.

That's one likely posibility, the other is that the Media Center Extender protocol doesn't support it.

Agreed and at only $20 less than a 4GB XBOX it strikes me as a tough sell for a lot of people. There's obviously a segment of users that want something that's silent and/or can be placed discretely behind a TV, but I think the majority of potential buyers will figure they can get a full blown gaming console for an extra $20 and pass. Unless the Echo adds additional functionality (that people care about), of course.

The price really doesn't bother me, but the lack of information to allow us to make informed decisions does. Hopefully some Ceton representatives will answer some of our questions over the next few days.