[littlegeeza]

Hi all,


I'm finally thinking of buying a 10" airpanel, now that they can be had for

 

[Tivolicious]

Quote:

Originally posted by littlegeeza Hi all, I'm finally thinking of buying a 10" airpanel, now that they can be had for

 

[littlegeeza]

Ta Steve


regarding the setup my hope is for something like this (I hope this clarifies it a little)


Have the docking station in the bedroom connected to the stereo via a USB audio converter. This would be profile #1, were the music is streamed from my HTPC (in the living room) and played locally on the airpanel.


In the living room, no docking station. This would be profile #2, where the airpanel would not play the audio locally, instead it would just control the HTPC. The audio will be played on the HTPC conected to the living room stereo.


Living room and bedroom would not be used concurrently (at least not at this time, so the TS restrictions shouldn't matter)


Thanks for you help in advance


Paul

 

[littlegeeza]

Ta Steve


regarding the setup my hope is for something like this (I hope this clarifies it a little)


Have the docking station in the bedroom connected to the stereo via a USB audio converter. This would be profile #1, were the music is streamed from my HTPC (in the living room) and played locally on the airpanel.


In the living room, no docking station. This would be profile #2, where the airpanel would not play the audio locally, instead it just controls the HTPC. The audio will be played on the HTPC itself, connected to the living room stereo.


Living room and bedroom would not be used concurrently (at least not at this time, so the TS restrictions shouldn't matter)


Thanks for you help in advance


Paul

 

[littlegeeza]

Damn that submit button!

 

[littlegeeza]

Hi again Steve,


Just re-read your email and wondered if the confusion arises from my assumptions about the dockking station. For the 10" V110, is the docking station actually connected to the PC, or is a simply a charging cradle/USB hub that still uses the 802.11 connection?


My assumption was the latter.


Paul

 

[Tivolicious]

Quick correction. The USB is for input only (on the 10").


However, in your suggested setup you have a bigger problem.


The Mira couldn't actually drive the audio converter.


In short, what you are describing wouldn't work.


Sorry,

Steve

 

[Tivolicious]

Quote:

Originally posted by littlegeeza Hi again Steve, Just re-read your email and wondered if the confusion arises from my assumptions about the dockking station. For the 10" V110, is the docking station actually connected to the PC, or is a simply a charging cradle/USB hub that still uses the 802.11 connection? My assumption was the latter. Paul

For the 10" model it is the latter.


For the 15" model it is the former.


With the 10" model the USB hub is a slave to the Mira.


With the 15" model the USB hub is a slave to the host PC.


The 10" can't be docked with the computer.


The 15" can't be docked without the computer.

 

[Tivolicious]

I know that you said that you wouldn't have concurrency problems. However, I think that you might. (I could be misunderstanding you, though)


You expressed the desire to both play a DVD (with multiple monitors) AND use the Mira.


In its current form, if you are wirelessly (i.e. not through VGA pass-through) using the Mira, the desktop display will be turned off (specifically, you are locked out). It is impossible to use the Mira as a remote control of its host computer.

 

[littlegeeza]

Hmm...bugger!


Thanks for your help Steve, but sounds like it ain't the solution I was hoping for. I really don't get this though...what is it with Microsoft, they develop this stuff targetting it firmly at the home market and then cripple it. Sounds like someone didn't do their market research very thoroughly!!


Do you think this will improve at a later date, ie. remove this restriction on the display?


Also, what does this all mean for the Nevo IR stuff. Does Nevo run natively on the airpanel or is it also on the host PC?


Questions, questions and more questions


Paul

 

[Tivolicious]

Quote:

Originally posted by littlegeeza Hmm...bugger! Thanks for your help Steve, but sounds like it ain't the solution I was hoping for. I really don't get this though...what is it with Microsoft, they develop this stuff targetting it firmly at the home market and then cripple it. Sounds like someone didn't do their market research very thoroughly!! Do you think this will improve at a later date, ie. remove this restriction on the display? Also, what does this all mean for the Nevo IR stuff. Does Nevo run natively on the airpanel or is it also on the host PC? Questions, questions and more questions Paul

When TS concurrency is fixed so too will the Mira. As such, yes -- I do believe that many of these restrictions will be fixed.


Nevo is a different case. It is a local app and has the ability to do "special" things. Because Nevo never engages a TS session, it never locks you out of the computer. Personally, I would like to see MSFT write their own Nevo type app.


Microsoft is a slave to its vendors. As more vendors produce these, you will most likely see many of the idiosyncrasies get ironed out.


Another minor correction (I got the models mixed up). The VS110 doesn't have VGA pass-through. This means that (unless you are in a local app like Nevo) you will always be TSed.


Cheers,

Steve

 

[littlegeeza]

Steve,


I'm trying tokeep it light on the questions for you, seeing as you and I are the only ones here, I've no option, especially as you keep bringing up interesting points !


I thought that the airpanel only worked in TS mode. The fact that you mentioned Nevo runs a local app show promise. Does this mean, I can use this thing as an oversized PDA, without using TS? If so, I could write a simple client/server app or use Girder's Internet Server on the HTPC and create a frontend to run on the airpanel locally. Does this sound feasible?


Thanks once again.

 

[Tivolicious]

Local apps are provided by the vendor only. There is no mechanism for users to add their own. I agree with your desire. I have a client/server that has already been written and is just begging to be put on a Mira.


Unfortunately, it ain't gonna happen.


No worries on the questions. My pleasure.


Cheers,

Steve

 

[scottev]

Let me see if I can clear up a few things. I have been using an Airpanel V110 in my home theater for several months and really enjoy it. It has changed my computing model at home as much as ReplayTV changed my TV viewing habits.


The USB Type A ports on the Smart Display and on the dock are for connecting keyboard and mouse. Other USB devices are not supported.


The USB Type B port on the Smart Display and on the dock are for connecting the Smart Display to the host computer for doing things like automated setup and upgrading the Smart Display firmware.


The Smart Display does support multiple users and connections to multiple host computers. But XP pro host computer only allows for one simultaneous user at a given time.


The Smart Display settings page allows for configuring audio redirection. Audio can be brought to the Smart Display and played through the built in speaker or output through the headphone jack. Or audio can be left at the host computer. This option is very convenient when I want to play music from my HTPC out to my 5.1 setup, but I want to be able to select songs, playlists, etc wirelessly from the Smart Display.


I don't have Nevo yet at home, but from the demos I have seen, Nevo works as both a local application when not connected over RDP, and works in-session as an XP application when connected with RDP. This should make the Airpanel a great couch device, surf & remote control while watching TV & movies.


Thanks,

Scott

 

[Tivolicious]

I don't think that you and I disagree.

Quote:

Originally posted by scottev The USB Type A ports on the Smart Display and on the dock are for connecting keyboard and mouse. Other USB devices are not supported. The USB Type B port on the Smart Display and on the dock are for connecting the Smart Display to the host computer for doing things like automated setup and upgrading the Smart Display firmware.

Yes on the 10". The 15" is different though (for anyone else reading the thread)

Quote:

The Smart Display does support multiple users and connections to multiple host computers. But XP pro host computer only allows for one simultaneous user at a given time.

The is the concurrency issue of which I spoke.

Quote:

The Smart Display settings page allows for configuring audio redirection. Audio can be brought to the Smart Display and played through the built in speaker or output through the headphone jack. Or audio can be left at the host computer. This option is very convenient when I want to play music from my HTPC out to my 5.1 setup, but I want to be able to select songs, playlists, etc wirelessly from the Smart Display.

Yes, but my understanding is that the original question revolved around using a USB audio converter (I would assume a sonica-type device) from the docking station. This is not possible.

Quote:

I don't have Nevo yet at home, but from the demos I have seen, Nevo works as both a local application when not connected over RDP, and works in-session as an XP application when connected with RDP. This should make the Airpanel a great couch device, surf & remote control while watching TV & movies.

In combination with Girder it could work. Personally, I would rather have a nice client/server model, and I would rather have MSFT deliver it. I trust MSFT to iterate the product much more than I trust ViewSonic to do it. I also think that having a common remote across all vendors would lead to a better product.


Cheers,

Steve