A Networked Home

Archive for the ‘Home Theatre’ Category

For a while now I have wanted to add a media center PC to my entertainment center rack in the living room.  As more and more content has become available online that desire has grown - Netflix on-demand, Hulu, etc.  Not to mention a few years ago I ripped all of our 600+ CD’s to an external hard drive and I really wanted to have that easy digital access with my Yamaha A/V Receiver and speakers.

Recently I made up my mind to finally take the plunge with an affordable DIY version of the Media Center.

I began by scanning Ebay for an existing, working box with the one criteria being the shape - a desktop instead of a tower.  This would make it much easier to fit into the rack since it has the basic stereo component shape.

I ended up bidding on, and winning, a Compaq Pentium 4 with a fresh install of XP Pro.  It has 512mb of RAM and a 40GB hard drive.  On-board sound and video round out this basic package.

Like I said, the important thing here was the form, so now the real work begins…

A while back I posted news of the pending release of the Ziova CS615.  To date, there has been no other news about the product.

News on the Ziova website was last updated December 26, 2007 announcing the CS615 with a release date of March 2008 for the US.  Since then there has been no update.  I am trying to contact a company rep and I will keep everyone posted.

Video-On-Demand

Yes, now DirecTV is entering the VOD fray. I don’t know if it’s available on the new non-HD boxes, but we have the option on the HD DVR HR20-100S.

It says it’s in Beta (what isn’t these days). But it looks fairly smooth and there’s a LOT of content available.

So, first you need an internet connection for your DirecTV box. As far as I know you have to use ethernet, but since there’s 2 USB ports it may be worth a try to insert a wireless adapter. Be warned that the manual says the USB is “for future use”, but it also says that about the 2 ethernet ports (why 2?).

I ran a Cat5 cable up through the floor to the box from a wired network switch mounted in the basement. You can probably also use ethernet over power line though.

The “VOD” shows up prominently in the main menu and you can sort programs in a variety of ways - categories such as Family and Children, Sports, Movies, etc are then broken down into smaller categories.

You simply click on a show and then choose Add To Queue. When the download is complete you can watch the program and then save or delete it. I downloaded a couple of short kids programs and it was fairly quick. There is also HD content which I suspect is not so quick!

Big Problems!

We are paying an additional $9.95 per month to receive HD broadcasts. I had assumed that would include things such as Discovery Channel HD Theater, but whenever I went to this (channel 76) it was blank. So, my wife called DirecTV and was told that this channel, along with 4 others, were part of a “special” HD package that would be an additional $4.95 per month! But, lucky us, there is a 3 month free trial so she agreed.

When I got home from work I tried accessing these channels. The info bar gave the channel name and the show currently on, bu the screen was blank. I tried several channels with the same result.

We called DirecTV. After walking through the basic tech-support (is it plugged in, etc.) they had us reset the unit. When that failed they had us reset the satellite (to a version that we don’t have!).

When the satellite reset failed it took out all of our channels! At that point they recommended a service call which would be $80.00 to fix the problem they had just created! Then they told us we could get the service call for $20.00 if we agreed to the service plan which will be an additional $5.95 per month!

I reset the satellite to the original configuration, and we now have our channels back, but now the additional HD channels we couldn’t see, but at least told us what they were and what was on, say “channel not available”!

The technician is coming the day after tomorrow, but I have no intention of paying for DirecTV’s incompetence!

I will keep you all updated!

UPDATE 2/29/08

After several lengthy phone calls to DirecTV they have decided that my satellite dish is not compatible with HD. So, they are sending out a rep tomorrow to install a new dish.

UPDATE 3/3/08

DirecTV came and installed the new dish and, voila, we have all of the HD! Now, I am not entirely letting them off of the hook here. After all, they knew what kind of dish we had when they let us order HD and they didn’t say a word!

For those about to take the plunge - YOU NEED THE 5 LNB DISH!

Interface 

I have had a few days now using the DirecTV HD DVR HR20-100s. First, I have to point out, this is NOT TiVo. Why DirecTV is still not working with TiVo is a whole different story.

That said, I have to say I am getting used to the new interface. It is not as intuitive, but it is not difficult to learn and it’s fairly easy to use once you do get the hang of it. Here are some thoughts:

• “Season Pass” is available and fairly easy to set up.
• The “Play List” is straight-forward and is similar to the “Folder” set-up in TiVo.
• The Fast-Forward is not as smooth.
• Surprisingly, a 30-second-skip is available.
• You can search for shows via several different searches, such as Title, Keyword, Actor, Etc.

Next up, I will follow up on the interface and also begin looking at the available ports.

Hardware 

I received the DirecTV HD receiver and have had 24 hours to play around with it.

At this point I don’t, yet, want to cover the interface because it has not been enough time to really get into it. I will say that it’s no TiVo, but I think I can get used to it.

For now I will cover the hardware itself. The box is fairly small and very light. It, surprisingly, came with 1 SATA port, 2 USB ports (1 rear and 1 front) and 1 ethernet port. In the manual these were all listed as “For future use”, but the ethernet, at least, is already active. I looked at the Network setup on-screen, but had not yet tried to set it up. All ports included:

Off Air Cable (1)
Satellite Cable (2)
Phone (1)
Component (1)
Composite Video (2)
Composite Audio (2)
Digital Audio-optical (1)
S-Video (1)
HDMI (1)
USB (2)
Ethernet (2)
SATA (1)

It came with all of the cables necessary - HDMI, Component, Composite and S-Video.

The hook-up (I used HDMI) was simple and then a quick call to DirecTV to activate was also smooth.

I have begun setting up my old “Season Passes” and figuring out the basics of navigating the interface. That is where I will pick up next time.

Do you have a nice receiver in your home entertainment rack? Do you have a desktop PC with a lot of music stored on it? How about a wireless router and laptop? Or do you at least have an MP3 player? Well, if you would like to enjoy all of that music on your PC or MP3 player through that receiver in all of it’s surround sound glory then you can do it for $10 (or less)!

A quick trip to Radio Shack, Best Buy or any other place that sells a variety of audio cables is all you need to make. Just ask for a Y-Cable. They usually come is 3 or 6 foot models and run only a few dollars.

When you bring home your cable you will find a mini jack on one end that will plug into your headphone out port on either the laptop or MP3 player (or desktop PC if it happens to be close to the receiver). On the other end are 2 composite (or RCA) jacks (usually red and white) that can be plugged into a free Audio-In port on your receiver.

That’s it! Now either play your MP3 player through the home stereo or use the laptop to access the music on your PC via wireless file sharing and hit play!

NOTE: I have never used 802.11b, but, I assume, within reasonable range it would be fine for streaming audio. But, if possible, use 802.11g or 802.11n for best results.

The AP is reporting that Netflix, beginning Monday, will increase the amount of time you can watch streaming video on your PC. The plan seems to be “unlimited” except for the $4.99 per month subscribers.

This is great news for all of us Netflix junkies!

A few years ago DirecTV entered into a deal with TiVo and began making several models of their DVR running the TiVo software. But, when DirecTV was purchased by News Corp they were forced to halt sales of the DirecTiVo and begin using DVR software from another company that News Corp also owned.

Now that DirecTV is out from under the News Corp thumb they announced back in July (2007) that they would once again support their TiVo boxes and users, like myself, soon got a software update. The most noticeable part of which was the addition of folders. And further updates were planned for early ‘08 (see Engadget).

But, to confuse things once again, in December (2007) DirecTV purchased ReplayTV (see Engadget). It would seem that DirecTV simply bought up ReplayTV for its patents and will not continue the hardware line. the ReplayTV website is of no help - as today is January 13, 2008 and the website is nothing but an ad for ReplayTV Personal HD “coming in November 2007″! That’s it. Not even a link to click on.

So, for now, I will assume that DirecTV will be, as they said last year, continuing their TiVo updates.

At this point though, DirecTV is still not offering the TiVo option to new customers, only their own DVR. A search of their web site found nothing of interest either.

So, on to the TiVo web site… Here I had some luck searching for DirecTV info. The first match to my search was this bit of not-so-good news:

Did you know that if you are a DIRECTV TiVo customer, you are not receiving the full spectrum of TiVo features such as Amazon Unbox, Home Movies by One True Media, Multi-Room Viewing and TiVoToGo?

On top of that, DIRECTV is also not providing its complete HD channel lineup to your TiVo DVR.

We believe all TiVo customers, regardless of whether they are a cable or satellite customer, should be treated equally. All of our customers should be able to enjoy our new products, services, and features.

To help create change, we recommend you reach out to the leadership at DIRECTV, as it is also important for them to understand your needs as a DIRECTV subscriber.

Please contact Chase Carey, DIRECTV President and CEO, at chase.carey@directv.com and Paul Guyardo, the Executive Vice President of Operations at pjguyardo@directv.com and voice your opinion.

We value you and your support. Thank you for your loyalty to TiVo

Unfortunately, that was all I found that was of any relevance on TiVo’s site.

Further searching found this on ars technica:

(dated August 1, 2007)

The recently launched TiVo HD has DirecTV’s leadership itching to look like anything other than a dead end for TiVo fans. Come 2008, DirecTV’s TiVo users will get a major update to their DVRs. The message from DirecTV HQ appears to be “don’t bail on us yet, TiVo users.”

In early June we reported on signs of renewed courtship between TiVo and DirecTV’s new ownership, Liberty Media. TiVo CEO Tom Rogers hinted at the possibilities between the two parties when he noted that Liberty isn’t in the business of making DVRs, unlike DirecTV’s previous owners, News Corp. TiVo’s profitable relationship with DirecTV came unraveled years ago when News Corp’s influence led them to roll their own DVR solution and begin phasing out TiVo altogether.

Clearly the road map has changed, as the two companies today announced something that I thought I’d never see: a series of major updates planned for Series 2-based DVRs. This includes all TiVo units DirecTV has rolled out in recent years, including the HD TiVo HR 10-250, which is based on the Series 2 platform.

According to the announcement, early 2008 will bring three much needed updates: web-based scheduling (”Remote Booking “), the Recently Deleted Folder feature, and Overlap Protection. The announcement was not exhaustive, and also noted that additional updates are coming, as the two companies “will continue to explore ways to bring future enhancements.”

“It is important to us that our customers with TiVo service also have access to the latest DVR technology and we look forward to exploring additional opportunities with TiVo,“ said Derek Chang, executive vice president, Content Strategy and Development for DirecTV, Inc.

Beyond all of this I was unable to come up with much concrete information anywhere on the web about what is going on. I am going to continue persuing this and, hopefully, get a rep from DirecTV to grant an interview. My initial call was met with a recorded message and, after selecting an option, the recording said “Thank you. Goodbye”!

Just a couple of things of interest today:

• From Engadget: Check out Denon’s new processor and amp combo. Denon makes some great equipment. I had a Denon CD player a while back. Lately I have stuck mainly to Yamaha, but I like the description of this set enough to give it future consideration!
• Also from Engadget: A new line of products from Control4 home automation.

If anyone out there sees something they think I should know about, please let me know. Meanwhile, I will keep scanning the CES tech news.