SageTV Launches new HD Extender...
Tuesday, August 31, 2010 at 6:25PM It has been a long while since I chimed off in here but this time it is a great subject!!!
SageTV has just launched a new HD extender for their sectacular new version of SageTV. Sage has had SageTV Version 7 out in Beta for several months now and it is coming along quite nice. This somewhat unexpected arrival to the party of the new HD300 extender is just the icing on the cake. It was always assumed that they would come out with another version but when was the question. Makes sense to launch it at the same time they are polishing off the beta status of SageTV 7.
Brent Evans, of GeekTonic has a great writeup on the launch and will soon post a full review as he has had one for a while. Lucky bugger :)
My interest in all this, however, is a bit tangental… As I posted below, is this is the end for the HTPC? I think so.
For more than 5 years, I have been doing HTPCs up to run the majority or in the last 4 years, all of my media content. In that 5 years, there have been major changes in the penetration level of HDTV and also of BluRay. This has been very hard on the HTPC crowd as it causes us to be constantly upgrading and for most of that time, this has been hard. People that have HTPCs regularly have at least 2 and maybe more. This means that there are twice the parts and twice the costs involved with having to upgrade first for HDTV, then for BluRay.
Enter the HD300…
This little box, from what Brent says, simply makes the HD200 even better from a content playback and performance perspective. However, strange as it may seem, that is not the best part. It is the remote it comes with.
Yes, the remote. This may seem trivial and silly to some but the remote FINALLY has 3 programmable buttons that allow for the volume and the power of a TV to be run from it. This is actually quite the deal for several reasons.
The Eternal Wife Acceptance Factor…
In our house and in many others, the WAF determines if things stay or if they go. Since switching to SageTV several years ago, I have gotten to the point where literally all three of the viewing areas in the house are IDENTICAL. They have the same interface on the screen, the same selection of content AND the same exact Windows MCE remote to run the whole show. These remotes were and are great for the simple reason that they allow for the power and volume to be programmed.
Even in the main home theater room, there is but one MCE remote. This is because of the fact that all content runs via SageTV. The main amps volume is programmed into the remote and the power for the projector is programmed to the power button. Everywhere you go, there is the same experience. One remote to rule them all.
The reason the old HD200 was a pain was that the remote ran only the volume of the HD200 and had no access to the power of the TV. This meant that in rooms where there was only a TV and an HD200, you were stuck NEEDING 2 remotes. Not the best idea. Furthermore, for people like me that had HTPCs BEFORE the HD100/200/300, the idea of actually complicating things that were already simple was a bit of a turnoff.
Now, however, combined with the programmable remote, better performance and MUCH lower price of only $149, there is almost no reason at all for an HTPC anywhere except as the main server and in my world, even that is a dedicated device that hides in the utility room. The cost for a good motherboard or video card that does PROPER HD/BluRay playback is at least $100. Add just a few things to that and you are at or past the price of the HD300. This is EXTREMELY compelling. I am at the limit for age of components on one of my HTPCs and this is the answer for sure.
But what about BluRay discs? You may ask. Well, I know that there is great success out there with getting a BluRay drive into an HTPC with SageTV and being able to use Total Media Theater to handle playback and menu navigation but with dedicated players as cheap as they are why bother? There are plenty of players that are at the $200 or less mark and many of them do NetFlix (Soon to be a big deal for us Canadians!!!). So even if it is a bit before Sage gets native NetFlix, the dedicated BluRay player would cover you. Additionally, you may only want a dedicated BluRay player in one particular room so this would reduce costs even more!
Lets also not forget about power usage. The HD300 will be FAR below even an Atom based HTPC.
So I ask you again, with this flexible of a device what point is there to even consider adding or upgrading an HTPC. I know the answer for me is to not. As soon as I need to upgrade or if something breaks, this is a done deal. There will be an HD300 added to my world.
HTPC, Home Theater
Reader Comments (2)
Hate to spoil your remote party, but the HD200 and the HD300 can both learn the commands from a MCE remote.
The HD200 did not originally ship with a PROGRAMMABLE remote. That was one of the the biggest complaints.
Furthermore, the point was to use the remote that comes WITH the HD300 and not have to replace it. Only in a complex multi-component setup would a Harmony truly be appropriate or necessary. Unnecessary costs are a hurdle for many in a global recession that is about to go double dip on most people.
Search the forums if you don't believe me because this new remote is a big enough deal that this time, Sage is selling it separately right out of the gate.
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37411&highlight=hd200+remote+programmable
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50528&highlight=hd200+remote+programmable
Furthermore, the point was to use the remote that comes with the HD300 and not have to replace it. Only in a complex multi-component setup would a Harmony truly be appropriate or necessary.