Ceton InfiniTV 4 Review

[Meester.Rip]

Original Article Link

I was glad to read that copy protection doesn’t affect extenders. It will come down to who is first to market between Ceton and SD for me.

[phoneguyinpgh]

For me it’s a depends on wether the the 3 tuners on the SD can be shared by multiple HTPCs at the same time.  If the Centon can be installed in a WHS and stream from there to the multiple HTPCs that would clinch it for that unit.  But I wouldn’t need 4 tuners in each machine, that would be over kill for me.

[jrandeck]

[quote=”phoneguyinpgh”]
For me it’s a depends on wether the the 3 tuners on the SD can be shared by multiple HTPCs at the same time.  If the Centon can be installed in a WHS and stream from there to the multiple HTPCs that would clinch it for that unit.  But I wouldn’t need 4 tuners in each machine, that would be over kill for me.
[/quote]

My understanding is that the reason you can’t share the tuners with the Ceton card has to do with Cable Labs’ restrictions, but otherwise the card could be shared over the network.    I believe that’s one of the fronts on which Silicon Dust and Ceton are lobbying for change, but we’ll see what happens. 

[joao12345]

yeah you cant share the tuners with PCs just with extenders…which sucks…but like it was pointed out this is a limitation from Cable Labs. What makes the SD a more interesting proposition is that you can change the card registration between PCS. They are trying to make the process seamlessly. What this means is that yes only one PC can access the three tuners but when PC1 is not using the Prime then PC2 can access the three tuners. I think this would be a pain to configure extenders time and time to connect between PC1 and PC2.

[phoneguyinpgh]

I think that cable labs restriction is ridiculous.  It defeats the purpose of a central tuner “gateway” that is the tuning access point for the whole house.  I hope they get cable labs to remove that restriction.

[captain_video]

Until I read the review I had never been concerned about sharing the tuners with other PCs throughout the house.  I’m on FIOS and I have STBs connected to my other TVs as well as a couple of S3 Tivos.  I’m starting to think that I may want to get rid one or more STBs and install media extenders instead.  I like the idea of saving money by replacing my Tivos with the InfiniTV 4, but the thought of saving money by dumping the additional STB rentals could be icing on the cake. 

The only thing that concerns me is that I record a lot of prime time TV shows and it may be difficult to share tuners with the extenders if they’re all in use for recording purposes.  OTOH, I also have four ATSC tuners to record my network OTA shows in HD and I rarely record more than two cable programs simultaneously so it may be a non-issue.  It looks like I’ll be shopping for some media extenders.

Am I correct in assuming that the X-Box 360 is currently the only Windows Media Center extender still being marketed?  Is there a specific model that is better suited as a media extender or are they all equal in this application?  What are some of the makes and models of extenders that have been discontinued?  I seem to recall that Linksys made one a while back.  Is it safe to assume that any Windows Media Center extender will work with Windows 7 Media Center?

[Mike Garcen]

yes that the Xbox360 is the only Extender still being actively sold. The new version, which is quieter and has lower power draw is the ideal one of course, but will cost you more.

The Linksys DMA2100/2200 (with DVD player) was a decent one, but the UI was not animated so looked kinda bleh.
The HP Extender 280n i think was the model of their extender, which had better quality UI (we have a review here believe it or not 😛 under general reviews)
And then there was one other, which for the life of me i can’t remember….

You should be able to find one of the last two for pretty cheap at this point.

[mikinho]

The other was a DLink which performed about the same as the Linksys.

I also have a new Xbox 360 Slim.  While as an extender it is quieter, lower power consumption and the network performance appears to be improved.  The network could be wishful thinking on my part though as I haven’t found what NIC is used (I haven’t looked either) but it appears to perform better.  That said, I’ve given up on extenders =)

[captain_video]

Thanks for the info.  Here’s a list of version 2 extenders I found on Wikipedia:

    * HP MediaSmart Connect – x280n
    * Xbox 360 (Works in MCE 2005, Vista, and Windows 7)
    * Linksys DMA2100
    * Linksys DMA2200 (Integrated DVD Player)
    * D-Link DSM-750
    * Niveus Media Extender – EDGE
    * HP MediaSmart HDTV (With software update from April 2008)
    * Samsung MediaLive Digital Media Extender MR-00EA1

[joao12345]

[quote=”captain_video”]
Thanks for the info.  Here’s a list of version 2 extenders I found on Wikipedia:

    * HP MediaSmart Connect – x280n
    * Xbox 360 (Works in MCE 2005, Vista, and Windows 7)
    * Linksys DMA2100
    * Linksys DMA2200 (Integrated DVD Player)
    * D-Link DSM-750
    * Niveus Media Extender – EDGE
    * HP MediaSmart HDTV (With software update from April 2008)
    * Samsung MediaLive Digital Media Extender MR-00EA1

[/quote]

Does anyone have any personal experience with either of these extenders…? i was planning on getting a second DMA2100 but thought i would mix it up a bit…

[jennyfur]

How much do those run these days? Just wondering cuz the xbox 360 arcade is only $150 now. And it can also play DVDs, unlike some of the other extenders. I also recall people complaining about the sluggish performance of some of the other extenders, but can’t comment directly as I have never used one.

[Mike Garcen]

[quote=”joao12345″]

Does anyone have any personal experience with either of these extenders…? i was planning on getting a second DMA2100 but thought i would mix it up a bit…
[/quote]

i have experience with a ton of those. which one ya wanna know? lemme know any specific questions

[captain_video]

[quote=”jennyfur”]
How much do those run these days? Just wondering cuz the xbox 360 arcade is only $150 now. And it can also play DVDs, unlike some of the other extenders. I also recall people complaining about the sluggish performance of some of the other extenders, but can’t comment directly as I have never used one.
[/quote]
I just picked up an open box Linksys DMA2200 on ebay for $99 sans cables.  I’m seeing new ones listed higher with Buy it Now options, but I don’t see many of them actually selling at those asking prices.  Any that are listed at a lower price tend to sell below $100.

The only other ones I’ve looked for on ebay are the HP x280n’s.  There are some used ones listed for $89.

[joao12345]

[quote=”shadymg”]
[quote=”joao12345″]

i have experience with a ton of those. which one ya wanna know? lemme know any specific questions
[/quote][/quote]
I guess which one is the bes from your personal experience..lol..in terms of quality of live tv (stuttering) and ease of use?
I guess they all have the same features but is there a particular one that supports more file formats? Or offer extra features that other extenders dont have?

[mikinho]

The only file format support difference is with the Xbox 360.  It is the only Extender that supports “intensiverendering” and H264 support for Live TV.  This means developers can target the Xbox with a more fluid experience than other Extenders.

[Author]

Posts