HD100 - will it ever be available? And other questions about SageTV.

[gjvrieze]

Originally Posted by LehighBri

Damn... what other forum?

AVS, the guys wife did not like it compared to their sat stb, God, I love these and want them all over the house

[timnelsonic]

Ah, so you're the guy that got the extender on AVS. I had made arrangements to buy it (even sent the money), then it was sold to someone else. Luckily, I got my money back, but I sure I wish I had the extender instead!

[jalaram]

Originally Posted by timnelsonic

Ah, so you're the guy that got the extender on AVS. I had made arrangements to buy it (even sent the money), then it was sold to someone else. Luckily, I got my money back, but I sure I wish I had the extender instead!

I was actually first in line and he was very patient in waiting for me to pay, but I had to finally give up on buying this. I'm trying out the trial right now, but I haven't had much time to try it out.

[Ian]

I have another newb question - was there a limit last time the STX-HD100 boxes were available on how many one could get?

I am getting concerned at the delay in availability of these things. I am planning on setting up an HD-capable Sage system across the whole house, which is going to require quite a few of them.

It has been almost two months since the last supply sold out...anyone know why the delay? Is it hard to get the components?

I guess I have to buy them all @ once immediately after they're available before they're sold out again for months...
I have to believe the demand for them this time will be even higher now that the Hauppage box is more or less here.

[paulbeers]

Originally Posted by Ian

I have another newb question - was there a limit last time the STX-HD100 boxes were available on how many one could get?

I am getting concerned at the delay in availability of these things. I am planning on setting up an HD-capable Sage system across the whole house, which is going to require quite a few of them.

It has been almost two months since the last supply sold out...anyone know why the delay? Is it hard to get the components?

I guess I have to buy them all @ once immediately after they're available before they're sold out again for months...
I have to believe the demand for them this time will be even higher now that the Hauppage box is more or less here.

No. I know there were people that ordered 4+ last time. I believe someone ordered 6 last time but had problems because the credit card system Sage is using only lets you go upto $1000 so he had to work with Sales to actually place the order....(if I am remembering this all correctly that is).

[Fluffdaddy]

I'm shocked to read the STX-HD100 boxes were still unavailable for it third shipment.

If these things was made in the States this back ordered would have never happened.....................American industry might.
Sorry, I'm showing my age

[computer33]

My for sake I hope no one wants 4..5.. or 6 of these and Sage goes out of stock again before I get mine.

[gjvrieze]

Originally Posted by timnelsonic

Ah, so you're the guy that got the extender on AVS. I had made arrangements to buy it (even sent the money), then it was sold to someone else. Luckily, I got my money back, but I sure I wish I had the extender instead!

Sucks to be you!! But seriously, it could not have happened at a better time, need to finish my setup!!! One of these days, Sage will get them back into to stock with enough supply to last!!!

[Flash69]

This is really starting to get old. I mean it is MAY.

Also why can't they provide timelines? Folks in manufacturing always know when production will start and end. I want dates! There is no reason we can't have timelines! Maybe they need more then 1 supplier!

I have everything in-place except TV side device. I don't see the point in building a PC when this product will do what we need.

[gjvrieze]

Originally Posted by Flash69

I have everything in-place except TV side device. I don't see the point in building a PC when this product will do what we need.

I had very good luck with Sage TV on XP 32bit, but the extender is so low powered and just works, which makes the hassle of pc unbearable....

[stixx]

Originally Posted by Flash69

This is really starting to get old. I mean it is MAY.

I agree - though I am sure there are pros/cons, Im thinking of simply going the WMC extender route and build my HTPC based on Media Center v. SageTV.

[bastafidli]

I agree with that.

I am really wondering Sage strategy in this. Obviously they are small company and they have hot product (at least I consider it the best elecronic product I have bought in last few years, even though it is not marketed very well). Only they know how hot the product is because only then know how many people inquired about purchasing it and in what quantities. Only they know what are their financial resources and under what conditions they are obtaining the extenders. I am assuming they pay part on order, part on delivery. The interesting speculation taking these two unknowns into account is why Sage doesn't order enough extenders to satisfy the demand and avoid these long delays

- How big risk is it for sage to order enough to satisfy the demand?
- Did Sage decided the demand is not that big to satisfy the financial risk or did they decided that there is not any real competitor on the market to take away the potential customers.
- How big loss is Sage encountering by not having the product available?

BTW, the loss in this case is not only monetary but also credibility, reputation and market share. Their behaviour currently is a behaviour of small company doing almost "one-offs" (come on, three shipments in 5 months sold within few days?). If there is enough product available the number of satisfied users spreading the word would increase which could bring other customers. By not having hot product available they are really limiting their market share.

I wonder if they have the availability to procur faster shipments for premium price (e.g. air shipments) and if customers would be willing to pay that price rather than waiting,e.g. $300 for delivery within week (covering extra 50 for shipment and extra 50 for sage) vs. $200 for delivery when the product is readily available.

[chiledog]

Originally Posted by bastafidli

- Did Sage decided the demand is not that big to satisfy the financial risk or did they decided that there is not any real competitor on the market to take away the potential customers.

But there is a competitor, Popcorn Hour. I have 4 friends that were looking into Popcorn Hour or SageTV. They all went with Popcorn Hour because of the the availability and not being tied to one solution (even though it is one of the best solutions out there).

[morikaweb]

It realy would be nice if they told us what the problem is. If we knew why they are taking so long to secure a stable supply chain we would be less impatient, and who knows perhaps we could help.

If its a simple matter of not enough demand tell us and we will prove the demand. If its a matter of not enough capital, tell us and I'm sure we could raise the capital. Simply put keeping us in the dark is only going to hurt SageTV as a whole.

[gplasky]

Let me preface this by saying this is all guesswork on my part and I have no insight into what SageTV is doing or any associated costs Pure speculation, but back in the late 80's and early 90's I had a manufacturer in Taiwan and I use to import PC clones.

I don't think there is a problem. Take a look and understand the logistics. Hardware is usually not highly profitable. Not knowing the exact quantity they are bring in say they bring in between 1,000-2,000 units. The captial for that type of quantity could be between $100,000-$300,000. This would include the cost of the shipment by weight, insurance and frieght forwarding/custom clearance costs.

I am guessing these are NOT made in the US and come in from offshore. You would never airfreight this type of quantity. It is cost prohibitive. Your only choice is by boat. It's not like you have your own private ship either. You use a commerical freighter and usually ship them by container. They do have a schedule but it will change based on weather and based on if they have enough freight on board to make a profitable journey. So sometimes they will wait until they get the minimum load aboard from multiple customers. So loading causes possible delays and weather causes possible delays.
Journey could take anywhere from 2-4 weeks depending on weather. Now once it arrives the shipment needs to clear customs. Again could take 3 days to over a week.

The problem is there is no way to give a definite date or even a definite week. All of it is guess work. And that's why there is such a time lapse. You should get use to seeing probably a couple of months between shipments for awhile. Only my opinion and I could be totally wrong.


Gerry

[paulbeers]

Originally Posted by gplasky

Let me preface this by saying this is all guesswork on my part and I have no insight into what SageTV is doing or any associated costs Pure speculation, but back in the late 80's and early 90's I had a manufacturer in Taiwan and I use to import PC clones.

I don't think there is a problem. Take a look and understand the logistics. Hardware is usually not highly profitable. Not knowing the exact quantity they are bring in say they bring in between 1,000-2,000 units. The captial for that type of quantity could be between $100,000-$300,000. This would include the cost of the shipment by weight, insurance and frieght forwarding/custom clearance costs.

I am guessing these are NOT made in the US and come in from offshore. You would never airfreight this type of quantity. It is cost prohibitive. Your only choice is by boat. It's not like you have your own private ship either. You use a commerical freighter and usually ship them by container. They do have a schedule but it will change based on weather and based on if they have enough freight on board to make a profitable journey. So sometimes they will wait until they get the minimum load aboard from multiple customers. So loading causes possible delays and weather causes possible delays.
Journey could take anywhere from 2-4 weeks depending on weather. Now once it arrives the shipment needs to clear customs. Again could take 3 days to over a week.

The problem is there is no way to give a definite date or even a definite week. All of it is guess work. And that's why there is such a time lapse. You should get use to seeing probably a couple of months between shipments for awhile. Only my opinion and I could be totally wrong.


Gerry

I think you hit the nail on the head with your points.

A few other points to make:

Sage does not own the factory these are made in. Sage does not even own the manufacturing line these are coming off of. Sage is probably small potatoes compared to other clients that the chinese manufacturer creates stuff for (no offense to Sage). So on top of the shipping delays mentioned above, Sage has to be "fit in" to the manufacturing schedule. So if one of the "bigger fish" needs a rush order on products, what do you think will happen to Sage's order? It will be moved down the production schedule....

Unlike the MediaMVP which is made by Hauppauge and could be used by multiple platforms (including its own) so therefore there is plenty of supply, this is not the case for the STX-100.

Let's also not forget the fact that right now these are "the" thing to buy from a Sage Standpoint. Much like the Nintendo Wii, the newest iPOD's, and other high demand items, eventually the inital demand will subside and future shipments will not sell out as fast as the current client base will already have them and it will only be to supply to new customers.

[morikaweb]

In response to the posts made above by gplasky and paulbeers:

If it is somthing as simple as that then whats the problem with simply telling us that? If I have confirmation that is the problem then I (and mostly everyone else) shut up and go away. All I/we want is to be kept informed.

[Fluffdaddy]

Because they feel we don't need to know.
Most likely they been in the military before they were businessman.

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by Fluffdaddy

Because they feel we don't need to know.
Most likely they been in the military before they were businessman.

And because they are businessmen and do not want their competitors to know what's going on.

[taylormadearmy]

Originally Posted by chiledog

But there is a competitor, Popcorn Hour. I have 4 friends that were looking into Popcorn Hour or SageTV. They all went with Popcorn Hour because of the the availability and not being tied to one solution (even though it is one of the best solutions out there).

Arrrggg - I wish I hadn't seen that. Just been reading on the Popcorn and GB-PVR forums to see the intergation between the two and it is starting to look like serious competition to SageTV and HD extender. Something else to try - arrrgggg