HD200 - A nice small box, but

[TorontoSage]

Originally Posted by valnar

Why does it matter if the box is plain and black? Why would aesthetics matter if you want to tuck it away somewhere unseen?

Since it has to be in plain view for the IR receiver to work, I would think you'd love the fact it's small, black, plain and relatively unobtrusive. Although regarding the LED lights, I agree with you. Having the data indicator directly on the back near the NIC would be nice.

Aesthetics would not matter to me, or likely anyone, if it was designed so that you don't see it. But, it wasn't, which is my point.

To hide it one has to pay at least $100 or more per box for an unobstrusive IR receiver and connecting block, power supply and IR blaster (the functionality all of which is included in the box already).

Originally Posted by valnar

Since it has to be in plain view for the IR receiver to work, I would think you'd love the fact it's small, black, plain and relatively unobtrusive. Although regarding the LED lights, I agree with you. Having the data indicator directly on the back near the NIC would be nice.

Black is the most unobtrusive colour to use and it matches most displays. Thank God they didn't make it white, but then since it is metal one could have always painted it.

As there is no or questionable utility to having the box visible, the fact that it is small enough that it could have been hidden if it had an IR jack is great, hence my OP. And some posts on here show that others are attempting to hide the box in innovative, if not perfect, ways.

I wonder if the box was indeed designed with an IR jack so that you could tuck it away out of sight in a cabinet or veclro'd to the back of the TV or wall behind, whether we'd have posts on here suggesting that the box should have been designed so that you had no choice but to have it in full view? I'd go so far as to suggest, rather, that might we'd hear users lauding SageTV for yet another great feature the competition does not have.

Disclaimer: In no way is this comment meant to speak for the general SageTV user base.

[sainswor99]

For some reason this thread makes me think of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoGYx35ypus



It's only four minutes of your life, and it's worth it.

[TorontoSage]

Thanks! That was hilarious.

Dead on. Like in that clip, I guess I just want to go back to the simple days where all you saw was the TV and no boxes cluttered around it, hence my OP.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by TorontoSage

Thanks! That was hilarious.

Dead on. Like in that clip, I guess I just want to go back to the simple days where all you saw was the TV and no boxes cluttered around it, hence my OP.

And I thought you were the one complaining about the internet being down on the plane, "Man I've got to see my magic video playing box, that's BS!"

(and all appropriate smileys to be sure you know I'm just giving you a hard time ).

You're probably sitting right next to me complaining about having too many remotes to control my stuff and having a hard time finding a remote that does all I want.

Seriously though, let's give this guy a break. I think it was all really just a miscommunication. I know I read the OP as a complaint about the HD200, when in reality the OP was intended as a suggestion for the "HD300".

I agree an IR port would be a nice addition to the next rev of the box. Anything that makes integration simpler is a welcome addition.

[dbone1026]

I have the Harmony 890 with RF Extender. This allows me to keep the HD200 in a cabinet with the door closed and still operate

[w84no1]

Originally Posted by nebulink

I have an hd100 that I modified to include an external jack. It is very simple.

You need a 1/8 jack and solder the wires to the same contacts as the internal IR sensor. Very easy.

Equipment needed:
-Drill and drill bit to drill hole in case for mounting jack
- Wire, wire from a cat5 cable will work just fine
- Solder and solder gun
- and one ir receiver. take one from a haupauge card if you have one laying around.

Good luck.

If you need pictures let me know.

Post the pictures, I would love to add an IR jack to my HD200.

[TorontoSage]

I guess nebulink has disappeared for a bit.

I've researched this a bit. Of course, doing this would void the warranty, so proceed at your peril. Here's a couple links about extending an IR receiver:

http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/IR_-_Extending_an_IR_receiver

The tough steps in doing this are:

- removing the IR receiver IC from the circuit board and not ruining the circuit board in the process (no big deal if the IR receiver IC is ruined as new ones can be purchased for about $1 online); and
- soldering the 3 cat5e wires onto the same leads on the circuit board that the IR receiver IC were connected to. I've never soldered wires to a circuit board before and don't know how tough it is but I'd practice first if you were going to do it or get someone who knows how to do it to do it for you

The easy steps in doing this are:

- soldering the IR receiver IC or the salvaged IC (if it remains intact) to the cat5e wire. The second picture on this web link shows how the IR receiver IC is soldered to the cat5e cable (the rest of the post covers making a serial port IR receiver which is a different topic)"
- soldering the male plug to the other end of the cat5e wire;
- drilling the hole in the case for the 1/8" female jack;
- soldering the cat5e wire to the 1/8" female jack;
- installing the 1/8" female jack into the HD200 case (it's just a metal nut you screw on).

Maybe if nebulink returns he can tell us how he removed the IC from the circuit board and show us some pictures of how he did it.

Again, doing this would void your warranty!