Congrats on the HD media extender and Sage Server system

[mikesm]

Guys, the HD extender I saw today at CES looked great, and at around $180, it's a lot cheaper than building a client. I think it will be a big success, and since the Sigma chip plays all formats, I think it shouldn't need the transcoding support the old MVP did.

And I also think it's great that you are selling a Sage server bundle with everything preconfiged. The price for the system with a TB of storage is attractive too, though I personally would have liked something other than the Antec Aria.

I'm going to not order the mac minis as I was planning and wait for the production HD extender...

Great buzz at the booth btw...

2007 will be a great year for Sage.

PS I stopped by the MSFT cablecard demo booth - boy that product is so neutered. you can tell the product guys are very frustrated by that situation.

Thanks,
mike

[mattdcknsn]

Originally Posted by mikesm

Guys, the HD extender I saw today at CES looked great, and at around $180, it's a lot cheaper than building a client. I think it will be a big success, and since the Sigma chip plays all formats, I think it shouldn't need the transcoding support the old MVP did.

Do you happen to have a link or something for us to look at? Who makes it? Thanks for the update!

[ybrew]

You best not be playing with us. If you are, very uncool.
If you're not, link please!

And when can I order one (or two)?

[bcjenkins]

The unit supports 1080i via component or DVI. It also has left/right and digital tos link for audio. The only thing it lacks is a DVD player, imho.

I looked at the back of the unit for any idetifying info, only said Model: WMV9 or something like that. My colleague has a picture phone, I'll see if we can snap some shots tomorrow.

B

P.S. I tried to run off with it, but George was too quick..

[ybrew]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

The unit supports 1080i via component or DVI. It also has left/right and digital tos link for audio. The only thing it lacks is a DVD player, imho.

I looked at the back of the unit for any idetifying info, only said Model: WMV9 or something like that. My colleague has a picture phone, I'll see if we can snap some shots tomorrow.

B

P.S. I tried to run off with it, but George was too quick..

No HDMI? That's a minor shame. (note - I know the quality isn't any better - just prefer the single cable)

I've got a 720P projector dying for HD. Any expected ship dates?

[bcjenkins]

Originally Posted by ybrew

No HDMI? That's a minor shame. (note - I know the quality isn't any better - just prefer the single cable)

I've got a 720P projector dying for HD. Any expected ship dates?

From what George said.. Q2

B

[Fluffdaddy]

I like two please

[bcjenkins]

A little googling turns up a chip from Sigma called the WMV9.. If it is related, then Buffalo tech is shipping a unit with DVD built in based on this chip.. I wonder if it would work with Sage's firmware on it...

B

edit corrected sentence structure..

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

The unit supports 1080i via component or DVI. It also has left/right and digital tos link for audio.

Any idea if it supports "native" output? Ie whatever format the video is in (480i for 480i, 1080i for 1080i).

The only thing it lacks is a DVD player, imho.

Any word if it supports HDD based DVDs like the MVP?

How about responsiveness?

-edit

Oh, and you realize, all you did was chum the waters before you dove in

[bcjenkins]

I see I am going to have to go back and ask better questions.. I was hoping Jeff would have put an announcement out.

Oh, and SageTV has a new logo in the on screen demo..

I gues we'll have to pull out the camera phone tomorrow..

B

[pez]

Cool, I'll be there Wednesday. Is the Sage Booth easy to find?

[PGPfan]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

I see I am going to have to go back and ask better questions.. I was hoping Jeff would have put an announcement out.

bcjenkins, is there any chance you could ask about the CPU in the HD extender? For example, is it powerful enough to display menu animations or do you have to disable animations like you have to do with the MVP?

Also, can you try to confirm if it will playback HDD stored DVD's (I'd assume it would, but who knows...), as stanger89 mentioned?

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

Oh, and SageTV has a new logo in the on screen demo..

I gues we'll have to pull out the camera phone tomorrow..

B

Yes, DEFINATELY! The unit, and the logo if possible!

-PGPfan

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

Oh, and SageTV has a new logo in the on screen demo.

Now that it is visible at CES... unless there was a last minute change, I know what is in the STV:

- Andy

[reboot_this]

Originally Posted by Opus4

Now that it is visible at CES... unless there was a last minute change, I know what is in the STV:

- Andy

Andy,

so do you have ANY info on the new HD extender??? anything..., manufacturer/specs (other than what's mentioned above)???

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by reboot_this

so do you have ANY info on the new HD extender??? anything..., manufacturer/specs (other than what's mentioned above)???

Ugh. You would think that by now I would know better to stay out & not even post the logo, but I couldn't resist. I forgot what the next question would be, but I'm not going to say anything about any alleged new products until SageTV either posts an announcement somewhere or sends me an email that releases some info. Until then, I haven't got the slightest clue of what you are all talking about...

- Andy

[Enormous]

Some conjecture based on the new logo:

-Will we see some sort of redesign of the stock STV, to better fit with a green logo?
-Will I miss my beloved spinning Venn diagram?
-Will I like a spinning head of lettuce instead? (or the BP logo?)

[rlb2]

Hauppauge Booth I assume? South 4 35665,South 4 35427 ??
I'll be there tomorrow!

THANKS!
Rob

[mikesm]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Any idea if it supports "native" output? Ie whatever format the video is in (480i for 480i, 1080i for 1080i).



Any word if it supports HDD based DVDs like the MVP?

How about responsiveness?

-edit

Oh, and you realize, all you did was chum the waters before you dove in

I wouldn't kid you guys. I don't know why there isnt an announcement about it, but I spent quite a bit of time with it. Very responsive. the hardware looked very generic, MG-35'ish, and I am sure it isn't the final version.

The ladies there said it would ship in 3-5 months, and probably at a 4180 price point, but this hadn't been set.

It's just like an MVP in that the skin and core logic is extended like the MVP is, but the chipset in the unit can playback almost all the formats natively, so transcoding shouldn't be needed.

The power from ac power start took about 30 sec, but the power on and off from the remote was instant - in fact, when powered off, just the sage logo appeared on the screen. So I think there is some work needed in the power management code.

Completely silent - no fan. Very small, a little bigger than the HD homerun. It also appeared to have a WIFI radio built in to it, as there was an SMA connector on the back for an antenna, but the unit there was connected via CAT5.

It had the basic (kind of ugly) skin, but it should be able to run sagemc and the like just fine. Responsiveness was good, I didn't get too much details on the server powering it.

All in all it looked good. I'm going to wait for it instead of building HD clients.

The sage server bundled with hardware looked cool too - I think this will make it a lot easier for people to experience sage. No software install needed.

I am happy to answer any more questions, and can go visit again tomorrow to pass any other questions along, though I assume there will be an announcement on the forums about it in more detail.

But it seemed quite nice from my playing around with it.

I wouldn't kid you guys about such a thing.

This was a nice surprise after the letdown I had talking about cablecard with MSFT. The R5000-HD/DCP-501 is definitely the way to go if you have cable.

Thanks,
Mike

[reboot_this]

Originally Posted by Opus4

Ugh. You would think that by now I would know better to stay out & not even post the logo, but I couldn't resist. I forgot what the next question would be, but I'm not going to say anything about any alleged new products until SageTV either posts an announcement somewhere or sends me an email that releases some info. Until then, I haven't got the slightest clue of what you are all talking about...

- Andy

never hurts to ask... I just had to

I can respect your position.

I got your back on this Andy, that is... until the official announcement of what we no nothing about, then you're on your own!

and with that... no more spec/manufacturer questions for Andy, folks! (this doesn't mean we can't talk bad about him though for teasing us! )

BTW thanks for the logo pic, Andy!

[mikesm]

Originally Posted by Enormous

Some conjecture based on the new logo:

-Will we see some sort of redesign of the stock STV, to better fit with a green logo?
-Will I miss my beloved spinning Venn diagram?
-Will I like a spinning head of lettuce instead? (or the BP logo?)

There was no change to the basic STV in terms of appearance. I'm not big fan of it, so I would have noticed a change.

thanks,
mike