kingwr and masteroffm

For the record, I don’t expect to see “DirecTV HDPC-20” support in Vista nor do I necessarily believe that it would be easily accessible if supported in Windows 7.

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Q6600 | Gigabyte GA-P35C-DS3R | Corsair XMS2 DDR2 2x1GB + OCZ DDR2 2x512MB | eVGA 8800GT | 2x 650GB HDD | LG GGW-H20L | 2x AVerTV Combo PCIe | Coolermaster 650 Extreme SLI PSU | XBox 360 | XBox 360 HD DVD Drive | Vista Home Premium | WHS | Hauppauge HD PVR

AndresE:

The only question I have is whether or not WebGuide will be updated to support TV Pack.  I have 2 friends that are in line to get Media Center systems with cable card.  I have told them to wait to get systems with TV Pack but one of the biggest sellers for them on the system was WebGuide.  If this is not going to be updated at all, then I would like to tell them to get a system without TV Pack since they really do not need those features more than WebGuide.

Not sure if you have thought it through, but any protected CableCARD content is useless to WebGuide with or without the TV Pack.

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Chris Lanier
The Green Button Forum Moderator

I feel your frustration and cynicism, Octavean.  However, with all due respect, I can create all the speculation on this topic I need by myself.  I really want to hear something from Microsoft on this one.  Jeff Tucker, where the heck are you in this conversation?

Maybe he is preparing to star in one of those embarassingly bad new commercials :)

 

For what it's worth, I'm one of the people who said "can't talk, NDA" and have posted what I had to say on the topic to my greenbutton blog.  I realize that the thread has since gone in a different direction, but in answer to the original poster's request for previously unspoken information, here you go.

http://thegreenbutton.com/blogs/pnear/archive/2008/09/04/290816.aspx

http://thegreenbutton.com/blogs/pnear/archive/2008/09/04/290827.aspx

Unless you're Canadian though, you might not find it interesting.

Cheers,
Pete

Chris - Moderator:

Not sure if you have thought it through, but any protected CableCARD content is useless to WebGuide with or without the TV Pack.

Doesn't that assume it's the streaming features of WebGuide that AndresE is interested in? I use WebGuide only for the remote scheduling capabilities (I have never used and have no requirement for the streaming); but as this breaks in TV Pack it's no use to me.

Without WebGuide I would have abandoned VMC some time ago.

Tennant

Octavean:

For the record, I don’t expect to see “DirecTV HDPC-20” support in Vista nor do I necessarily believe that it would be easily accessible if supported in Windows 7.

nor do I, just venting a little.

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Marvin on Disapproving Rabbits

I've been pretty patient.  I don't even remember when the first announcement was for Directv... 2 years ago or more?  I've had faith in MS, paid good money for their products, touted the products to friends and promised the future abilities to my girlfriend to keep her happy.  I'm close to being done with it.  I want my shows recorded in HD.  I've been able to do the qam locals that I get through basic cable, but none of my Directv shows.  I used to be the envy of my friends when tivo was the only dvr, and no other options could do HD, but now everyone asks why I can't watch all my channels in HD...... I'm now the one using dated equiptment while all my friends watch hdtv on their comcast dvrs.  MS has fallen behind in my opinion.  I'll still use it to watch movies, but it will no longer hold postion as the center of my media hub.  I'm going to cancel directv, get comcast dvr, and never look back.

Tennant:

Chris - Moderator:

Not sure if you have thought it through, but any protected CableCARD content is useless to WebGuide with or without the TV Pack.

Doesn't that assume it's the streaming features of WebGuide that AndresE is interested in? I use WebGuide only for the remote scheduling capabilities (I have never used and have no requirement for the streaming); but as this breaks in TV Pack it's no use to me. Without WebGuide I would have abandoned VMC some time ago. Tennant

That is true, I assumed streaming was the main goal.

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Chris Lanier
The Green Button Forum Moderator

So maybe I'm missing something but I think most people want to know the future of their investment in media center not just about some tv pack that most people will never get. I could ramble on all night about how disappointed I am with VMC and MS but instead I’ll just list my biggest gripes:

-We have been teased with Dish Network and DirectTv partnerships and hardware unveilings for over 2 years now with nothing to show for it. We expect release dates or at least an acknowledgement that it is alive or dead! Many of us have purchased additional hardware, extenders etc. Now we all look like fools for believing this crap and on top of that we have wasted hundreds of dollars on empty promises.

- MS appears to only be concerned with OEM vendors now. This latest tv pack shows that MS is starting to abandon all of us with diy machines even though we paid for their product just like the oem's. Actually we paid a lot more for our license than an OEM does but we are the ones getting the shaft.

- MS has rolled out major "enhancements" in this last pack that hint at major functionality changes and not given us any explanations as to why. You can't tell me that the largest software company in the world changes their api's and file formats without a major reason. Were these changes made because they are planning on rolling out some great new functionality or is it to kill the diy machines and bow to their friends and partners at Charter and NBC? Give us a freaking answer!

-My grandmother can record and watch more HD than me. This is a joke! The free dvr's that Dish Network gives away make my media center look like a series 1 tivo. Sure I can look at my pictures and listen to my music but I can't watch the Cardinals game on Fox Sports in HD? I have to go to my grandma's to do that!!!

Note to Chris: Instead of looking for individual questions from this community why not ask your buddies at MS for a 1 to 3 year road map so we know what to expect? How about a web site that lists their goals, accomplishments, milestones, bugs and solicits feedback from users. We have all spent good money on their promises but are left with nothing but questions and software with outdated features. 

We want MS to give us a few reasons not to switch to SageTV!

 

natlight:

Note to Chris: Instead of looking for individual questions from this community why not ask your buddies at MS for a 1 to 3 year road map so we know what to expect? How about a web site that lists their goals, accomplishments, milestones, bugs and solicits feedback from users. We have all spent good money on their promises but are left with nothing but questions and software with outdated features. 

We want MS to give us a few reasons not to switch to SageTV!

The chances of getting a roadmap from Microsoft is VERY slim.  The chances of getting direct question relating the TV Pack is much better.  Sadly, a lot of the questions that people really want answered relate to the overall platform and future of Media Center and not the TV Pack.

No way Microsoft is publishing a roadmap for Media Center anytime soon.  As Windows 7 gets closer, you will find some stuff get out, but it isn't going to just because TGB members want to know.

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Chris Lanier
The Green Button Forum Moderator

Chris - Moderator:

The chances of getting direct question relating the TV Pack is much better.  Sadly, a lot of the questions that people really want answered relate to the overall platform and future of Media Center and not the TV Pack.

Chris, a number of us have asked about the WTV format change and how it is to be handled not in the future, but right now. Not a single answer or even recognition of the situation has been forthcoming. Why is that?

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HP M9300T HTPC
Vista Home Premium 64-bit
Q9300 2.5ghz Quad-core 1333mhz FSB
4gb DDR2 PC2-6400 RAM
ViXS PureTV-U 48B0 Tuner Card
Hauppauge HVR-2250 Tuner Card
nVidia 8600GT w/512mb DDR3 VRAM
Linksys WT160 Wireless N Router
Linksys DMA2200 Extender

I can point you to a post on another forum by Mike Hayton about the WTV format and why it was introduced. This was actually posted way before the 3 September date.

But anyway, the explanation seems reasonable enough as to why it was done, I just would have like to see more work between MS and the developers who make these products.

dgaust:

I can point you to a post on another forum by Mike Hayton about the WTV format and why it was introduced. This was actually posted way before the 3 September date.

But anyway, the explanation seems reasonable enough as to why it was done, I just would have like to see more work between MS and the developers who make these products.

The why doesn't really concern me. What concerns me is how M$ plans to incorporate the abilities we had with the dvr-ms format back into Vista and whether or not they will make it available to those of us who have TVPack regardless of how we got it.

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HP M9300T HTPC
Vista Home Premium 64-bit
Q9300 2.5ghz Quad-core 1333mhz FSB
4gb DDR2 PC2-6400 RAM
ViXS PureTV-U 48B0 Tuner Card
Hauppauge HVR-2250 Tuner Card
nVidia 8600GT w/512mb DDR3 VRAM
Linksys WT160 Wireless N Router
Linksys DMA2200 Extender

Agreed.  I also miss the metadata that we lost in the switch from dvr-ms to wtv formats.

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Velocity Micro Cinemagix Grand Theater, C2Q, 2GB, 2 TB, 3 DCT, 2 HDHomeRun
Homebuilt C2Q, 2 GB, 1.5 TB, HVR-1600, FireSTB
Dell E1705, T7600, 2GB, 250GB, HVR-950
WHS, WRT600N, DMA-2100, DMA-2200, XBox360

The title to this thread should be "Official NDA Disclosures - DON'T Get Them Here"

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Stu

aka C-Dub



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