dkreifus:

 Now that I'm reviewing things...with the Ceton, and an extender or win7PC, can I watch live TV? Or is that exclusively a function of the SDCC?

With the Ceton you will only be able to view Live TV on the computer it is installed in and any Media Center Extenders connected to it.

With the SDCC you will only be able to view Live TV on any computer and any Media Center Extenders connected to them. This will be limited to the number of tuners you have (two per device). Silicon Dust is trying to make it so that tuners can be shared simultaneously if the content is unprotected but currently that is not possible (i.e. If two PCs want to watch ABC-HD then a single tuner would be used instead of two).

Note: For SDCC when I say "any computer" I do mean any computer than meets both the digital cable advisory requirements and the SDCC software requirements. I do not know if the SDCC software requirements have been made available yet

 And to be one 100% accurate, pcs do not count as extenders. So those shiny little dells wouldn't cut it.

dkreifus:

 And to be one 100% accurate, pcs do not count as extenders. So those shiny little dells wouldn't cut it.

Correct. PCs do not count as Media Center Extenders. The only active Extender is the XBox 360. Reasons for this and what we need to make PCs work as extenders is for another thread, or any number of the hundreds already out there =)

 Any helpful hints to a good thread for turning a pc into an extender?

dkreifus:

 Any helpful hints to a good thread for turning a pc into an extender?

You won't find the thread, because it isn't possible to make a pc into an extender.

dkreifus:

 Any helpful hints to a good thread for turning a pc into an extender?

Sorry, my fault. I didn't mean to imply it was possible with what we have available. What we need available is Softsled. I didn't want this thread to turn into another Softseld thread

Johnh0000:

The limitations are from the cable industry's DRM/OCUR specs controlled by cablelabs. Which all vendor must adhere too.

We all understand that currently recorded DRMed shows are tied to the PC that records it. But I don't believe there is any restrictions about live TV has to be tied to any particular PC as well. If so, please offer the reference or link to it.

 Each SDCC has two tuners. There is nothing prevent you watching a protected show on one PC using tuner1 while watching the same show on another PC using tuner 2. It does not violate any CL rules. Of course, it would be nice for PC2 to use tuner 1 as well but I don't think that's a good idea (what if PC1 changed channel?) and not going to work with DRMs.

 I haven't been on much today so I'm not sure if this was posted anywhere, but it seems that the HDHRCC will have a USB port to support the tuning adapter. Those guys over at SiliconDust sure know how to work up some wizardry in their products.

http://hd.engadget.com/2010/01/07/hdhomeruns-cablecard-implementation-lives-up-to-the-brand

 I don't like the pricing of both solutions but I agree with those preferring SD's tuner:

1. Live TV on any networked PC.

2. DRM limits are similar to Ceton as well so it's not really a con for SD.

3. And most important to me: more future proof? If CableCard won't die in the next 3 to four years the SD Tuner will let me keep my investments if I decide to replace my HTPC with a small mini-itx box that have no available pci slot. Actualy, my PCI ATSC tuners are what stoping me from switching to a SFF HTPC as I will need to replace them with a USB tuner.

al74:

3. And most important to me: more future proof? If CableCard won't die in the next 3 to four years the SD Tuner will let me keep my investments if I decide to replace my HTPC with a small mini-itx box that have no available pci slot. Actualy, my PCI ATSC tuners are what stoping me from switching to a SFF HTPC as I will need to replace them with a USB tuner.

The good news is that at the rate cable companies advance their technology, our CableCards should work for years to come!  Especially since under FCC regulations their systems must process CableCards in the same manner as their set top boxes.  And it will be decades before they pull their last set top box.

al74:

 I don't like the pricing of both solutions but I agree with those preferring SD's tuner:

1. Live TV on any networked PC.

2. DRM limits are similar to Ceton as well so it's not really a con for SD.

3. And most important to me: more future proof? If CableCard won't die in the next 3 to four years the SD Tuner will let me keep my investments if I decide to replace my HTPC with a small mini-itx box that have no available pci slot. Actually, my PCI ATSC tuners are what stopping me from switching to a SFF HTPC as I will need to replace them with a USB tuner.

Your third point is a very important point. It makes upgrades/replacements a much easier task if things are discrete components. I'm not big on all-in-one solutions. For years I've kept my DSL modem, router, switch and Wifi access point standalone components for example, which allowed me to easily switch ISPs, install a faster switch and Wifi access point without having to buy a new router every time to keep pace with the latest technology improvements and reconfigure my firewall settings etc. Not to mention that the integrated switches are nowhere close in performance compared to standalone. Coincidentally, last night my main switch died. I was up and running again in 5 minutes by rotating in a spare switch and the wifey could continue watching TV. If the switch had been integrated in the router I would have had to get a new router and configure the router. Would have taken much longer than 5 minutes even if I had a spare router sitting around. Now I have plenty of time to call Netgear and get the defective switch replaced under its lifetime warranty.

I'm the same way about the tuners. My current DCTs are external. If one fails, I still have the second one and an HDHomeRun, so I probably can limp along until I get a replacement for the defective tuner.

plastic101:

The good news is that at the rate cable companies advance their technology, our CableCards should work for years to come!  Especially since under FCC regulations their systems must process CableCards in the same manner as their set top boxes.  And it will be decades before they pull their last set top box.

My hope is that my with my pending CableCard investment I'll be able to keep my current HDTVs + CableCard tuners for ~3 year. At that point I hope OLED HDTV and 3D broadcasting will be mainstream and worth reinvesting

My fear is that on March 31, Ceton will announce that availability is still months away and there will also be rumors of a release date of the SD card in Q2.  More waiting and seeing.  I have been waiting and seeing since I bought my MCE PC in November of 2003.  I am tired of waiting.

I've read thru this thread with great interest. Just joined. 

I had a ClearQAM set up that Comcast recently ruined. I've been waiting to see what Ceton announced before I did anything other than use OTA for now and now that they have (as well as the HDHR possibility) I'm still a little confused about something I hope someone can clear up for me:

I understand that a recording flagged as Copy Once will be tied to the HTPC where it was recorded. That doesn't present a problem to me since I'd want to watch them at that PC anyway. What I've never seen discussed is whether or not a recording flagged by DRM can be *moved* to another machine (like a home server or a NAS) and then streamed back to the machine where the recording was made. Is that possible or does one run afoul of DRM in this case too? How exactly does DRM+CopyOnce lock the recording to the machine that made it?

 Sorry if this isn't directly on-topic of the thread but this is the closest recent discussion about this issue I've seen despite scouring the web.