politby:

avanate:

I'm sure this has been referenced already but this is getting downright retarded:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/05/next-vista-media-center-leaked-no-directv-hd-till-2010/

Thank God for MSDN (which is provided to free to us) - no need to spend $ supporting this drivel. I'd hate to actually be a paying customer of MS these days. It's really quite a shame that they've squandered yet another opportunity to get in and take a definitive lead on something, yet as with most things, blundering Program Managers have gone way off track and delivered nothing of value.

If they do remove H.264 support from the released version, it's got to be because of some DRM thing. Makes me long for the old Microsoft - they would just have told the content providers, AACS, etc. to go pound sand and then released what they wanted anyway. And worried about the lawsuits later.

Now they're pussyfooting. What a disappointment.

Ballmer's, apparently, a wuss. Wealthy, and potentially powerful, but a wuss, which makes him, and by extension Microsoft, pathetic.

No DirecTV/h264, This is the final straw.

I am freaking done with Microsoft.  I mean I went out and bought 3 Xboxes for front ends, Vista Premium Upgrade, all in anticipation of this.

Now, as it par for the course, Microsoft has completely failed me again.

I am going back to MythTV, Selling 2 of my Xboxes, and switching my Desktop to Linux or Mac.

I am so dissapointed, I don't even have the words.  Microsoft hasn't done 1 thing right since the release of windows 95.

M$ you are dead to me.

All you guys wanting to jump to sagetv for the hd-pvr what are you going to do when cable companies and sattelite companies (first) downconvert to 480 out of component. Believe me it is close and the HD-PVR is pushing them to get it down faster. There is no law or regulation to stop them. Nothing says they have to provide hd out of component as it is an outdated input.

PLUCKYHD:

All you guys wanting to jump to sagetv for the hd-pvr what are you going to do when cable companies and sattelite companies (first) downconvert to 480 out of component. Believe me it is close and the HD-PVR is pushing them to get it down faster. There is no law or regulation to stop them. Nothing says they have to provide hd out of component as it is an outdated input.

So what are you saying? We have to go out and buy a Dell? And then what? What are the CableCard people gonna do when SDV leaves them with 20 or 30 or so stations they can tune? (Yes, I know a tuning resolver is possible, but do you know it's coming? are you sure? Sure like Directv sure you were last week?)

The HD-PVR support people where looking for is h.264 support for dvr-ms or wtv or whatever.

brittonv:

No DirecTV/h264, This is the final straw.

I am freaking done with Microsoft.  I mean I went out and bought 3 Xboxes for front ends, Vista Premium Upgrade, all in anticipation of this.

Now, as it par for the course, Microsoft has completely failed me again.

I am going back to MythTV, Selling 2 of my Xboxes, and switching my Desktop to Linux or Mac.

I am so dissapointed, I don't even have the words.  Microsoft hasn't done 1 thing right since the release of windows 95.

M$ you are dead to me.

I hear ya!

PLUCKYHD:

All you guys wanting to jump to sagetv for the hd-pvr what are you going to do when cable companies and sattelite companies (first) downconvert to 480 out of component. Believe me it is close and the HD-PVR is pushing them to get it down faster. There is no law or regulation to stop them. Nothing says they have to provide hd out of component as it is an outdated input.

Actually the FCC has prevented selectable output control (SOC) in the past, I'm not sure what the current status of this is, but based on the recent activity by the MPAA, I wouldn't say it is a slam dunk as you put it.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/06/11/fcc-wants-to-hear-your-voice-on-the-mpaas-latest-drm-proposal/

So what are you saying? We have to go out and buy a Dell? And then what? What are the CableCard people gonna do when SDV leaves them with 20 or 30 or so stations they can tune? (Yes, I know a tuning resolver is possible, but do you know it's coming? are you sure? Sure like Directv sure you were last week?)

The HD-PVR support people where looking for is h.264 support for dvr-ms or wtv or whatever.

 

No Cablecard is definately not the answer for long term. Utlimately the best solution is the cable or sattelites dvr that is the only future proof solution but I refuse to use it. I am just saying the broadcasters and studios are already wanting component downconverted and it is just a matter of time so the hd-pvr isn't the end all be all some think it to be.

and Yes the tuning resolver is coming for sure. The big question is will ati support it? (probably not)

 

superswiss:

Wouldn't be a big disappointment for me. My biggest beef with my CableCARD system on Comcast is the absolute terrible quality of the over-compressed HD channels. From what I've been reading, though, DirectTV isn't any better. Some people say it's actually worse.

initially it wasnt so hot, but when they rolled it h.264 in the settop boxes it got much better

superswiss:

Also, as far as I understand it, to record two channels at the same time with the DirectTV tuner you need two separate coax feeds from the dish. The room where my equipment is in only has one coax going to it. Unless the HDPC20 is a network tuner like the HDHomeRun, so I can put it in my network closet, I don't see myself going the DiretcTV route anytime soon.

a lot of the new directv hardware supports using a single RG6 for dual-tuners, you just need a compatible dish or you can use a single wire multiswitch.  also i am pretty certain that the ethernet port on a hdpc20 will be for directv on demand and pay-per-view

frankinla:

So what are you saying? We have to go out and buy a Dell? And then what? What are the CableCard people gonna do when SDV leaves them with 20 or 30 or so stations they can tune? (Yes, I know a tuning resolver is possible, but do you know it's coming? are you sure? Sure like Directv sure you were last week?)

Easy, go Fios TV.  No plans to use SDV.

Done.

 

-D

masteroffm:

superswiss:

Wouldn't be a big disappointment for me. My biggest beef with my CableCARD system on Comcast is the absolute terrible quality of the over-compressed HD channels. From what I've been reading, though, DirectTV isn't any better. Some people say it's actually worse.

initially it wasnt so hot, but when they rolled it h.264 in the settop boxes it got much better

Glad to hear that.

masteroffm:

superswiss:

Also, as far as I understand it, to record two channels at the same time with the DirectTV tuner you need two separate coax feeds from the dish. The room where my equipment is in only has one coax going to it. Unless the HDPC20 is a network tuner like the HDHomeRun, so I can put it in my network closet, I don't see myself going the DiretcTV route anytime soon.

a lot of the new directv hardware supports using a single RG6 for dual-tuners, you just need a compatible dish or you can use a single wire multiswitch.  also i am pretty certain that the ethernet port on a hdpc20 will be for directv on demand and pay-per-view

Good to know. Since I'm living in an MTU I have no control over the common dish on the building's roof. The operater is actually supposed to upgrade the dish in the coming weeks as we apparently don't currently receive all the HD channels. I used to have SD DirecTV recorded to a standalone Tivo via S-Video, but switched to Comcast when I got my CableCARD rig. I guess I just wait and see what the final Fiji release contains. If the rumors are wrong and DirecTV will be added I might consider switching back, but it also depends on the level of DRM. At least right now I get the locals unencrypted with my HDHomeRun.

As far as I am concerned, if there is no H264 support in the next version, it is worthless for us Europeans.
No H264 in Europe means no HD, as unlike in the US, all HD uses H264.
Also, if it supports satellite, it should support Diseqc.
Having only the option of choosing one satellite is ridiculous.

If the assertion that this feature pack will be only released to OEM providers turns true, it is an outrage !
It would mean that MS has no idea what it is doing.
First, Mediacenter was a separate version of Windows you could only get from OEMs, a fact which annoyed many users who wanted to assemble their own Mediacenter PC.
Then they integrated it again with the OS and released it for all (Vista).
There were many complaints that it was not the upgrade we had all expected, so there was this promise that there would be a feature pack.
And now they are telling us that the feature pack will only be available to OEM's ?
What a betrayal, what a way to screw your customers !

If MS really aren't serious about pushing Media Centre, and are going to scale back in this area, why would they waste time & money in buying TGB? Surely that purchase only makes sense in the context of a long term plan for the product?

 

boulder2:

As far as I am concerned, if there is no H264 support in the next version, it is worthless for us Europeans.
No H264 in Europe means no HD, as unlike in the US, all HD uses H264.
Also, if it supports satellite, it should support Diseqc.
Having only the option of choosing one satellite is ridiculous.

Before everyone gets into an uproar, remember these are just rumors.  We really should reserve judgement until Microsoft releases official details.  Based on the rumors, for all we know the rumor'd WTV format could be H264 wrapped in DRM, just as DVR-MS is MPEG2 wrapped in DRM.

Now, your comment about support for other satellite providers is abit unfair.  DirectTV and Microsoft have partnered in this development which means that DirectTV is incurring development costs.  Have European Service providers designed a PC based satellite tuner for their systems?   If they did or planning to then I'm sure Microsoft would be happy to partner with them.

The fundametal problem is that each of is a fan of VMC, we spent time and money and chose VMC as our platform of choice.  If I had to do it again, I would forgo the big multi-product vendor and go with the small agile company (sage).  Sage can roll-out new features so quickly, it makes MS look pathetic.  Unfortuntely, the interface for sage is brutal, and my family are so used to VMC, I would face a revolt.

With MS we are always left with the promise of the "next releae"  Fiji was supposed to answer all of our prayers, now it's windows 7.  You know it's going to be a dissapointment.  Blu-ray, streaming DVD's, h.264, mulitple guide sources, should all have been in fiji.  Will they even be in windows 7....nope. 

I suspect that sooner or later, I will upgrade to sage.  The feature list for sage is so long as compared to vmc, I will have to make the jump sooner or later.  Hey, maybe sage 7 will have a new interface...lolol.

I really cannot understand why people keep slating MS for not having streaming DVD. They don't have it because it's illegal (sorta) and MS don't want to get involved with a big lawsuite about it, I really can't blame em.