via Geektonic..

 Ceton 4-Tuner CableCard Price and Info Leaked

Dave Zatz is reporting that the Ceton Quad-Tuner CableCard that the Windows MediaCenter community has been waiting for anxiously will sell for $399 and be part of the annual Microsoft opening CES keynote address tomorrow night.  Zatz speculates that the inclusion of Ceton in Steve Balmers CES keynote signals possible additional attention on MediaCenter or at least home media tech.

Looks like this CES could actually end up being a significant one for the GeekTonic crowd – check out my “what to watch for at CES” post for an idea of what I’m looking for this year.  We should learn much more in the coming days.  What do you MediaCenter/HTPC enthusiasts think of the price for the 4-tuner CableCard Ceton?

via ZatzNotFunny!

 $399 is very reasonable and beats the only competition (ATI) - sign me up.

I am exicted if this is the starting proce, I would hope over time the production cost would go down.  I thought it would be $499.99 intitally.

Ceton would you please take my money! I think it is reasonable, and it's what I initially thought it would cost. It's a lot less then what I paid for my two internal DCTs a year ago which was $600.00. I'll wait for the official announcement during CES. We should know more about release date and availability. Ceton, SiliconDust when they make thier announcement at the show, and possibly Hauppauge. Good times

Let's see, two ATI's for $400+, or one Ceton.  I am sold!  Sign me up as well!  If anyone is looking for a one or two tuner setup, there will be some ATI's up on eBay.

Counting down the days, can't wait.  Also very excited to here about HDHomerun's possible entry into the cable card arena.

 I hope its $400... you'll need 4 ATI DCT's to match a Ceton quad (cause the ATI only has 1 tuner keep in mind, so you'd need 4 of them, meaning $800 worth of cards... but i won't spend $800 on a quad tuner, i'll spend $400 for it though.

 More CETON news from ACE Computer

NEW AWARD WINNING MEDIA SERVER PLATFORMS: As the CE OEM with the widest variety of form factors and price points, ACE will demonstrate NEW and innovative media server platforms including our two new platforms, the ACE AMS 350 and LHS 400. Both models are low cost units and operate on the new Intel Core i3/i5 platforms and utilize Windows 7 Media Center with the new Ceton Corporation Multi-Channel Digital Cable Tuner and will be the first systems with break the $1500 retail price point for 4 channel Digital Cable Tuner Equipped Media Servers. The AMS 350 is available now and can ship immediately. The Ceton Multi-Channel Card will be available in Q1 and can be installed in the field. We also will have a refresh on several models including our flagship LHD Limited. All media server platforms in the LHD, LMS, Vision and LHS Lines will be refreshed to being capable of receiving multiple CableCard tuners and we are looking for dealers, distributors and OEMs to partner on our new CableCard offerings.

NEW TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION: We will be showing the new AMS 350 equipped with 2 of the Ceton Corporation Multi-Channel Digital Cable Tuners with 4 tuners per card for a grand total of 8 tuners connected to live Cable TV Feeds and will show how easy Windows^® Media Center has become with Windows^® 7 and the Digital Cable Advisor built into Windows^® 7 Media Center. While the 8 tuner version will not be available for sale at the time of the show, it may become available in the near future once all compatibilities are finalized. We would anticipate a price point under $2000 for this system.

That's exactly what we expected.  I think it'll be a hard sell in my house, but it's a very reasonable price point for what it is.  I'd better start back in on that naming contest to win a free one.<g>

I'd expect the 2 tuner version will be $250. 

Also agreed that it's a good sign that it'll be part of Ballmer's address.  Any love for Media Center is a good thing for us.

 I was afraid it would be that high. I guess it makes sense because it has to have 4 analog/digital tuners and 4 encoders (I'd hope for that price it includes hardware encoders) + cablecard hardware.

Now I'd love a 2 tuner one for around $150, but I assume that's not going to happen until CableCards are long gone ;)

Still, it's nice to see an alternative to the ATI hardware.

 I really wish people would stop making comments about how high the price is.  This is a steal to what we had before.

 Dan quick question do you work for Ace Computers? The only reason I ask is becasue I have an ACE media center system and I know one of the guys who handles tech support for them is named Dan.

DanITman:

I really wish people would stop making comments about how high the price is.  This is a steal to what we had before.

I do think that the price is a little high at $400, I doubt the hardware (not including IP) is worth even close to that.

Here is my speculation as to why it's so expensive:
1. There is literally no competition for this tuner, the ATI tuner is old and limited to one stream.
2. Ceton is a startup and probably had to start from scratch resulting in high R&D costs, which must now be recouped.
3. The initial production run was probably not large leading to high per unit cost.
4. CableCard tuners so far are in a niche market, they are not really commodity items, hence they are expensive.

For this stuff to become cheaper we need to have manufactures fighting for market share, e.,g. SiliconDust and potentially Hauppauge.
Also popularity of CableCard tuners needs to soar, manufactuers need to recover R&D cost and have large scale production runs.

There is also cablelab licensing fees and per tuner fees. Actually at $100 per tuner it is a bargain. If it's out of your price range, then there are other solutions available from your cable company on monthly rental basis.

John

While we all would like to see a lower price than $400 - when compared to other options, the price isn't unreasonable for a 4 tuner - CableCard product.

The single tuner ATI DCTs are selling on eBay for up to $260 - for a single tuner.  Buying 4 of those would cost much more than $400 - plus you have to rent a CableCard for each one.  With the Ceton, only one card is needed (Comcast charges $2 per month per CableCard, so that's a savings of $72/year for having 1 CableCard vs. 4).  I spent more than $400 when I purchased my XPS 420 - for the 2 ATI DCTs.

The dual tuner HDHomeRun is available from multiple sources for around $150 - for two clearQAM tuners.  Buying two of them would be $300.  For an additional $100, you get 4 CableCard tuners.

With the additional certification and support required for the CableCard - the cost of making a CableCard tuner will be more than a clearQAM tuner.

Hopefully Ceton (and any other vendor who releases a CableCard product) will be able to lower their prices once their products are in higher production.