Mike's Digital Home - All Comments

re: Contest: Win my VidaBox Review Gear

TroyMason — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 04:11:08 GMT

I've wanted one of these, but couldn't afford it. Would be incredibly sweet to win one.

re: Contest: Win my VidaBox Review Gear

kingtone — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:16:37 GMT

These are cool! Look perfect for my new htpc project.

re: Contest: Win my VidaBox Review Gear

krom — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:57:29 GMT

Thanks Mike for the review and the contest and thanks to VidaBox for letting you give this away.

re: Contest: Win my VidaBox Review Gear

MediaSchmedia — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 07:12:57 GMT

Thanks for the review. Looks like a great product.

re: Contest: Win my VidaBox Review Gear

gpatlanta — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:18:56 GMT

Long time reader, but this made me finally sign up for a login. :) I'd love this.

re: Contest: Win my VidaBox Review Gear

jferguson75 — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:51:14 GMT

I'd love to be considered!

re: Contest: Win my VidaBox Review Gear

cw-kid — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:52:36 GMT

Damm, no chance of sending it to Thailand, will have to become a Vidabox dealer then!

re: Contest: Win my VidaBox Review Gear

babgvant — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:58:54 GMT

Free is the best price :)

re: Contest: Win my VidaBox Review Gear

mynameiskyle — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:44:49 GMT

pick me pick me!!! This is so cool!

re: Contest: Win my VidaBox Review Gear

md2020 — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:32:33 GMT

The HW is great. I have 2 friends that already own the case and would love to have one.

re: Contest: Win my VidaBox Review Gear

steven.bone — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:21:58 GMT

Hmm... This looks like it would perfectly match an Onkyo receiver. Thanks for the review, and the contest!

re: Contest: Win my VidaBox Review Gear

njandtmp — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:12:02 GMT

Wining this case would give me the perfect excuse to rebuild my Media Center, which is currently in a full size case.

re: Contest: Win my VidaBox Review Gear

cskenney — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 11:29:18 GMT

It would sure look nice sitting next to the new TV I am trying to convince my wife I NEED to buy.

re: Contest: Win my VidaBox Review Gear

staples — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 09:53:52 GMT

VidaBox please come home! I have been looking for you for years.

re: Contest: Win my VidaBox Review Gear

digitalreader — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:04:43 GMT

Great review! I'd love to win this one for the media setup

Thanks for the opportunity

re: VidaBox vCase3 price reduction

babgvant — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:44:46 GMT

$200 seems about right :)

re: VidaBox vCase3 Review

babgvant — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:21:05 GMT

VFDs aren't for everyone, but IMO provide a much closer to CE experience. And it's really nice to know what's recording when it's not "on".

Certainly not an essential part of a HTPC case but north of $250 it should be there.

re: VidaBox vCase3 Review

mabrown — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 23:22:38 GMT

When I unboxed the chassis before I had any idea what it would sell for my first guess was $299. It's had to see just how nice of a chassis it is in the pictures. Though like I said I would loved for it to have an integrated IR Receiver. The VFD is just fluff to me, my main media center has it and it's really just a novelty.

re: VidaBox vCase3 Review

babgvant — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:30:33 GMT

It looks nice, but $299 seems like a lot for such a plain case w/ no CIR or VFD.

re: Networking your Digital Home, a new option

MCE INTEGRATOR — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 21:40:50 GMT

Tried wireless on hp extender. It doesn't work. Cuts out HD signal contantly. (only 25' from wireless N router) Ended up going through hassle of running a cat5 cable to network. When I've installed powerline lighting control systems (Insteon) if we don't couple the phases, the lighting system is patchy at best, it never commucates properly. When we use phase couplers if fixes the problem everytime. I don't do an install without them. Strange that powerline ethernet manufactures don't ever mention this. Did you use a phase coupler with the powerline bridges? The only one I know of that sales these is Corinex. They also sale powerline filters. On a sidenote, has anyone read reviews on the belkin gigabit powerline adapter? Seems like it you start at gigabit speeds (theoretically, as they claim), you might end up with enough bandwith for HD streaming.

re: maTest

mabrown — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:37:36 GMT

Thanks Ian, good to be back. I feel a little out of the loop, but guess a new baby will do that. : )

re: maTest

DrFlick — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:37:25 GMT

Keep those cards and letters coming!

=D-

re: maTest

Ian Dixon — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 08:33:32 GMT

good to see you back!

re: How To: Share Recorded TV with other Media Centers

zlandar — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 18:57:15 GMT

I used the above instructions and had repeated issues with permissions. Namely I could not access the recorded TV folder on a different computer. I had to do the additional following steps to make this work in Vsta 64:

* First, make sure that anonymous enumeration of SAM accounts is turned off. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa and find the restrictanonymoussam REG_DWORD. Sit this to 0.

* Second, you need to allow anonymous access to your recorded TV share. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters. If there is a NullSessionShares REG_MULTI_SZ, add the name of your share. Don't add the path! Just the name of the share, like "Recorded TV". If NullSessionShares doesn't exist, create a new multi-string value, name it NullSessionShares, and put the name of the share in.

* If you don't use passwords, you _might_ need to find the "LimitBlankPasswordUse" DWORD at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa and set it to 0. I don't think you need to change this unless you're having problems, though.

I found the helpful tip at the following link:

www.jedreport.com/.../you-can-share-r.html

re: How To: Share Recorded TV with other Media Centers

mabrown — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 02:41:44 GMT

SCRAMBLD,

Yes for Vista Ultimate these instructions are still valid.

An easier way to accomplish this is to use Windows Home Server with power pack 2 and copy/move your shows to the recorded tv share on it, it takes care of the rest for you.

re: How To: Share Recorded TV with other Media Centers

scrambld — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 01:30:51 GMT

I've been researching how to share Recorded TV with other media centers for a couple of days. I've tried everything listed in this blog, but no go. I really haven't found any new posts on the subject anywhere on the internet.

Do the methods described here (some from 2 years ago) still work with Vista today?

The key problem I'm experiencing is that the remote media centers (while they can open the share on the MCE server) don't show any files in the actual Media Center interface.

Some observations:

-I can browse to the shared folder and see the contents

-I can add the folder to the watched folders under TV settings

-Anonymous login's and permissions are set

-The firewall on the server is shut off

-No Antivirus software is present

-I can play back the files on the MCE server itself through the interface

-The NullSessionsShares reg entry was added with the correct share name

Any ideas/updates you have would be appreciated.

-SCRAMBLD

re: Aftermarket Xbox 360 Case

Dangelus — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 06:50:21 GMT

Yep lovely case and I'd love one but if it costs that much I doubt I could get permission from my wife! LOL

re: Aftermarket Xbox 360 Case

jbworks — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 04:32:23 GMT

That is a beatiful case.

I hope that i'm wrong, but I would be suprised if that case sells for less then $300.00-$400 US.

re: Aftermarket Xbox 360 Case

cw-kid — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 01:39:06 GMT

So you have to take your XBOX apart to put it in the new case. I guess that kills the warranty lol.

But I agree the XBOX needs to get much quieter.

re: Preview of new Media Browser Features

apemonkeyman — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:48:53 GMT

I have been using Media Browser for a couple of weeks having given up on the overload of My Movies + SQLexpress. Media Browser is an awesomely easy to configure & use bit of kit. The cover flow interface & ability to resize covers is great & when the backdrop kicks in it really is designed to impress.

Seriously cool. :)

re: Preview of new Media Browser Features

cw-kid — Tue, 12 May 2009 02:51:37 GMT

I wonder if it can now play a copy of a movie that is in a DVR-MS file, that resides in the same folder as a ripped DVD copy of the movie in VOB's ?

Like My Movies does, so if your on the PC it plays the full DVD if your on an extender it just plays the DVR-MS copy.

re: Preview of new Media Browser Features

TheChief — Fri, 08 May 2009 18:44:28 GMT

Stabilit, for me, is the key to this next release. We've had lots of new features but this next build needs to be more stable than the current.

re: Preview of new Media Browser Features

tlh523 — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:15:26 GMT

I am an current user and use MB primarily to play by BluRay, DVD, and Home Videos. I love the extenions that are beign put into the upcoming release.

Tim

re: My connected home, pt. 2

mabrown — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 01:56:05 GMT

TroyMason,,

Thanks! I actually did own a Grand Theater from Velocity Micro and it was a nice machine, at the time I bought the S1Digital machine VM had no plans on supporting the TV Pack. I wanted 4 CableCard tuners and I also knew that any future upgrades VM would either drag their feat on or not offer at all so I bought an S1Digital machine, who was the first to offer the TV Pack and they've already announced a Windows 7 upgrade. After having both I can easily say the S1Digital machine is by far my favorite of the two.

re: My connected home, pt. 2

TroyMason — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 01:23:09 GMT

Mike,

I love the set up. I had a question regarding your choice to go with the S 1 Digital Platinum machine. How does it compare to the Velocity Micro Grand Theater?

I read from one of your previous post you had a Velocity Micro computer (not the Grand Theater) and was curious why you decided to go with the S1 Digital instead of the Grand Theater which is cheaper computer?

re: The Digital Lifestyle Hardware - ATI Digital Cable Tuners

mabrown — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:46:58 GMT

CurtLefebvre, you're not missing anything, only the pc that recorded the protected content can play it back. I have linksys extenders and an xbox throughout the house and have very good results. Are your extenders wired or wireless?

re: The Digital Lifestyle Hardware - ATI Digital Cable Tuners

CurtLefebvre — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:37:02 GMT

I have a PC with two ATI cable card tuners, and have distributed with XBoxes and extenders to 5 locations around the house. I am not happy with the performance / quality of the XBoxes (red ring of death 4 times) and extenders (lots of failed connections). I want to have a PC in each of the locations and I would far prefer to use these PCs to distribute, but then my recorded TV gets restricted to one machine. I have a hard time believing that they really intended to stop me from watching recorded tv from multiple locations throughout my own house. Am I missing something, or is this really off limits (legally)?

re: How To: Share Recorded TV with other Media Centers

mabrown — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 21:13:10 GMT

CurtLefebvre, no you can't get around cablecard DRM.

re: How To: Share Recorded TV with other Media Centers

CurtLefebvre — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:51:16 GMT

My cablecard tuner protects all of my recorded tv using DRM, is there a work around?

re: The Digital Lifestyle Hardware - ATI Digital Cable Tuners

mabrown — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 23:05:10 GMT

jonathand, I'm pretty sure cablecards are a US only thing but I don't really know much about TV signals and such outside the US. The first thing to check would be if your provider issues the cards.