Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

ZapStation CD/MP3/DVD Player/Server

Posted by Hemos on from the fun-new-toy dept.

emc3 writes: "On a whim, I decided to actually pay attention to my daily MP3.com spam^H^H^H^Hmember update. While checking out what was left of my online CD collection after the recent shakedowns, a banner ad caught my eye. It's for a device called the ZapStation. This soon-to-be-released device claims to be able to play audio CDs, DVDs, MP3 CDROMs, and it can serve as an MP3 jukebox, DVD jukebox, Web browser, and it can probably julienne fries by hooking up to your Cuisinart via the USB port. What's the catch? It's not on the market yet. But for $599, you can reserve one before they roll out of the factory (next month). Sounds pretty friggin' cool. Did I mention that it's got a 566MHz Celeron, USB port, and wireless keyboard? Sounds like it's just dying to be hacked." Not bad - good amount of space, and it sounds like it will be cool - if it comes out.

24 of 86 comments (clear)

  1. Misssing Features by bigjoeRPI · · Score: 2
    I'm currently debating whether ebaying PC and embedding it in a case or buying something similar to this. The biggest features that would lead me to buy a system like that are missing. I want Component Video to hook up to my Sony Wega TV. And I think this is the only DVD player today (ok maybe not the only one) that doesn't have Dolby Digital Outs. For 600 bucks -

    It seems to me that for 600 Dollars Those two features should have been snuck in....I guess with it being just a PC this is asking a lot. But I'm just dreaming :)

    Cheers

    /me raises a pint of Sierra Nevada Pale to the geek community

  2. Re:No SVCD recording? by Morgaine · · Score: 2

    Is there anything that can play DVDs that can't play SVCDs???

    Yes -- almost everything. DVD players can all play VCD, not SVCD. SVCD uses a completely different format on the medium and also requires completely different decoding.

    Anyway, I wasn't talking about playing SVCD but about playing and recording SVCD, like the newer Chinese players. Excellent for capturing episodes of Buffy! :-)

    --
    "The question of whether machines can think is no more interesting than [] whether submarines can swim" - Dijkstra
  3. Any Generic DVD player plans out there? by SuperKendall · · Score: 2

    A number of people have pointed out that you could build something yourself with more impressive specs for less. That being so, if I wanted to build such a device (DVD player, HD, ethernet, component output, SVGA out, Firewire, with remote) does anyone know of plans for such a thing?

    It would be great if there were kits with nice looking cases to match other home theatre components, but even that wouldn't be essential...

    I know that there are licencing issues with MPEG-2 and AC-3. But if someone just had plans and/or software availiable online, would they need to pay that fee?

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  4. Blatant advertising... by PurpleBob · · Score: 2

    Let's keep the ads at the top of the page and not in the middle of the list of articles, okay?
    --
    No more e-mail address game - see my user info. Time for revenge.

    --
    Win dain a lotica, en vai tu ri silota
  5. Take a look at what Adomo is creating! by pointwood · · Score: 2

    Adomo is taking a client/server aproach, where the clients is small wireless stations for everything you would can imagine. It uses Linux and the protocols, etc. is, of course, going to be released under the GPL.

    Link to adomo.com

    A good preview of the technology can be found here.

    1. Re:Take a look at what Adomo is creating! by pointwood · · Score: 2

      What is really great about Adomo's "solution" is that it is all released under the GPL. That means that every company or private person who would like to make a "client" (for whatever perpose you can think of), can do so - without thinking about paying Adomo royalties!

      To get something like this widespread, you have to set a standard (like nearly anything else). If you create a good open standard, you will have a much better chance of succes and with Adomo's aproach, I think they could have a winner.

      The guy you talk about could also make his own private appliances (isn't that what it is called) for this standard.

      I really hope they succed, because I would like to have a such a system at home. Before such a system becomes reality, MP3 (and soon Ogg Vorbis instead!) will NOT be of much use IMHO, simply because I don't play music from my PC very often - I do it from my stereo.

  6. Re:Pet project by Ryandav · · Score: 2

    Good lord, if you haven't read "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand, you are hereby commanded to do so immediately. You have perhaps unwittingly given a direct quote from the main character (whom I happen to admire...)

    --
    Check my Go-related blog for beginners: DGD
  7. Re:Way OT, but is Slashdot Hypocritical? by dr_strangelove · · Score: 2

    Also interesting - the bugs work. Pagecount seems self-explanatory, but what is pc.gif for? The same? Looks like AC's really aren't, which could be very annoying...

    BTW: They're easier to spot in the page structure display -

    Articles: ZapStation CD/MP3/DVD Player/Server has the following structure:
    (snip)
    http://images2.slashdot.org/Slashdot/pc.gif?/com ments.pl,969741865002
    http://images.slashdot.org/pagecount.gif?/commen ts.pl,969741865002

    --
    "...they may harpoon us, but they ain't gonna pick us up on no radar screen!"
  8. Too bad they'll epoxy the ports by d.valued · · Score: 3

    Let's hope that the creators of this newest techno-wiz-bang toy follow the models of our favorite hacked devices:

    Release 1. Easy to hack. No unwanted epoxy; hell, they'll leave the IDE (or better! SCSI! Yeah, right!) pins standing.

    Release 2. Harder to hack. Soldering skills a must for attatching the spare pins from your 286 drekbox (and yes, we all have one. I know you do. I've seen your house through that lame ass webcam of yours.)

    Release 3. I don't know what'll eat through that nasty black epoxy that's popular these days.... I mean, epoxies are SUPPOSED to be acid-proof...

    --
    I used to be someone else. Now I'm someone better.
    Real life is underrated.
  9. Pet project by Phokus · · Score: 2

    My current project is to build a floor standing MP3 jukebox (like you would find in a tavern). It will be styled like a classic wurlitzer... crossed with an alien artifact (ala H.R. Giger). I'm shaping the exterior out of epoxy resin painted over an inverse mold made of styrofoam. After scooping out most of the styrofoam, the interior will be loaded with a linux computer and monitor. The sound will pipe through my stereo, and the entire thing will be controlled by two big dials and three buttons (which will be interpreted as mouse input by a custom written interface). I'll be documenting the entire thing on a web page as the project gets farther along. I have all the materials, and the custom software is 75% written. Should I try to create downloadable plans so anyone can reproduce this thing?

    1. Re:Pet project by Trevor+Goodchild · · Score: 2
      Why make it look like a classic wurlitzer? This is the most common, and most depressing, design hurdle all new technologies seem to face: Getting past the point of having to make it look like something else. Jukeboxes looked like they did because that's the shape needed for them to do their job. CD juke's look similar because the discs are about the same size as 7" records and they don't function all that differently.

      So... why bother making a new thing look old? Make it look like an MP3 player. Everything, and I mean everything, that has stood the test of time as good design has always expressed its function in its appearance, from gothic cathedrals to classic sports cars to iMac's. Things that try to look like other things rightly end up scorned as ugly, like plastic "wood" veneers and non-structural "Greek Revival" columns on houses built in the 80's.

  10. The question is... by CBoy · · Score: 2

    How long before they are sued by MPAA, RIAA, etc ?

  11. The Future is Here! by Chris+Pimlott · · Score: 4

    Web Audio/Video Player -- View and listen to streaming events such as concerts, news and television broadcasts right through your television and stereo

    Need anything more be said?

  12. No SVCD recording? by Morgaine · · Score: 2

    If they haven't included Super Video CD recording on CDR media in the unit then they've missed out on a golden opportunity.

    This format is huge in the far east, effectively being a sort of "poor man's recordable DVD", and companies like Shinco, Mico and Amoisonic are gearing up to market SVCD player/recorders over here (they all play MP3 as well). If the ZapStation doesn't handle SVCD, it'll soon lose market share to those that do.

    --
    "The question of whether machines can think is no more interesting than [] whether submarines can swim" - Dijkstra
  13. Re:Misssing Features... uh no... by thing12 · · Score: 2

    Actually no - it does have a digital S/PDIF output (specs).

    And if you can really tell the difference between S-Video and component inputs I'd be surprised --- I tried it myself and found that while there is a difference in the default color/hue balance, once it was corrected via the set's controls, I honestly could not begin to tell the difference when switching inputs from my DVD player. S-Video is fine for regular interlaced TV.

    The only thing you're going to see that will make DVD's better is progressive scan component inputs as are on DTV's.

    You have a transitional piece of equipment (as do I) -- component inputs will be a thing of the past in a few years in favor of a standard vga 15pin connector and/or 5-BNC.

  14. mp3.com spam unsubscribe how-to by Sleepy · · Score: 4

    Ah yes, the unwelcome, unsolicited mp3.com spam. I sent them one email WAAAY back, right when they were making a transition from a "warez leet mp3 site" due to some problems viewing pages in Netscape (real LEET webmasters only test webpages in IE on Win98 - heh).

    I never went to the site again - who needs them? But then I started getting mp3.com *HTML* spam... some of it nearly 50K. Like all scumbag spammers, no unsubscribe details were provided. It got to the point that if I didn't check my email every day like it or not, my mailbox would overflow and I would lose email. Sending "unsubscribe replies" did not work, and neither did forwarding them to webmaster@mp3.com (the same bastard who involuntarily signed me up in the first place).

    What you gotta do is do a whois, and mail their Finance department and tell them what pricks they are. Be sure to hit all the "generic email lists" you can think of, such as mp3@mp3.com, sales@mp3.com, firstletter-lastname@mp3.com of any person's name on the website, and so on.

    cc'ing 20 people there was probably disruptive, but hey so is spam. It worked. :)

    I did get replies back from management... heh but all the replies were pure-MS Word attachments, and I couldn't read them. The spam stopped tho...

  15. Re:Hemos, Get A Clue... Puhleaze! by mcrbids · · Score: 2

    Open ass, remove head, says I!

    "CD-ROM for playing/ripping audio CDs $25"

    This simply defies description. If you cut to the bone, you MIGHT get a burner for just over $100.

    $25 will get you a used, 6x CD-ROM on E-bay. (but you can FORGET about "ripping" anything...

    "One Cheap CPU, mobo & case" - sure. But it's really hard to get a 386 to do anything meaningful...

    I'd guess your age at about 14...

    -Ben

    --
    I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
  16. Very Cool, But... by Outlyer · · Score: 2

    This sounds like a cool deal, especially for the less technically inclined, but someone with a little patience could build a similar system from:

    DVD-Rom Drive
    TV Out Card
    Soundblaster Live or similar high-end sound card
    QNX RTP (when and if it supports DVD)
    NIC
    30gb hard drive
    A cool case
    Celeron 400 w/128mb of RAM and a Motherboard

    I've got my very own ZapStation clone sitting in my stereo cabinet. It uses a X10 Mouse remote, and while it doesn't do DVD yet (it's running Linux and I have an APEX) everything else is pretty simple to implement.

    Still, for non-techies, it's a cool idea, but a wee bit expensive...

    --
    ----------------- "I have a bone to pick, and a few to break." - Refused -------------------
  17. Ok- by Bucky_B_Katt · · Score: 2

    But can it run my :cue:Cat?? sorry, i am funking stunk.....

  18. You must realize... by Gogl · · Score: 2

    ... that at $599, not including any monitor or speakers (as you're supposed to hook it up to your home entertainment system, i.e. TV), that chances are anybody, especially a Linux geek, would be better off getting a real computer (either by putting it together, getting it from some discount place, whatever).... even now it can be done for $599, and prices are only going down, so by the time this thing comes out $599 will be too high of a price. Only real possible use I see for it is for people who just aren't that comfortable with computers but still want DVDs, MP3s, etc., and want it mixed together with their whole home entertainment system. Also, I'm willing to bet that the audience I mentioned is the very sales target of this ZapStation thing, and that the target is NOT geeks.

  19. X10 Mouse remote? by Morgaine · · Score: 2

    By "X10 Mouse remote", you you mean an X10 RF + IR TV-style remote like the Marmitek? Presumably that could allow one to navigate menus as one does with a DVD remote. If so, how do you use it as a mouse?

    Or is an "X10 Mouse" an actual product? If so, who makes them?

    --
    "The question of whether machines can think is no more interesting than [] whether submarines can swim" - Dijkstra
  20. Re:FIVE HUNDRED NINETY-NINE US DOLLARS by nomadic · · Score: 2

    It's actually only a little bit more than a high-end DVD player, and about the same as that of a PC with similiar specs. I'm not saying it marks a high point in the evolution of humanity, but it doesn't look too bad.
    --

  21. Please, let this not be a loss leader! by JoeShmoe · · Score: 2

    I really hope they are not selling these devices with the intent to lock you into their ZapMedia portal. But I really want to know a few more under the hood details:

    1) Will the hard drive be encrypted ala TiVo or will I be able to replace it with a larger on?

    2) Will I be able to transfer file in and out via the ethernet port or just in?

    3) What is the operating system and will it be possible to alter it to play MPEG-4 files like DivX nAVI or pAVI?

    Boy I hope someone does a review of one of these things. I'm a little hesistant to sign up for something that might not be anything different than what APEX/TiVo does for twice the price.

    - JoeShmoe

    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -=-=-=-=-=-=-

    --
    -- I wonder which will go down in history as the bigger failure: the War on Drugs or the War on Filesharing
  22. Why can't my TiVo do this? by KFury · · Score: 2

    All it needs is either a DVD player or an ethernet NIC (or maybe both, in an ideal world) and it should be able to handle this stuff.

    Owning a TiVo, I wouldn't want to buy this too... I'd just wait until you can get both togehter. X-box anyone?

    Kevin Fox

    --

    Kevin Fox