ZapStation Price Cut, Linux-Only Version

Richard Robison of ZapMedia wrote in to say that their ZapStation stereo MP3 Box has had a serious price cut to $599. If you put in the comments field 'JUST LINUX' they will ship you the box with just Linux installed (and code to control the IR input and screen). In other words, a $600 stereo component PC ready to connect to your TV and speakers for whatever video or audio projects you feel like rolling up yourself. I reviewed this unit last December and found a lot of problems, but many of those glitches have apparently been fixed, and the price was the biggest problem, so this thing may deserve a serious second look this time around.

Comments

First Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

maybe?

Re:First Post?

[neal n bob]

suck it down linux style, filthy ac. This FP claimed for all all logged-in trolls and crapflooders.

Re:First Post?

[Anonymous Coward]

you like pædophiles! you are a bad person!

Re:First Post?

[spookz]

"First Post?"
I thought that Anonymous Coward had posted over 1*10^6 times?
Or did you mean first post for this article?

Re:First Post?

[neal n bob]

you mean like slashbot janitors or catholic priests or european men? No, I am not a fan of any of those groups.

47 gdfj jdf ���½�ŋħđ

[Anonymous Coward]

g-g-g-g-g-g-gaaaaaay!

Gaykovsky!

yeah!

[xnok]

first first post...

Cheaper

[El Pollo Loco]

Couldn't I just get a cheaper old ass pentium and put linux on it, and do the same thing?? 600 seems like a lot.

Re:Cheaper

[HMC CS Major]

Yea, you could.

You're paying for the pretty case, and the software. A lot of people on this site probably do not care a single bit about this product, as they could build their own and write basically equivalent software for nearly nothing. A lot of people who know nothing about computers, but might have an extra $600 to spend, might find this somewhat more attractive.

Re:Cheaper

[nooboob]

I agree, just get a desktop case, throw a decent CPU in, put an ATI all in one card in, get a really nice sound card and a fat hdd and roll the whole damn thing yourself. You'd only lack the front display and remote, but a little thinking could fill those holes pretty easily. A little custom paint job and throw in some pretty LEDs and you will be able to say "I built that really cool thing for cheapness" and all will bow.

Re:Cheaper

[Genghis Troll]

I've noticed that many of you homosexuals have a definite fondness for the phrase "roll your own", and variations thereof. I wonder if you can provide some insight as to why this phrase is so popular among those of your kind.

Re:Cheaper

[Anonymous Coward]

Scientists are people who build the Brooklyn Bridge and then buy it. -- William Buckley

Re:Cheaper

[Score Whore]

You're over estimating the intelligence of the average slashdotter. Plus most of those who do have the skills to actually build something usable as a stereo/video component, consider the dollar value of their time to be substantially greater than "nearly nothing."

Re:Cheaper

[Anonymous Coward]

Your box would not look very nice. Your box would likely be the size of a PC and not the size of a CD player. The box we are selling looks really nice. I also doubt your box will have a readable display. The ZapStation has a really nice VFD.

Re:Cheaper

[tenman]

That post was a bad move man... If you really are with the company, you should be getting your web site off of it's knees and answer the phone. As a potential customer, I hate to see you posting here. As a company man, you should talk to Sal in marketing( or across the kitchen table from you), he would tell you it looks bad to argue with people that don't matter.

+1 clue

Re:Cheaper

[Junta]

Actually, with newewer ATI all in wonder cards, you get a remote. There is even a linux driver.

Re:Cheaper

[Jaysyn]

Yeah, no shit. I know I couldn't do this...

Jaysyn /runs and hides

Re:Cheaper

[Junta]

Big, clunky box to plug into a TV not good enough? Seems to work for XBox :)

Re:Cheaper

[ydodger]

Sure pal. Then you'll be wondering what that humming noise is when you plug your PC into your reciever. The floating ground power supply is probably the coolest thing about this box.

mp

Re:Cheaper

[Anonymous Coward]

can't say that i had that problem after i ran some bell wire between the ground wire of the receiver and one of the screws holding in my power supply...

*innocent whistling*

Re:Cheaper

[stanley_caiww]

If I buy the box, where do I put my PS? It is cheap but I don't want it. Who want a CD player worth $600.

Good price

[Black Perl]

This seems reasonable, since it's not much different than the price of building one yourself.

LOOOOOOOOL!

[Anonymous Coward]

L1olLOLo!lo1l1ol!

I am so gaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Plz fck me!

Thnx! :)

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!

Whats the point?

[Drakker]

Whats the point? An old P100 with a big HD and a gravis gamepad as the controller would do the same thing. And if you want to go overkill, buy a cordless mouse or keyboard. There, your MP3 box for, well, almost free!

Re:Whats the point?

[HMC CS Major]

The point is the case, not the functionality.

I wouldnt want a large, midsized beige case in my entertainment center, and I'm probably not alone there. I wouldnt mind a sleek, black box, if I had (any kind of) money.

Re:Whats the point?

[Anonymous Coward]

For $100 you could buy a cheap stereo and rip the innards out and put your PC inside it. :-)

Re:Whats the point?

[mcspock]

For all intents and purposes, you need at least a p133 to decode mp3 real time. You can do it on slower processors, you just end up ditching some basic audio quality.

Re:Whats the point?

[ichimunki]

Even my P133 does a lot of skipping if I'm doing file transfers or shelling into the mp3 server. Same problem with the web interface. But on the whole, getting a good playlist together means that with my 40gb drive that I can listen to continuous music without a repeat for something like three or four weeks.

Re:Whats the point?

[JesseL]

My cajun system uses a 486-133MHz for full quality mp3 playback, and only uses ~40% of the processor resources to do it, I just had to make sure mpg123 was compiled w/ 486 optimizations.

Re:Whats the point?

[Anonymous Coward]

it plays dvd's and video as well? did you people not read the article? try doing that on your p133 as well.

Re:Whats the point?

[Spoing]

Great! How well does it play DVDs? (:

(Serious note: Good project.)

Re:Whats the point?

[Aus-Rust]

you are playing mp3's
you have already ditched audio quality

$900 price drop?!

[thesolo]

These boxes were selling for just over $1500.00, and now they are down to $600? Is this decrease due to getting cheaper bulk goods, or is this an unofficial liquidation??

Even at $600, it's a little pricey, but it definitely looks a lot better than throwing a PC in your entertainment center. I honestly might buy one of these now for a music server with screen overlay project I've been cooking up.

Re:$900 price drop?!

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds to me like an EOL announcement isn't too far off.

Re:$900 price drop?!

[garcia]

Onion2k, the next world prophet!

Re:$900 price drop?!

[Lumpy]

No it is not cheaper than throwing one toherther yourself. nor does it look any better.

Get the GCT/allwell Metallic6086 install a hard drive, install a cdrom drive if you want automatic ripping of CD's to your library. The allwell box is 325.00 a 40gig drive is 79.00 and a cdrome drive is less than $25.00.

install SANE on it with an LCD or find one of the other Tv style jukebox projects. and voila. 100% open source, looks better than anything else, can double as your broadband router (2 ethernet ports in it) and you can upgrade from crappy audio to a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz at a later time to get the best audio available.

sorry, the myth of you cant do it yourself cheap enough or make it look pretty is just that. a myth.

Re:$900 price drop?!

[Rob Parkhill]

How about a hint on where to buy these? It took me a while, but I finally found their website, but they do not list a price, or where you can actually get one.

Looks like it has a couple of PCI slots too, so you could add a video-in card.

Oh yeah, and don't forget to add in the cost of a wireless keyboard, mouse, and universal remote to the overall cost.

Re:$900 price drop?!

[Lumpy]

why add those prices? when it comes with the wireless keybd+trackpoint mouse on keyboard. as to where to get one... I emailed them and they told me the price. (They are a OEM manufacturer they dont really want to sell to people onsey twosey... but if you tell them you are a expierimenter and you want to buy it basically AS-IS no warrenty (as they feel that 99.7% of regular people do not have the abilities to safely create with their devices.... and this is true.)
so email the sales email address on their website and ask... how much for one? they answer within a day.

well, damn

[nihilist_1137]

JUST LINUX

This is like an IBM commercial

[Anonymous Coward]

Putting out a brand new big offer, letting the world come in and scoop up your hardware for a much better price, and forgetting to make sure your web server is answering.

Hooray.

Re:This is like an IBM commercial

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, we screwed up. We will have the server fixed shortly.

their website

[e1en0r]

http://www.zapmedia.com/ just fyi.

Re:their website

[svferris]

Hehe, not anymore after this story got posted.

And another website gets the feared "Slashdotting".

Re:their website

[cwebster]

if you are trying to be so informative, is it so hard to Make a link to http://www.zapmedia.com/?

Re:their website

[psycht]

http://www.zapmedia.com/ just fyi.

no longer exists. The company has folded.

Re:their website

[rrobison]

The site is back up.

$600 is still too much

[atrowe]

Who would pay $600 for what essentially is an off-the-shelf PC with a custom shaped case. I can build the same thing with off the shelf components for under $400. I've also found that the S/N ratio on most consumer quality PC sound cards leaves something to be desired. Most low-end sound cards have a S/N ration of around 90 dB, which is completely unacceptable for even the weekend audiophile. I think I'll stick with my PC for gaming and web browsing and use REAL stereo components for my music listening needs.

Re:$600 is still too much

[Sc00ter]

And we all know how much the audiophiles listen to, and love, MP3s. Plus, how do you know this Zapstaion thing even uses a normal PC Soundcard, for all you know it might have a better S/N ratio

Re:$600 is still too much

[Anonymous Coward]

1) "audiophile" and "mp3" are incompatible regardless of S/N ratio.
2) 90dB is far more than adequate for the audiophile. Vinyl doesn't, in any practical sense, approach 90dB S/N.

This isn't to say that there aren't problems with sound cards for high-end audio reproduction, S/N ratio just isn't it.

Re:$600 is still too much

[svferris]

Well, for audiophiles, I've heard nothing beats the Stereo-link 1200. Sound & Vision magazine gave it a great review.

If only it had an LCD or something so you didn't have to control the music from your PC

Re:$600 is still too much

[TheFrood]

Who would pay $600 for what essentially is an off-the-shelf PC with a custom shaped case. I can build the same thing with off the shelf components for under $400.

Probably the same people who pay $1000 to buy a computer from Dell/Gateway/Compaq instead of just building one themselves from off-the-shelf components for under $700.

TheFrood

Re:$600 is still too much

[Anonymous Coward]

here ya go

$600 buys the whole 1.2GHz system including monitor and everything. The different? Only a 20GB Harddrive...

Re:$600 is still too much

[Paradise Pete]

I can build the same thing with off the shelf components for under $400.

Assuming, of course, that you value your time at $0.

Re:$600 is still too much

[Anonymous Coward]

when youre not working on sat/sun your time is worth $0.

Re:$600 is still too much

[bilbobuggins]

i said this the first time this story was here, and i'll say it again.
this product is not targetted toward /. geeks!
that's like if slashcars.org was reviewing a new car and all the mechanics we're like "doy, i could just build this myself so why would anyone buy it?".
we're all happy that you, me and 90% of the other people here could build one, but you act like it's a flaw in zapmedia's business model which it most definitely is not.
whether your average consumer will bite or not is a whole other story, but please, don't blame them for not making something you want.

Re:$600 is still too much

[kaimiike1970]

I don't understand why people just don't buy this thing. I got mine for $149US and it plays mp3's and vcd's and pal and ntsc dvd's. It is also region free... If you spend $150 on this you still have $450 left to purchase a TiVo.

Re:$600 is still too much

[Score Whore]

Of course he values his time at $0. He's in mensa isn't he?

Re:$600 is still too much

[RestiffBard]

how long does it take to build a pc? I've built several. it doesn't take that long. an hour tops.

Re:$600 is still too much

[sphinxter]

Actually Stereo-link 1200 has an analog connection to a receiver most audiophiles would prefer a machine with a digital output so they can utilize the Digital Analog converter on the receiver instead. Sound Blaster Extigy is a more featured device that does have that feature. In all honesty it is still overkill, what I would like to see is a simple usb to optical connecter, such a device should not cost more than 20 bucks and would sound as good as any other optical solution since it would use the receivers dac.

Re:$600 is still too much

[zmooc]

You can build such a thing (including IR keyboard and RC), install Linux, configure/write the software to controll the whole thing from your TV in an hour? Are you an octopus on speed or something?:P

Re:$600 is still too much

[MyAss]

But can that play vbr mp3's. The specs seem say it doesn't? (Most of my mp3's are vbr encoded.)

Re:$600 is still too much

[kaimiike1970]

Sadly, it does not play VBR's. That is a drawback...

Re:$600 is still too much

[qurob]

For the last time, that's not true!

There's more than one reason for buying a PC from the big companies, rather than rolling your own from flavor of the week hardware, and saving MUCH less than what you could in the past.

Re:$600 is still too much

[qurob]

VBR = Variable Bit Rate, before someone asks...

Answers to more of your MP3 questions

Re:$600 is still too much

[clarkgoble]

Are there any soundcard that produce good sound through your soundsystem with a digital port?

Re:$600 is still too much

[WhaDaYaKnow]

Most low-end sound cards have a S/N ration of around 90 dB, which is completely unacceptable for even the weekend audiophile

A weekend audiophile wouldn't even consider doing D/A in the PC since you can get SPDIF (aka Optical/Coax) digital output.

With an optical out (or the coax works just fine too) a PC is a perfect playback device, except that the PC itself makes noise. I solved this by using a fanless calm PC enclosure, with a solid state drive, pulling the audio over the network of a server in the garage.

It's actually pretty weird to turn on a PC that makes no noise whatsoever for the first time. You can stick your head in, there's just silence. You need the LED's to confirm the damn thing is on :-)

Re:$600 is still too much

[jnessen]

Actually, If I recall correctly, the ZapStation has a custom designed Audio Section, that was designed and built by Harmon International (Harmon Kardon). I am fairly certain the sound quality is far superior to "normal" computer auido.

Re:$600 is still too much

[El Kevbo]

That looks a lot like the Soundblaster Extigy I bought the other day. It looks a lot cooler but doesn't have near the inputs or outputs nor does it have a remote control. Any comparison between the two (or any other similar devices) out there?

Kevin

Re:$600 is still too much

[MediaBoy77]

Or, you could read the specs before you whine about them.

Analog Audio
Frequency Response 10Hz to 20kHz (+0.1/-0.3dB)
Dynamic Range 97 dB (20 Bit Precision), 94 dB (16 Bit Precision)
Signal-to-Noise Ratio 99 dB (20 Bit Precision), 96 dB (16 Bit Precision)
Channel Separation 108 dB (1kHz)
THD+N 0.006% (1kHz)
Noise Modulation 105 dB ± 1.7 dB
Output Level 2 V RMS ± 0.2 (1kHz)
Audio D/A Converter 24 Bit, 96kHz
Wow & Flutter 0.0017% W. Peak (EIAJ)
Digital Audio
Optical Output Level 18 dBm
Coaxial Output Level 0.5 V p-p / 75 Ohm

Re:$600 is still too much

[RestiffBard]

see now thats a project. an octupus on speed. I might have to take a trip to the aquarium now.

Re:$600 is still too much

[ydodger]

You obviously haven't tried this yourself (or read the specs. 1. It has digital out. 2. You can't buy a floating ground power supply off the street. If you don't know why that matters, then you shouldn't be popping off about building your own.

Re:$600 is still too much

[zmooc]

You provide the octopus, I'll provide the speed. OK?

Re:$600 is still too much

[amuro98]

So, in other words, you value your time at $0/hour...

Tell me, do you wash your car? Change your car's oil? Paint your house? Cook all your meals? Make your own clothes?

What do you mean you don't? It's much cheaper to do it yourself instead of paying someone a lot of money to do it instead. All it takes is some materials, and TIME.

Oh, I see, you'd rather do something else with your time?

You'd rather pay more for the convience?

Then guess what, your time isn't worth $0.

Just because you're not getting paid on the weekends doesn't mean your time suddenly becomes worthless.

Re:$600 is still too much

[amuro98]

While I agree this thing isn't targetted at /. geeks, who exactly IS it targetted at?

Joe-six pack is NOT going to spend $600 on what is essentially a DVD player that can play music and sorta surf the web.

Audiophiles are NOT going to spend $600 on an MP3 player.

A/Vphiles are NOT going to spend $600 on a DVD player that doesn't even support component output, to say nothing of progressive scan, VGA-output, coax-audio out, etc.

So, who exactly is supposed to buy this thing?

Drop the price to $300.

At that point, you'll start getting sales from Joe-sixpack interested in a multi-purpose box, as well /. geeks looking for a quick & cheap way to add MP3s to their stereo setup.

This thing was horribly overpriced and mis-marketted when /. ran this story the first time, and nothing has changed. The price drop moreorless reflects the general decrease in PC components since it was announced.

Re:$600 is still too much

[Anonymous Coward]

USB->SPID does exist, check out the MD reviews at cnet, they review a device that does just that. it's marketed at MD lovers (like me) but it'd work just as well for this, i would imagine.

Re:$600 is still too much

[shepd]

>do you wash your car?

Yup.

>Change your car's oil?

Might try to at some point. I don't right now because I haven't the foggiest idea of how to do it correctly.

>Paint your house?

When I finally own one, hell yeah!

>Cook all your meals?

Not always. Sometimes though.

>Make your own clothes?

I don't have the skill needed for that.

>Oh, I see, you'd rather do something else with your time?

No, I wouldn't. I enjoy doing things. When you do things you learn. When I learn I'm happy. When I sit there and watch I'm bored. If I don't watch I'm really bored. When I get involved I not only get the job done, but I get it done my way.

Your time is only worthless when you don't do anything with it. Value is more than meets your eye.

If you tell someone you don't cook, clean, or do handywork you'll find they say "Sounds like the easy life" to you. 5 minutes later they forget you even exist. That's the other half of the definition of value -- your worth to society.

HAND, I'm off coding a personal project and learning Perl rather than paying someone else to enjoy getting the job done.

Re:$600 is still too much

[old_n_anal]

from the web site ( http://www.zapmedia.com/products/specifications.ht ml )

Signal-to-Noise Ratio 99 dB (20 Bit Precision), 96 dB (16 Bit Precision)

Re:$600 is still too much

[j09824]

Ah, yes, the old "pay money to save time" argument. Save time for what, pray tell? If you outsource your life, you don't have much of a life left; all you get to do is pay bills and work hard. Start valuing your life, not your time.

Re:$600 is still too much

[Bert64]

I wash my car, change it`s oil.. i`ve never needed to paint my house, and i do cook my own food most of the time. The exception here, is if i wish to eat a meal which i am not capable of cooking. I`m also not able to sew to save my life, so i buy pre-made clothes. The convenience is less of an issue, the fact that i CANT do the above is the point. And most people wouldn`t know how to setup their own home stereo system, those mini systems are very popular for instance.. just a single unit, plug it in and go.

Re:$600 is still too much

[fearlessfreddy]

I've also found that the S/N ratio on most consumer quality PC sound cards leaves something to be desired. Most low-end sound cards have a S/N ration of around 90 dB, which is completely unacceptable for even the weekend audiophile. I think I'll stick with my PC for gaming and web browsing and use REAL stereo components for my music listening needs.

Consider the possibility of an external D/A converter with USB audio. Get better S/N than your CD player's analog out.

Audiophiles use external D/A converters anyway.

Re:$600 is still too much

[mdh]

The ZapStation has a really nice looking, 3 color VFD display that is way cooler than an LCD. It's listed in the specs

ZapStation Price Cut, Linux-Only Version?

[trollercoaster]

Now I've seen everything!

(where is that NowIveSeenEverything guy?)

Muppet!

[RobertTaylor]

PC ready to connect to your TV and speakers for whatever video or audio projects you feel like rolling up yourself

If you felt like rolling your own you wouldnt be buying one of these, old P1** and a soundcard does me fine ;)

$600 for this?

[LordOfYourPants]

I would rather pay $400 for a refurbished computer capable of playing all the formats this machine plays. Lets look at its problems:

Can't FTP properly if FTP sites have symlinks.
Can't do large FTP transfers.
Importing tracks from sources other than ripped CDs causes the track order to be lost.
No shuffled play.
Popping noises when listening to tracks via optical cable.
Shitty UI.
Can't change your playlist as it's being played through.
Can play MPEG video only.
Pixelated/jerky DVD playback.
Anamorphic issues with DVD playback.

Which of these issues have actually been fixed? A lot of them seem to be pretty important to me. ie: It may be nice if issues 1-5 are fixed, but if DVD playback is still pixelated/jerky, the device may be worthless.

Re:$600 for this?

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey dummy, that review is over 6 months old.

Re:$600 for this?

[Anonymous Coward]

Read the last paragraph. It acknowledges that issues have been fixed but also questions which.

Re:$600 for this?

[Anonymous Coward]

The ftp problem has been fixed.
Track order problem has been fixed.
Shuffled play works fine.
Popping noise has been fixed.
Why do you say the UI is shitty? Most people who have seen it really like it.
Good point about the playlist.
Playback is not jerky or pixelated.
We are not aware of an issue with Anamorphic DVDs.

Re:$600 for this?

[amuro98]

As a DVD playback device, this thing is already useless.

It didn't support component, much less, progressive, output when it was reviewed, and still doesn't.

I've seen players as low as $120 that have component output. $200 for players with progressive scan.. What's this thing's excuse at $600?

Even the PS2, which can be considered a multi-function box, has component out.

Heck, if Sony ever releases the HD/network card combo for the PS2 (~$100?) the PS2 will be able to do *MORE* than this thing for *HALF* the price.

This goes for XBox as well.

link in the story

[kirn_malinus]

to the product?

Hmm

[acesfull]

I was thinking of building something similiar with that new VIA Mini-ITX MoBo. Can't seem to figure out if it is out yet/if I can buy it/where to buy it/etc...

Maybe if I hit reload...

[realgone]

I think my /. subscription's broken. I just read a feature-length ad for ZapMedia.

Re:Maybe if I hit reload...

[Anonymous Coward]

It was reviewed, with criticisms, by /.

A good disclosure would be whether /. got a test unit, or other consideration.

Re:Maybe if I hit reload...

[FortKnox]

I kinda agree here.
When Rob reviewed it it had a lot of problems but many of those glitches have apparently been fixed? That line makes me think of some type of money put in VA's hands....

Re:Maybe if I hit reload...

[Anonymous Coward]

How is this off-topic?

Re:Maybe if I hit reload...

[rrobison]

Rob got no consideration for reviewing the ZapStation. He did not get to keep the ZapStation. It was promptly returned after he completed the review.

Re:Maybe if I hit reload...

[Anonymous Coward]

ahhh, that explains the bad review :)

onion2k is modern day nostradamus

[phawley]

comment from original /. post:

Prediction (Score:5, Insightful)
by onion2k (onion@uberworld.spamspamspam.org) on 11:06 Friday 07 December 2001 (#2670973) Alter Relationship
(User #203094 Info | http://slashdot.org/) Its $1500 dollars now. In 3 months they'll drop that to around $799. And the Slashdot headline will read 'ZapStation now affordable'. This sort of market just begs for this kind of ploy. Sell way high to start with and recoup development costs from the early adopters with pots of cash (plus its Christmas), and then drop down to a sensible (?!) price.

The fact the media gives loads of free advertising to it when the initial production run is finished and the machine is market tested is the icing on the cake.

Examples where this has happened before? The Sony Clie, PSX, Dreamcast, PS2, lots of hifis.. if its desirable home entertainment, then this is the obvious sales plan.

Moral of the story? Wait and save.

Re:onion2k is modern day nostradamus

[Anonymous Coward]

except that nostradamus wasn't usually right :)
here's a link, in case people don't believe you.

Re:onion2k is modern day nostradamus

[Betaman]

"Examples where this has happened before? The Sony Clie, PSX, Dreamcast, PS2, lots of hifis.. if its desirable home entertainment, then this is the obvious sales plan."

When did the PS2 go down in price? No one told me about this? It's still $299 like before isn't it? PS1 went down after at least a year. Components get cheaper in one year. Everything works like this anyway, I don't know how it works to be some kind of underhanded sales ploy. Plus I'm sure a lot of products have very vauge cost estimates, but as time goes on they can refine the actual cost of the device, and hence the price to consumers.

Re:onion2k is modern day nostradamus

[metacosm]

Mid-may is when the PS2 pricedrop is coming.

A Slashvertisement?

[Mr_Perl]

And we thought Slashvertisements were just an april fools joke

Re:A Slashvertisement?

[sketerpot]

Would you complain so if they gave negative reviews of everything? That's what some people do, and it seriously annoys me. I prefer this, and if Slashdot makes sme money in the process, good for them.

Re:A Slashvertisement?

[dcgaber]

I don't think the problem is in positive reviews. The problem people have is that /. makes money from the same company that they are "independently" reviewing. That causes some people to be skeptical of the source. Case in point, why do people get skeptical of the same firm auditing someone's books and giving them consulting advice with lucrative contracts. B/c even if there is no wrongdoing, it gives the appearance that there is. And as recent events ::cough:: enron :: cough:: tell us, in cases more then the appearance. Am I saying that this is evil and the same scale as enron? No, but there are obvious problems with taking money from those you review.

However, I still trust the credibility of slashdot, and would trust this review based on what I read here in the past and based on the peer-review comment system. However, if this were to be the trend, I would not be so forgiving. In general, one can hawk product, one can review products, but when you make money from companies and then review their products (or their competitors), there is a credibility gap and a redflag goes up.

Before you flame away, I do see this as different from a PC print mag accepting advertisements and reviewing products, there is a bigger wall between the editorial board, the product review board and the advertising board. But to those who complain when the see particular stories on MSNBC or the like, question the same here.

Re:A Slashvertisement?

[Mr_Perl]

Um, maybe I should preface things like this with

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ WARNING @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

This post may contain a joke.

If you laugh, we share a sense of humor. If you don't get it, bug off. If it's really offtopic (which the above isn't since it relates to an article which reads like an advertisement) moderate it as such. If you take a second to look at my post history you will find I'm a perfectly well behaved karma whore not accustomed to posting crap requiring modding down.

Re:A Slashvertisement?

[rrobison]

Slashdot nor Rob made any money from reviewing the ZapStation. Rob did not get to keep the ZapStation.

I bought one... it sits in a box useless

[Anonymous Coward]

I ordered one, preconfigured. It arrived after three and a half weeks and four phone calls to complain. I took it out of the box and it simply would not work as advertised. It was pouring out feedback, stuttered, and in general just didn't work.

I called for tech support, no joy.

I called for a RMA, was told that I had never ordered one from them and asked my phone number so they could call the police and report my scam and/or theft (this by a supervisor). This freaked me out and pissed me off, not to say the least.

I disputed the charge with my CC company and they told me the charge had gone through but that they would put a dispute on the CC. Next thing I know I get a letter of bad credit copied to me from these guys as sent to all three credit bureaus, as well as a bill for $799.00 and shipping and late fee's. I then got a letter from the CC company that says they were not reversing the charge after having talked to their orders and shipping department because I had recieved the product and they had no record of my calling for support or a return!!!

None the less, I have called the state's prosecutor office and spent some money on a legal consultation to make sure I wasn't going to loose out by not paying the bill (I certainly shouldn't have to). Every month since I recieved the bill, they have added a late charge and marked my credit! I will probably file a suit, but since they won't take the product back or act like I never ordered it, I am screwed.

Be Warned!

Re:I bought one... it sits in a box useless

[Da Schmiz]

Wow... Scary.

If I had mod points I'd give you some.

Re:I bought one... it sits in a box useless

[Anonymous Coward]

An AC posts all this. Doesn't give the name of the 'supervisor' he talked to. Doesn't give the time this happened. Doesn't give anything to back the story up.

Hm. Given that this incident stands alone in this entire thread, doesn't it sound a little fishy?

Re:I bought one... it sits in a box useless

[po_boy]

I'll give you $50 for it.

Re:I bought one... it sits in a box useless

[Verence]

Perhaps this comment is true, but it looks like a standard MS Word 'Give a company a bad report' Wizard.

If it's true, then to the poster I say this: good luck.

Re:I bought one... it sits in a box useless

[caferace]

According to their website (when you can get to it) they are a BBB member. Methinks you should have checked with them, with all the "troubles" you went through.

Perhaps when you called for support you only identified yourself as "A/C".

Re:I bought one... it sits in a box useless

[CaptainSuperBoy]

Man.. why don't people just follow some simple procedures to protect BOTH sides from fraud? Keep records of everything, keep a paper copy of every document, credit card receipt, packing slip. When you talk to them, keep a record of their names, the content of the conversation, and the date.

If they refuse to honor the terms of the warranty - and you've made a good faith effort to prove that you legitimately own the box, they charged your credit card, you received it - you take them to small claims court. Disputing the charge with your CC company is the wrong move if the charge wasn't fraudulent, and you received the merchandise. Look at it from their perspective - you promised to pay for some merchandise by using your credit card, and then you went back on that promise.

In my state there is a very strict process for taking a business to small claims court. Before going to court you have to send a 30-day demand letter, allowing the merchant time to resolve the matter out of court. If you don't settle, you can take them to court. And if you've documented everything well, you will probably win.

Re:I bought one... it sits in a box useless

[rrobison]

I work at ZapMedia. If this actually happened, call me and I will take care of the problem. Since we never sold a box for $799, my guess is that this never happened. My number is 678-420-2720. -Richard

Re:I bought one... it sits in a box useless

[Knightmare]

I find it hard to believe that an Anonymous Coward posting which speaks very poorly of the company being marked as Insightful much less to a level of +4. I mean come on, we have no way to back this up or for that matter refute it. I would like all of the mods that +'d this comment to contact me, I have a bit of lake front property I have been needing to liquidate for awhile, mabey you will be interested.

Re:I bought one... it sits in a box useless

[scotch]

ATTN Moderators: an unsubstantiated, undocumented report from an Anonymous Coward that blemishes the reputation of this company does not make for +4 insightful. Please restrain your enthusiasm for sticking it to the man.

Re:I bought one... it sits in a box useless

[Qazimov]

Richard, you are brave... I saw your number, and I can't even think how many other people see this as well. Does make me feel more like this post was a hoax as well.

I nearly called you myself to ask how hackable this hardware is.. 800mhz Celeron, but can I install a video card or possibly plop a second 80gb ide drive in?

-Not expecting a response.

Re:I bought one... it sits in a box useless

[horza]

Maybe because most of us aren't anally retentive and have a life to get on with? The average person doesn't log their calls to customer support noting names and exact times, they expect customer support to do that for them and then execute their orders. In reality it's trust that oils the work of commerce, relieving red tape and enabling us to lead more productive lives. I've taken items back to stores a number of times with no receipt and they have exchanged the item without question.

Much like computer security, you have to weigh up how much process you want to put in against how inconvenient it is. Time to time people will try and screw you. Like most people I live fairly free and easy, and each hiccup is greeted with a shug of the shoulder and a "c'est la vie". Life's too short. Warn your friends, and if it costs a fair amount of cash try taking them to small claims (though be prepared to write off the loss when the trader declares bankrupcy so they can spring up somewhere else under a new name without having to honour their obligations).

Once I put up a web page proving how a company who rented me a flat ripped me off. After they spend more on solicitors fees threatening me than the value they took from me I felt much better. I kept the physical proof safe and didn't post as an A/C unlike the parent post here.

Phillip.

Re:I bought one... it sits in a box useless

[ryanvm]

ATTN Moderators: an unsubstantiated, undocumented report from an Anonymous Coward that blemishes the reputation of this company does not make for +4 insightful.

Why not? Did it ever occur to you that he could be sued if he used his real name to complain about a company in a public forum?

Apparently you don't see the necessity of anonymous speech.

Re:I bought one... it sits in a box useless

[Skapare]

Unfortunately, the way some companies behave in the light of criticism by customers/clients/posters (e.g. they often sue) one has to be careful NOT to include any specific identity. It is unfortunate that this is the case, as we now won't reliably know if a given complaint is true or not. Obviously this guy is pissed off, but I don't know if it's because he really got a defective unit, or dropped it while pulling it out of the box or while trying to install it. Still, I won't be buying one of these despite the fact that it may not be this company's fault at all, just because of the current very negative attitudes way too many corporations have (such as petswarehouse.com).

Re:I bought one... it sits in a box useless

[rrobison]

I think the post was a hoax. We never sold a unit for $799. The unit already has video out. There is a PCI slot, but the case is the size of a CD player, so there is no room for a full-size video card. If want want to cut up the back of the case, you might be able to do something. If you order the Linux only version, you can add more memory, change the HD, or upgrade the CPU.

Re:I bought one... it sits in a box useless

[scotch]

Why not? Did it ever occur to you that he could be sued if he used his real name to complain about a company in a public forum?

I seriously doubt that he would be sued for posting on slashdot. Really, of all the outrageous, illegal, disgusting, inflamatory, or slanderous comments I've seen posted on slashdot (all of which have generated exactly 1 legal action I'm aware of), his is pretty damn mild. How do you sue someone for saying "this is what happened" if it did happen?. So even if he were sued (not bloody likely), they would have no case if he were telling the truth, and most likely would be to his advantage because he could countersue for original damages and for frivilous legal action, or for state laws concerning threatening use of lawsuits, etc. Furthermore, half his (supposed) complaint seems to be with his credit card company rather than the makers of this hardware.

Apparently you don't see the necessity of anonymous speech.

Nice strawman. I never attacked anonymous speech. I just don't think unsubstantiated claims are particularly "insightful", all else being equal. That doesn't mean I think his comments should be banned - rather, I just don't think any fool who can click "Submit" is necessarily telling the truth.

Re:I bought one... it sits in a box useless

[hopews]

Robert Novak of PetsWarehouse.com has sued people after they complained about poor service in a public forum according to an article on msnbc.

"Novak claimed humiliation, emotional distress, libelous statements and the dilution of his trademark as a result of the APD posts, which have led, he said in court papers, to "headaches, nausea, nervousness, anxiety, embarrassment, humiliation, and mental distress.""

http://www.msnbc.com/news/734035.asp

Re:I bought one... it sits in a box useless

[Alsee]

My number is 678-420-2720.

AT&T operator to office techie:
What does "Slashdot effect" mean?

Office techie to AT&T operator:
Remember when the Britteny Spears concert tickets went on sale and we lost half the area code for most of the day?

AT&T operator to office techie:
Ooooh, Okay. Gotchya.

-

Re:I bought one... it sits in a box useless

[scotch]

True enough, but I think that occurence (though outrageous) is still pretty exceptional. I wouldn't give up the persuasive power of backing my words with my name just yet. BTW, the original AC post made no mention of fear of reprisal, so if that was his motivation (rather than just trolling), it would have been more convincing if he had said something to that effect (future trollers take note).

Re:I bought one... it sits in a box useless

[rrobison]

The guy is lying. It is 10:15PM and he still hasn't called or sent e-mail. Anonymous Coward is appropriately named in this case.

Re:I bought one... it sits in a box useless

[Da Schmiz]

Even if a comment's accuracy is suspect, I still think an interesting or amazing comment warrants an Interesting mod. If correctness seems likely, I'll mod it Informative and let someone else mod it down later if they find it's wrong.

That said, I agree (in the light of comments like this one) that it's almost certainly false. I posted at +2 to draw attention to it for the exact purpose of having someone authoratative confirm or deny it. If I had had mod points I would have modded it Interesting for the same reason.

As a side note: I find it funny that an AC is ridiculing me for believing what I read in an AC post. Hmm... what's wrong with this picture?

Re:I bought one... it sits in a box useless

[Knightmare]

After seeing some of the recent suits dealing with such things I agree with you, I would like to have somebody explain to me how that is legal though. I thought you could express your grevances against a company or individual unless you were just outright lying and being slanderous. I wish somebody could set me straight on all this...

software

[koekepeer]

so, can someone score a +5 informative for me and tell me where i can find the free/open source software to make this an easy to use component in my tv/stereo setup?

i mean:
- rip &play mp3/ogg/windows media, divx, dvd
- audio recording (some radio transmissions are really worthwhile saving!)
- video recording (analog).

and all this with a nice and easy interface that can be viewed on the tv i use for video output?

i know of some of the aplications i just mentioned (mplayer, xine, xmms, etc). it's just that they're all separate applications, which doesn't make it easy to use. i don't want to sit and watch a dvd, using a keyboard and mouse to navigate through the thing.

ps. don't tell me to code it myself or shut up, because i can't code, and most of the people interested in this kind of thing can't either.

Re:software

[Anonymous Coward]

Why's it got to be Open Source? You said yourself you couldn't code, so I'm not sure what good the source does you.
Or are you looking for 'free beer'?

So not only do you want free-as-in-beer software, but you want someone else to do the legwork of actually tracking said software down. You must be pretty special.

Marketing ploy

[return 42]

"Hey, boss! I just got a great idea to market the ZapStation! I can guarantee 50,000 eyeballs! Just one little hitch..."

"Yeah? What?"

"Well...the webserver will go down for half a day or so..."

Re:Marketing ploy

[jrp2]

Hehe. Yeah, I could think of worse problems to have, but they sure do lose a great opportunity for some great publicity.

I would think this could be a good revenue opp for /. to say to the site "hey, we are about to publish your story, for $10K we will mirror your site (or at least put your static content on our servers) for a week to take some of the load off your boxes and increase the effectiveness of this rare opportunity".

Probably not too feasible in reality, but worth a thought. They would just have to find a way to make sure this does not get in the way of objectivity.

Re:Marketing ploy

[alanh]

Great, Then /. would really be a great racket:

CmdrGuido: We like your site. It will appeal to our readers.

Web admin: Great.

CmdrGuido: Give us $10K or we'll send a DDoS attack against it for the next week. Your ISP may cancel your account.

Web admin: But... But...

Re:Marketing ploy

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe they should just setup the page on Thinkgeek and let slashdot link to that instead. Greasing VA palms does wonders for a product's viability in the geek world.

Re:Marketing ploy

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course then there is the status quo:

AdmQuesoFundido: Hmmm, this looks like it will be of interest ..... click

23yroldStanfordMBAGradVPofMktg to WebAdmin: DOOOOOOOD, the network is down, I can't hit the 2 million dollar website Razerfish designed for us.

Webadmin: Whoa dooooood, that sucks, are you plugged in?

23yroldStanfordMBAGradVPofMktg: Of course, Dooood, do you think I am stoopit?

Webadmin: Uh, yeah. Let me get back to you.

2 hours later ....

Webadmin: Dooood, we got like 2 million hits dude. It took me forever, SSH kept timing out, but I finally got in. WTF?

23yroldStanfordMBAGradVPofMktg: Doood, I thought you said we had plenty of bandwidth?

Webadmin: We have averaged 3 hits a day for the past year, the T1 was plenty for that.

23yroldStanfordMBAGradVPofMktg: Well, let's rent a 500x500 cage at Exodus, we'll put our company banner on it, I can tell all my friends from Stanford about it at the alumni wine and cheese party next week.

5 days later ......

Webadmin: The good news is we signed the contract and will have our site going at Exodus. The bad news is we are back to 3 hits a day. BTW, they want a cashiers check for $500K for the first month.

Re:Marketing ploy

[rrobison]

The web site is back up.

un-slashdotted site

[e1en0r]

doh. slashdotted already. http://store.yahoo.com/zapmedia/ is a direct link to buy the zapstation since their site seems to be slashdotted.

mensa member?

[gruntvald]

Too bad you didn't learn how to spell with that awesome brain of yours ...

Re:mensa member?

[Indomitus]

There was a discussion about this before. Apparently it's a joke. A poor one, but a joke none the less.

Re:mensa member?

[prizzznecious]

I have a feeling it only became a joke once it was pointed out.

Re:mensa member?

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a feeling at this point in the thread it's not funny anymore.

Re:mensa member?

[Anonymous Coward]

good point

A good idea

[marcus]

An even cheaper option is to take the old audio box that is sitting in the closet at the moment, and rip it up. ;-)

90 dB not enough for the "weekend audiophile?

[koekepeer]

erm...

aren't a lot of audiofiles still totally in love with vinyl? you just show me an LP record that has a dynamic range of anything near 90dB and i'll eat my hat. gladly.

nonetheless, i completely agree with using a pc for gaming and a good hifi system for listening to music. there's more to sound quality than the s/n ratio of your soundcard :^)

regards

Re:90 dB not enough for the "weekend audiophile?

[Jon Chatow]

aren't a lot of audiofiles still totally in love with vinyl?

Indeed - this 'love' of vinyl is due to the arguably more pleasent mid-range response and smoothness in the sound produced (same reason as using valve-based amps). It may sound 'warmer', but it's not right, and, IMHO, it's all a load of crock. I'll stick with my lust for Linn, or, better, Merridian kit... ;-)

I guess

[biggerboy]

Mensa members come cheap. Only $200 for building a custom case and putting it together, configuring the damn thing.

I knew these Mensa members were a dime-a-dozen. Looks like we have our proof.

Re:I guess

[Anonymous Coward]

2% of the population qualifies for MENSA. thats millions of people.

I hope you didn't get the last one... I'd like two

[doorbot.com]

JUST LINUX

JUST LINUX

Mod Parent Up.

[lblack]

Indeed, Onion2k should be revered as a prophet, fearlessly and faultlessly predicting:

1) The drop in price
2) Roughly when this drop would occur
3) The value of this drop, to within reasonable error.
4) Slashdot's bent on the story regarding the price drop.

I know I'm gonna hang a plastic-moulded replica of him from my rearview mirror.

And so should you.

-l

Re:Mod Parent Up.

[Strog]

I know I'm gonna hang a plastic-moulded replica of him from my rearview mirror.

Maybe a Onion2k bobble-head doll would be better in your car. Just watch out for sudden price drops of significant amounts.

Zap-/. effect

[bwohlgemuth]

Hey, lets put up a heavily graphic intensive site and then get 50,000 geeks to get on it all at once!!!!!

Re:Zap-/. effect

[Anonymous Coward]

It doesn't matter cause they will be all using superior browsers like lynx.

Karma Whore... you posted after phawley...

[AnyLoveIsGoodLove]

Karma Whore

JUST $var

[prdugan]

What if you put 'JUST HARDWARE'?

Can I get it for let's say $.50?

What? They're going to honor the pre-order price?

[n6mod]

Sheesh. $599 was the price we were all promised on a preorder.

Still, it would fit nicely in my collection of failed "appliances." I've got a nice spot between the iOpener and the DigMedia Music Store. ;)

(Anyone know where I can get an eVilla?)

we're trying

[fons]

Take a look at
http://davedina.apestaart.org
The project is far from finished and i don't know if it will work on this setup. But you can ask around on the mailinglist.
We have a working box in our living room that does some of the things you want (no audio recording yet)

Slashvertisements anyone?

[phyxeld]

Richard Robison of ZapMedia wrote in...
...In other words, a $600 stereo component PC ready to connect to your TV...
...this thing may deserve a serious second look...
...just be sure and enter slashdot referal code 'JUST LINUX' so they know who sold it to you...

Silly me, I thought that whole Slashvertisements bit was just a joke!

Why?

[NineNine]

I know this has been said before, but here's another alternative... JVC sells a 7 disc DVD/audio CD/MP3 CD player for only $300. Why would I want to dick with a PC in my living room? If I want to listen to music/watch a movie, whatever, I want to do that, not dick with some stupid, overpriced PC. If I want to listen to music on my PC, I fire up Winamp. What does this product have to offer?

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

You said 'dick' twice in two sentences.

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

Leave him alone. Maybe he likes dick.

Mod parent up

[Anonymous Coward]

Really interesting

Fucking Karma Whore

[Anonymous Coward]

suck my dick!

Re:Fucking Karma Whore

[Anonymous Coward]

i think its ovbious who you are.. silly idiot.

I've been looking for that board too!

[SonicBurst]

Man, am I glad to hear somebody else say that. I thought I was the only one looking for that thing. That board has the potential for some seriously cool projeccts. Personally, I'd be using it for an in car pc system as well as a set-top box type system. The only info I've seen about availability is 2nd quarter 2002. If anyone else has info (perhaps where to get a development board), please post.

Re:I've been looking for that board too!

[acesfull]

That's about all I know about it, too. There was a small article about it on the VIA website posted last week, and there is also some sort of design competition going on. But I can't find a retailer that is actually selling the thing. Maybe it will be available in a month or so to the general public.

Hobbies

[drodver]

What this argument misses, when I hear it, is that a lot of people who considering building their own system are people who make computers their hobby and enjoy working on them.

Mod Parent Down : -1 dumb ass

[Anonymous Coward]

That review was 3 months ago you fuck.....

Re:I hope you didn't get the last one... I'd like

[Anonymous Coward]

wow you have no life!

flamebait?

[koekepeer]

i was requesting information. since when is that such a bad thing?

and just because i can't code (well), doesn't mean i should be excluded from using open source or free software. if kde was written for the programmers only, why would they care to make it userfriendly?

i do my best to support open sourced/free software. i test betas, try to report bugs, and if a newbie asks, and i know how to help, i do.

it is quite arrogant to assume i'm a freeloader when you know nothing about me and what i do. it would have been more productive if you had pointed out a link or two in the time you took to write your comment.

regards

Where have I heard of these guys before?

[Anonymous Coward]

Are they the same company that offered PC's to schools, and then backed out on the deal?

Re:Where have I heard of these guys before?

[rrobison]

Not us. Wrong company.

1ghz linux box at wal-mart

[clinko]

Why not just get a 1ghz linux box from Wal-Mart for $200 less?

Wal-mart...

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?produ ct _id=1731327&cat=41937&type=19&dept=3944&path=0%3A3 944%3A3951%3A41937

Don't be surprised if they raise the price....

[qurob]

They've got to pay Slashdot's advertising department somehow!

What about

[Anonymous Coward]

JUST LINUX (what caps? No caps here)
JUST LINUX (what caps? No caps here)

Had enough?

Moo!

[Anonymous Coward]

Richard Robison of ZapMedia wrote in to say that their ZapStation stereo MP3 Box has had a serious price cut to $599.
If you put in the comments field 'JUST LINUX' they will ship you the box with just Linux installed (and code to control the IR input and screen).
In other words, a $600 stereo component PC ready to connect to your TV and speakers for whatever video or audio projects you feel like rolling up yourself.
I reviewed this unit last December and found a lot of problems, but many of those glitches have apparently been fixed, and the price was the biggest problem, so this thing may deserve a serious second look this time around.

This thing plus PVR

[dodald]

Hey if someone could hack this into it, that would kick ass. You would have a Mp3/DVD/PVR all in one convienent (and from the pictures) pretty box.

Liquidation Sale

[Ssolstice]

From what I've heard about this company, this is an inventory liquidation sale. The price will not jump back up tomorrow, but then there may not be support for them for very long.

Also, if you don't want to buy one, then don't. Why do you think that anyone wants to read your complaints about a product you've never even seen before? Go find something constructive to do...

The HP De100C is nice also!

[qurob]

HP has a DE100C out, since November 2001. Smilar product, expensive though!

ZDNet intro article

Slashdot Article #1

Slashdot Article #2

HP's web site

Open Source Info

I've got my one!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

It may not be as fancy as that toy... but it works.

Check it out here...

Change your filter to 0!

[IIOIOOIOO]

There are a lot of posts from a ZapMedia rep posted as anon coward... he seems pretty pissed off. If you want conviincing of who they are, compare the text of the few posts where rrobison (the zapmedia rep who submitted the story originally) doesn't post AC to the text of the AC posts refuting some claims. Especially interesting is the AC response to the guy discussing the big screwjob that ZapMedia put on him. Very Cheesy.

Re:Change your filter to 0!

[rrobison]

I am not sure who posted AC from here, but I am using my name. If this guy really got ripped off by us, he should call and get the issue resolved. He posted AC because it didn't happen.

2+2=

[NFW]

1) Cool linux-based box comes out for $1500ish

2) Producer goes through some layoffs.

3) Price cut to $600ish "if you put JUST LINUX" in the order form comments.

4) Company web site is non-functional.

5) Company website comes back, sorta... now the root page is forwarded to a store.yahoo.com page.

6) Said page has NO information about the product (well, there's a picture), nor about the company, just an "order" button and a $600ish price tag.

7) No metion of the "just linux" discount, it's apparently $600ish, period.

So here we have a company that's fallen on hard times, can't keep its web site up, is not marketing itself or its products via the web (an "order" button and a picture does not constitute marketing, it's just begging for sales), and is selling off its sole product for under half the original price.

This looks to me like a liquidation sale. I'd love to be proven wrong though, because I would like very much to have such a box (tho at a lower price). Anyone have any inside scoop on ZapMedia's overall health?

Re:2+2=

[NFW]

The web site is back up... perhaps I was mistaken about the company's demise.

Installing your own OS

[russ_allegro]

I was looking for something like this. What I'm wondering is what happens if you get the Linux only zapstation and you manage to screw it up? Is it possible to just put a cd of your favorite distro and install everything on it? Or do they give you a cd that will reset itself with their linux distro on it or what? I'd hate to spend this amount of money and loss it all when I messed up trying to boot a new kernel. Does anyone have a link to more information on this device?

Re:Installing your own OS

[rrobison]

If you screw up the box, you can install whatever you like. One of our developers is running Debian on it. We even had one running Windows 2000 on it a while back.

either you did some major hacking or are trolling

[systemaster]

the site you link to says min req. are like 233mhz. Which would be a pentium level proc. You saying it runs on 133Mhz 486, is either major wow your good or lying. I will assuming you not, nothing I can do if you are, so how do you optimize mpg123 that much? Without all the extra junk, web admin and everything, I couldn't get mpg123 to run on its own at better than 1/8 quality. That was on a 100mhz 486, and as we all know 100mhz/133mhz >> ~.40

US-Centric, no Euro-buyers....

[samfreed]

This kit is NTSC only. It will not work ourside the US, Canada (and maybe japan). Before you rant the there are other countries which use NTSC, they are few and far between. None in Europe, anyhow....

Re:Wow...

[CyberDruid]

...that onion-dude sure knows his marketing.

Blatant Promotion

[mattr]

is a-okay at Slashdot. How much did it cost?

Re:Blatant Promotion

[rrobison]

Slashdot nor Rob received any consideration for reviewing the ZapStation.

Another company that can not make money with linux

[SensitiveMale]

Once again every cheap linux bastard says 'But I can put the same thing together for $400'. You cheap fuckers. This attitude that everything must be free is gonna kill linux.

Been Trying for some time...

[da5idnetlimit.com]

Basically, it's just a box where X is separated into Audio / Video / Internet.

Mine does that, and is connected on TV, and bloodily runs 98 for 3 years.

Not the best OS/
BUT easy to setup.
Can read my Divxs
Already has a nice 60 Go of storage and 256Mo Ram.

Now, what I want is the code and the software used in a bundle.
THAT would be interesting. I'm not pushing $600 for a C600.
But I could push 100$ for the software.

Re:Been Trying for some time...

[Jaysyn]

I actually meant I couldn't code the software, the hardware wouldn't be a problem.

Jaysyn

" I wouldnt mind a sleek, black box"

[da5idnetlimit.com]

Well, I've seen so many Box Mods those last month tht really I find this comment Offensive...

I mean they do their boxes in all colors, laminated, Aluminium, Wood, Clear Plastic, with or without holes, lights, leds, Silent PSU and the whole shebang of infrared or radio remotes.

And all you can think of is a midsized beige Box ?

Get some Spray paint.
Call your younger Brother
Get fun for 5 minutes and a paper cut model...

Voila, a large, midsized Pink & Flowery Box ! 8)

If you have no budget, now is the time to be creative 8)

It does for DVDs...

[da5idnetlimit.com]

Bought an old DVD card for $7.5

Works from a P-100.

No good for Divxs, but then, you don't HAVE to use a P100.
A P2-350 does it very well 8)
And it's almost as expensive to build, if you have to buy the EDO Ram for the P100....

Putting Linux VDR on this?

[shaka]

Well, this comes pretty handy regarding the post about the VDR for Linux a couple of days ago. I'm thinking of buying one to put a DVB card in and then slapping VDR onto it. That's everything in a box, and a nice looking one too.
Then I can watch digital TV, regular (analog) TV, listen to mp3s, watch DVDs, anything. Pretty nice deal if you ask me!

Just the case - or a PAL version?

[Anonymous Coward]

Hi,

I'd be interested in a PAL version or just the case (and perhaps the mainboard + DVD, if they are special versions).

Any chance? Will the power supply deal with 220 Volts/50Hz?

Broadcom

[heroine]

Go for the Broadcom 7031 platform instead. For $2500 you get a real embedded system.

Games

[BadlandZ]

Can anyone explain to me why they aren't putting all the GNU/GPL games they can find on this thing, and including a cordless gamepad?

Seems like it'd be an obvious addition.

Re:either you did some major hacking or are trolli

[JesseL]

Well, I really did do it, but I am using the older 3.x cajun software(ie no db, no apache, etc). All that I really did to optimize it was to compile mpg123 with the 486 optimization flag. It still will probably only play up to about 160kbps mp3s without skipping. Later I patched mpg123 to buffer the entire mp3 in RAM before decoding/playing - but that was just to reduce the noise I was picking up from the IDE bus. This guy built a dos based car mp3 player using the same motherboard that I did (scroll about halfway down the page, look for "Advantech PCM-4825").

So .. What's in it ... and is it hackable

[mendepie]

So ... What is inside of this box? Are there any free pci slots?

Is it possible to get shell access?

Is it possible to get at the WMA codecs?