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HP Unveils Its Digital Media Receiver
strictnein writes "Looks like HP is getting into the media box market. Today they introduced their new HP Digital Media Receiver 5000 series. Some of the key specs are: Wireless networking support (on the ew5000 model), S-Video and composite video output, and MP3 and WMA support. The OS support is limited to Windows ME or XP. This is an interesting addition to their Windows Media Center based 863N, 873N, and 883N desktop models."
Will it support ogg?
*ducks*
-twb
> I'm a hardcore geek and have expert certification on everything from Windows 2000 to [...]
Hardcore geeks don't have certifications, esp. not on Windows... hardcore geeks don't have high school-diplomas, we were kicked out for turning harmless items around the school into anything we could think of that would either blow up, exit smoke or insult someone... hopefully insult someone while blowing up and covering the whole school with smoke... smoke which would be used for playing lasertag...
> But I personally could probably just barely piece one of these "home media units" together. Furthermore, I wouldn't even know what to use it for.
You, sir, are an insult to all the geeks all over the world; you are at most a wannabegeek... real geeks don't just put it together and use these things what they were meant to do... we rebuild and use them for a lot more than they were ever meant to do; and if we're lucky that'll mean that they eject smoke and insult someone, and blow up the PC for the guy nextdoor; his fault for running windows anyways.
> Some of us, like myself, still buy CDs from BMG and Columbia House. Yes, you read that correctly -- some of us still buy CDs.
Reread that... Now... think about it... no no no... really think about it... ok... Do you still insist on calling yourself a geek?
> So, we have more need for 6 disc changes than we do for 10 GB discs of hard drives on which to store mostly-illegally-obtained mp3s.
A geek using CDs... hey man, you like living in the 80's or something?
> No one aside from the most hardcore Slashdotter would even know what to do with one of these
Can't argue with that one.
=)
Video Output: NTSC, 30 FPS, 60 Hz
NTSC? That is so 20th century. Where the hell is the high-definition version with DVI and component analog outputs? I'm not greedy; even 720p will do!
Hell, if the XBOX can do 1080i and 720p output, this piece of junk-- er, extremely worth market entrant ought to be able to.
I mean it's not like the thing is recording or playing back video, for crying out loud; it just does still photos. Given that most digital cameras are recording pictures in 1600 x 1200 or bigger, even a 1280x720 output would be nice, nice. But no, we're stuck with lame-ass interlaced NTSC. Pfft. I'd rather describe my vacation snaps to my friends than show them in crappy NTSC.
I write in my journal
.. but the 10 baseT ethernet connection sure does seem state-of-the-art!
If I were to get one, I would need a set-top-box that has at least 100 baseT ethernet, the ability to play MPEG, AVI, DiVX, etc.., and the ability to surf the web and send and receive e-mail.. I guess that's why I have a computer in my living room. All these other boxed just don't have enough functionality for me.
No offense, but that line just took away a lot of your credibility with most of us. Besides the fact that these vendors make money off people forgetting to return stupid cards every 4 weeks and the stupid shipping fees, why don't you buy from online sources, like this one, which has cheap prices and free standard shipping on any size order? ("And no more you have to buy, ever!")
Wanna know something? I have probably over a thousand legitimately-purchased CDs of music (not bragging, it's a small collection compared to many people I know, and I think it's way too many to be practical at all). For me, a 6-disc changer won't cut it. A 400-disc changer won't cut it, either. No, I want to be able to rip stuff to a good quality format and fill up a couple huge hard drives, just so I can page through a screen from my couch instead of having to dig through my crates of CDs or a binder full of listings of what's in a changer.
Telling us your certs doesn't tell us a thing about what you've done. Certs are just tests of minimum proficiency; they're not basis for judging your real-world experience. You want to impress us, tell us about the software projects you code for, or the networks you've designed, or the RFCs you authored, or... even that you don't do any of these, but your company depends on you to support their internal LAN and install software for secretaries, and we'll give you respect.
Sorry to rant, but: there is a CCNA for Dummies book, an MCSE book, and an A+ book, as well. (I haven't located a "Novell for Dummies," but it's probably implicitly assumed by anyone writing for that audience, anyway.) There is no corresponding book that matches being out in the field with production servers, having to teach (over the phone) your customer's consultant enough BGP so that you can explain to him why his multi-hop config is entirely bogus, while at the same time paging through a zonefile in vi and trying to make sense of cryptic emails from someone who doesn't really share any languages in common with you, whom you can't call even if she did share a common language because of an 11-hour time difference, asking you to "please to have maked the mail fast to the new server 192.168.0.3 verry improtance!" and wanting it done before her office opens in the morning so she can get her mail (oh, did I mention that you can't send her return mail, because she's already moved her mail server to that black-hole IP?) Meanwhile a customer has just walked through your office, past the empty secretary's desk (secretary having been laid off because of budget cuts), and wandered to your cubicle, asking you to escort him to his colo a few blocks away so he can collect his gear "for testing," even though you know he's on the list of deadbeats who haven't paid in months and his account manager is permanently out to lunch and you personally shut his interface down last night... and it's not even 9:25 yet? And you're "the new guy," so you have the lightest load on your team?
Yes, some people might want to lie down on the couch and use something like this device, instead of messing with a changer or thinking about what CDs might be in the cartridge, or anything else beyond some brief pattern-recognition. Please maked it also to be bringing the soda and too the ibuprofen, verry improtance? Yes?
Get off my launchpad!
HP-UX is its name. HP-SUX is what its quality indicates ;-)
Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.