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ExtremeTech Reviews Akimbo Internet-Movie Box
prostoalex writes "ExtremeTech published a review of Akimbo DVR, a $229 box that coupled with $10 monthly subscription fee and a broadband connection would provide access to a variety of Internet-only shows. ExtremeTech review is positive, although it does mention that downloads take long time, the content is not what one would call rich, and quality of the video differs, since the Windows Media files are coming from a variety of providers. Inside Akimbo one can find a 733 MHz Celeron, 64 MB of SDRAM, 80 GB hard drive and Windows CE. Even though the reviewers keep calling the Akimbo product a DVR, it's not perfectly clear whether a basic DVR function (recording TV content on schedule) is supported."
ok, now that i got the 1st post. lets get to buisness. heh.
i wonder what kind of real legal issues that they'll be getting into now,
considering that this provides the pvr feature, that many
television networks, and private-tv based movie sales people
love to hate.
Wouldn't an xbox cost half as much whilst doing at least twice as much?
People went for the xbox for hacking because it was basically commodity hardware with a custom BIOS.
liqbase
So the thing is basicly an XBOX running a different version of windows? I mean the stats are pretty much the same :)
As there is no video in, yeah pretty much
I'd do something interesting, but my server can't handle a slashdotting.
Even Microsoft is pushing Media Center Edition (MCE), with a strategy to push media to "extenders" like Xboxes and TV-boxes. What's the purpose of CE other than being able to use skimpy hardware? Would you want skimpy hardware encoding your movies?
First you pay for the box, then you pay $10/month just to allow the box to work, then you pay for whatever you want to watch. It might be cheaper than digital cable with VOD, but with such a big upfront cost, many people will never take the chance.
Who is the target audience for this? Early adopter techies? Who already have a broadband connection, bittorrent and a decent PC? Why would they want or need another piece of kit (and a *subscription* piece at that!) to get porn from the internet?
This thing isn't a DVR, but costs the same as a Tivo or ReplayTV. Same price, less functionality! I predict this device will go the way of DivX - the rental DVD idea, not the codec.
-EvilMagnus
You think it's kewl that you spend $900 on PC hardware, $130 on WinXP Pro (OEM) and $160 on Windows Media Center????
And now you want to throw more money at it to 'extend' the features?
Take off the blinders and wakeup! You sound like a 15 year old virgin who just made out with the old lunch lady, saying "WOW! That's the best sex I ever had!"
I know it must be exciting to uncover a 'new' technology, but it is old news and has been done more ways than Paris Hilton.
If you are going to share a single experience, don't pass it off as 'the best thing out there'. At least look at what has been on the shelves for the past couple of years (and the current stuff too) for comparison.
First off, more has been accomplished on way less money a couple of years ago (and is better now). Microsoft has NEVER been the leader of any technology and is NOT starting now.
Look at the TiVo for one. (a Linux pc in micro form factor). You don't want to spend the money? Fine. Build a FreeVo box.
If you want to use your PC as a media center, than you can use one of the Knoppix distributions.
(and I think I can go out on a wing here, since I more than just 'dabble' in technology).
For me, it made sense to convert some of my unused Xboxes into Gentoo Linux media servers. It didn't cost me anything (well, I bought a couple of mod chips for testing, but those can be pulled out thanks to flashing the TSOP) since I have spare hardware sitting unused.
I can play videos (of almost ANY codec), rip DVD's, view photo albums, web browse, catch weather (and all from just the Xbox without a PC).
I actually have been discussing creating a similar venture for movie pulling for a couple of months now, simply because the Xbox and miniITX pcs are dirt cheap and the audience is there.