AMD's All-in-One Media Machine

Drakewolf writes to tell us that despite the many failed attempts to bridge the gap between the PC and home entertainment systems, AMD has released several new products at CES under their LIVE! brand. The centerpiece was the AMD LIVE! Home Cinema, an all-in-one device that combines a set-top cable box, stereo receiver, DVD player, digital video recorder, and a PC.

Comments

failed attempts?

[macadamia_harold]

Drakewolf writes to tell us that despite the many failed attempts to bridge the gap between the PC and home entertainment systems

You mean like the xbox360? or the macmini running frontrow?

Re:failed attempts?

[AK Marc]

Then you don't understand what they mean by "failed attempt." There are a number of products out there that do the job well. There are none that have gotten consumers to buy them in large numbers. Just because the products work well and have been delivered and sold doesn't make them a success. All have fallen short of their sales goals, so all of them are failures. You own a failure. That isn't a personal attack, it is a statement of fact. It works well. But it is a failure because your neighbors don't have it, don't want it, and probably don't know what it is.

Re:failed attempts?

[poot_rootbeer]

You mean like the xbox360? or the macmini running frontrow?

How about five years of Windows XP Media Center Edition?

Granted, a huge number of OEM PCs today are shipped with MCE pre-installed, because TV tuner cards got really cheap and the OS license is hardly different than XP Pro or Home. But how many of those end up hooked up to the TV in the living room?

I hate all-in-one devices

[morgan_greywolf]

All-in-One devices (of any sort) tend to do all of these related things, but none of them particularly well. On top of it, if one of it's functions quits on you, you generally have to replace the entire thing, since the all-in-one device will typically not integrate with anything external.

I understand why they continue to gain popularity (takes less space, you get all the functions for one price, uses less power, etc.), but in general you can always seem to do better from a functionality and features standpoint from individual components than from any integrated 'all-in-one' device.

Re:I hate all-in-one devices

[Umbrel]

Most likely we would be better with just USB stackable (wireless?) devices for physical media inputs (VHS, DVD, etc) and a really good software to handle it, or USB a hardware panel. Something like a all(you want)-in-one modular kit.

yeah, I get it.

[macadamia_harold]

The centerpiece was the AMD LIVE! Home Cinema, an all-in-one device that combines a set-top cable box, stereo receiver, DVD player, digital video recorder, and a PC.

This device is to computing what the spork is to silverware.

Two Problems for Convergence Still

[chia_monkey]

Everyone continues to talk about the digital convergence, yet we're still seeing two big problems. The first, which is evident here...is price. We're not going to see widespread adoption of new media hardware (and software) with pricepoints like this. Only the rich (and geeky) will shell out that kind of dough for something so cutting edge right now. Second, we're still in early-adopter stage for many of these devices and the average consumer still isn't "trained" to use these devices. Remember when Tivo came out? It was mostly the technically savvy people that bought it. This device still resembles a computer too much to be adopted and placed in the living room of the common household. Some day though...

! is the "Extreme" of punctuation

[straponego]

Have you ever noticed that any product with "!" in the name... well, there's no delicate way to put this... sucks?

Faster Processor for Streaming File Server?

[stu42j]

"They can't stream content if you want video. The connection isn't the problem, the problem is NAS isn't fast enough to get content on the wire," he said. With a faster processor in its Media Server, data can now be streamed off a server, either wireless or wired.

WTF? I stream videos off my 400mhz K6 fileserver and have never had problems with CPU load. Are NAS devices seriously that slow?

Re:A tad overpriced?

[Waffle Iron]

it starts at $1000, which given it's also a decently powerful modern computer

However, I doubt that most people would actually use it as a computer. A couple of years ago I put together a MythTV box, and I had the idea that as a bonus it would be handy to have a computer system in my living room. It turns out that even though it's a perfectly fine computer, I rarely if ever use it as anything other than a PVR. Even though it's directly hooked to an HDTV monitor with an HDMI cable, the resolution still isn't very good for reading text. Somehow it's a lot worse at showing high-contrast details than the equivalent pixel-count computer monitor would be; TV electronics just don't seem to be designed with text in mind.

Sitting way back on the couch makes matters worse, and using a wireless keyboard on my lap is incredibly clumsy and frustrating. Just browsing the web feels klunky, and doing any kind of serious work is out of the question. Even a lot of PC games seem to be written assuming that you're sitting upright in a chair with both a mouse and a full 104-key keyboard on a stable surface in front of you. It seems to me that investing in a high-end system for the living room would be a waste of money for most people.

How is this something new?

[felonious]

This is nothing new and it seems to be all hype. If you have digital cable, in my area, you get a free cable box w/PVR built in. I have multiple DVD players, HD-DVD at that, 7.1 SS Home theater setup, an a HTPC(not store bought).

The biggest issue I have with these premade, pieces of shit, is they are way over-priced.
You could build much better, with multiple form factors, depending on preference, much cheaper.
Most of the hardware that goes into these things is generic crap.
Cheap hardware+SFF=Profit!!
The $1000 version is probably Celeron based with minimal RAM. It probably lacks what's needed period and is only listed so they can say they have a cheaper model. It's just like the cheaper versions of the 360/PS3 which nobody wants.

For my next HTPC I've bought a mac mini, which I'm going to dual boot in XP. Parallel looks ok but I'm told it's not that great. Mojopac shows a lot of promise, but I have to learn more about it. Anyway, running XP on a mac mini gives me great SFF, but lacks some things. I can make it all work depending on how much I will use said function. They make external drives that match the mini so storage won't be an issue and the SFF can't be beat. This will be my first mac, but it's only for the SFF not the OS, as I'll be running XP to get the HTPC stuff going.

For those wanting to build there own you can do so with top notch components for way under $1500.
When I was looking at doing this I built multiple versions on Newegg. Below I've listed specs off of memory...
Shuttle XPC case/mobo/ps(need to upgrade) $169 after 20 rebate
AMD64 4200X2 - $169
1GB Corsair XMS DDR2@800mhz - $130
SATA 320GB HD - $95
Win MCE 2k5 - $109
Haupage dual TV tuner (PCI) $130ish
GeForce 7950 gt or gs (can't remember) $189
DVD Drive $30
That's the bulk of it and it's $1021

$3k can kiss my ass and so can $2k, it's a rip and generic hardware.
$1021 plus an hour or so piecing it together=priceless!

Re:How is this something new?

[evilviper]

The $1000 version is probably Celeron based with minimal RAM.

AMD doesn't sell a lot of Celerons... Mainly because Intel makes them.