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OK - I am pretty taken by the new Dell Studio Hybrid.  Does anyone see any issues with it being a media director?  For $500 after some upgrades (ram and processor) and using the techbargains coupon code, it looks pretty sweet.  Low power, small, nice looking...


http://www.dell.com/content/topics/topic.aspx/global/shared/mediaplayer/large_screen_view?mediaPlayerTarget=http://i.dell.com/images/global/video/mediaplayer/assets/video/studiohybrid.flv

I just switched from my cable provider to ATT Uverse last night.  Some things are nice, and some things really frustrate me, and I was wondering if anyone else is using uverse and has any input.

What I like - my house was not wired for ethernet, so having directors everywhere I had a tv wasnt an easy task and I never did it.  With uverse, every set top box has an ethernet jack that is connected to the home network using my existing coax lines, so I can plug a director into it and it is online.  If I want a TV where I have ethernet but not coax, I can connect the stb to my ethernet, and I have TV.  I like that I can schedule recordings from the web or on my phone, and that I have a ton of new HD channels.

What I dont like - The problem is that like LMCE, Uverse wants to be the dhcp server, and whever I plug anything (even a wireless router) into a uverse box, ATT's gateway shuts down my network and changes my IP addresses and then puts the 'rogue' router as DMZ.  I am still trying to see if there are some settings I can use in the gateway's config screen.  Also, each set top box has svideo, video, hdmi, composite, etc., except you can only use one at a time.  So if I have my projector connected to hdmi, I cannot use the svideo out - anyone know a way around this?  With my old comcast box, I could use both, so I had an old tv connected via svideo in front of my treadmill, and the projector displaying in my living room.  Also, with my old comcast service, I was not limited by the HOUSe as to how many hd channels could be watched or recorded.  I had 4 comcast dvr's and each could watch/record 2 hi-def channels simultaneously.  With uverse, your house can only have two hd feeds, so if one person is watching hi-def in the bedroom, another person is watching hi-def in the livingroom, and you have something set to record, then one person gets kicked off.  Really frustrating now that all the good shows are about to begin.  They are claiming that a new 'whole home DVR' solution will be available within the next couple months, so that anything recorded on the ONLY dvr they allow you to have can be seen in any room with a stb, but they have been promising this for over a year.

My installer hinted that the 160gb drive in the dvr could be replaced with a larger one and I could have more recording space, and that he has done installations for people using MCE's.  I cant figure out how to make this work for me, mostly because of the networking issues - any help out there?


The gateway they provided is a 2Wire 3800HGV-B, their 'extenders' are Motorola VIP1200, and the dvr unit is Motorola VIP1216.  The gateway has a digital 'phone' line connected to it, and it's coax out is connected to your house.  It is also your home's dhcp server and an 802.11g router.

If anyone uses a hi-def camcorder, can you tell me how you store your videos for hi-def playback?  I have the Canon HV10 which does not play off the camera in hi-def - you have to import everything to your computer and then create your video file.  I dont have any sort of hi-def burner, so I want to play the videos at their highest res (it records at 1080i) over hdmi.  Using Sony Vegas, I get a zillion options for output format, so before experimenting with each, I thought I would throw this question out to the group.  Does anyone have a preferred file format for hi-def?

I was wondering if I can send sms messages from my phone to my home number connected asterisk to issue commands or get a reply.  For example, send a command to turn off everything or vice-versa on my way home.  There are a couple work-related things I wanted to do as well, which would be really convenient to do by sms, like I have a mysql query I would like to know the value of, which would be very convient to do if i could send an sms like 'q1' to my home number, have it get the value, and sms me back with it. 

I searched for 'sms' here and didnt see anything like this, so I thought I would just ask before searching asterisk forums elsewhere.

Thanks!

I know that I will probably get slapped for asking, but can anyone tell me if there are going to be major changes to the home automation stuff in the new version?  I still havent decided whether to use zwave or x10 and I just want to know if 0710 is focusing more on one or the other, or if it will be about the same as it is now.

I apologize if this has been covered already - i tried looking for an answer before posting but didnt find anything.  I'm hoping to begin collecting the modules I want to use when deals come up (like the one just posted with amazon's rebates).

At scheduled times, as well as manually, we want to be able to overlay a text message that will be delivered simultaneously on all screens, overlayed on whatever is already playing.  Is this possible, and if so, can it have a scrolling effect?

For example, we will be holding a sweepstakes, so we want to notify people that "15 minutes until the drawing.  Please enter now!"  and also, when someone wins, we want to be able to display "Winner: John Smith! Come get your prize!" for a minute, but very subtly blended over the existing video.

Possible?

I am trying to see if LinuxMCE is the right choice for a project I am working on where we will have 10-15 LCDs displaying different video from the core.  At scheduled times, as well as manually, we want to be able to overlay a text message that will be delivered simultaneously on all screens, overlayed on whatever is already playing.  Is this possible, and if so, can it have a scrolling effect?

For example, we will be holding a sweepstakes, so we want to notify people that "15 minutes until the drawing.  Please enter now!"  and also, when someone wins, we want to be able to display "Winner: John Smith! Come get your prize!" for a minute, but very subtly blended over the existing video.

Possible?

I saw the LG 42in LCD listed in the recommended hardware section but it has a disclaimer that it isnt plug-n-play.

If you are using an LCD that LMCE works with using rs-232 plug-n-play please post the model number.  In my situation, I may not be able to use the GC100.

Thanks!

Ok, I have done some searching and I am unable to figure out what I need.  I would love to build my own core, but I keep getting stuck deciding what hardware will work to capture hdtv.  Everyone recomends the Hauppage WinTV cards, but the ones which claim HDTV support are not well documented here.  I am essentially trying to build my own Fiire Engine for less money, but even if I buy theirs I wont choose their capture card add-on because it isnt HD.

I am an HDTV subscriber and my cable company gave me Motorola dual-tuner PVRs for every room.  I want to give these all back except for one which I will connect to the core.  What capture card will allow me to watch live or recorded HDTV from an extender?    I looked at the HDHomeRun, but I am looking for something that will capture from the HDMI-out on my existing cablebox and not something that only works with over-the-air hd or unencrypted coax hdtv channels.

Does anyone know what motherboard is in the Fiire Engine?

Thanks to anyone who can help me out.  I am so excited to get this going.