MrSinatra;496088 Wrote: > would you agree vortexbox is almost the whole audio side of a media > center solution? (i don't know if it burns, but i'd think that wouldn't > be hard to add if not, u could add streamripper too) > Yes, from what I've seen Vortexbox should solve the automatic ripping, tagging and organization on the disk.
The only thing that possibly is missing is a good tagging software to adjust the tags if you aren't satisfied with the automatic tagging. MrSinatra;496088 Wrote: > > all i'm suggesting is that by adding something like mythtv to a > vortexbox, and selling it as an all in one combo box, you could > basically cover the video side as well. > Unfortunately the only media center product that isn't more geeky than SBS is Microsoft MCE and that won't run on the same machine as Vortexbox, since Vortexbox is based on Linux and Microsoft MCE only runs on Windows. MythTV requires a lot of configuration before it will work. I also think Logitech would have to spend a lot of resources to pre-configuring the software to make it usable for the mass market, I'd also imagine that they'd have to spend a lot of resources to support it becase MythTV is definitely not ready for mass market usage. It works very good for TV and video after you have configured it, but it's not easy to get there and even then the user interface is somewhat geeky. I've not much personal experience with the other Linux based media center solutions like LinuxMCE and VDR. I've tried to setup VDR and failed and I suspect LinuxMCE isn't that easy to setup either. From what I've seen regarding their user interface both seems a bit geeky. So, it's a lot of work independent if they write the software themselves or not because there is nothing that's finished and works besides possibly TiVo (which I haven't used myself). If Logitech want to go into the media center market they need to purchase some company that already have resources with experience in this area. It's not possible to make a good media center in the $399 price range today, I think you would almost have to duplicate that amount to get something useful. The reason is that it requires hardware support for decoders and TV-cards to make it quiet enough to have in the living room. I'm not sure the mass market is ready to get a media center solution in this price range yet, but I might be wrong. Vortexbox used for only audio can run on pretty cheap hardware but a Vortexbox solution that also should support video playback and recording of hi definition material won't. MrSinatra;496088 Wrote: > > apple and microsoft didn't come up with SBS either, does that mean slim > and sean and dean shouldn't have? > > my point isn't that logitech should write something from scratch, they > should buy something like mythtv, the way they did slim, and incorporate > it into a piece of hardware, and in so doing, monitize the software in > the hardware. > Even if they would get the media center software to work good enough it would have to be integrated into the same user interface to make it acceptable to the end users. If it isn't it will cause a support headache. It's not just about developing the software it's also about supporting the users and maintaining the software. MrSinatra;496088 Wrote: > > if you don't think going video/media center route is the way, then what > do you think is the way? > Instead of repeating myself I'd just suggest that you read through the thread, there are loads of suggestions only audio related earlier in the thread both from me and other persons. There are a lot of enhancements that could be done in this area to make it attractive, I'm not yet convinced it will make it attractive to the mass market though. There is a risk the mass market users will choose a combined audio+video device instead of a audio only device because they don't understand the extra experience the audio only device provides. As I mentioned earlier I think there is one video area that is of some interest, making it possible to preview music from YouTube and show music video before you purchase an album. Besides this simple use case I really think it will be easier for Logitech to compete by focusing on enhancing the music listening experience. If you still feel it's a good idea that Logitech turn the SB/SBS into a media center solution I think we will just have to agree on that we have different opinions regarding this. -- erland Erland Isaksson 'My homepage' (http://erland.isaksson.info) (Install my plugins through Extension Downloader) (Developer of 'TrackStat, SQLPlayList, DynamicPlayList, Custom Browse, Custom Scan, Custom Skip, Multi Library, Title Switcher and Database Query plugins' (http://wiki.erland.isaksson.info/index.php/Category:SlimServer)) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ erland's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=3124 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=72512 _______________________________________________ beta mailing list beta@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/beta
