Nov 19, 2008 10:28 AM | 7 Comments

The time has come for Adam Turner to overhaul his lounge room, which means there are some tough decisions to make.

I've pretty much given up on finding that one dream entertainment device to meet all my needs. I'm also sick of an ever-shifting lounge room built on review gear that never quite does what I want. I bit the bullet last year and bought old Sony X series Full HD Bravia, now it's time to surround it with high-def goodies.

I've been toying with the idea of buying a PlayStation 3 but, as I said previously, the fact it enforces region coding on DVDs as well as games and movies is the straw that broke the camel's back. I'm not happy with the Windows and Mac options I've tried and I don't want to take the plunge into Linux. I want a lounge room that "just works", which would seem to mean turning to multiple Consumer Electronics AV devices rather than a PC-based solution.

I'd break my requirements down into four key areas;

- HD optical disc player (plus maybe recorder)

- HD Personal Video Recorder

- media player for local content

- media player for online content


There are plenty of CE options which cover two or three of these requirements, so it's a question of finding the best combination of devices to meet my needs.

Panasonic's DMR-BW500 Blu-ray/HDD recorder would seem to cover the first two requirements, and the Apple TV the second two. Problem solved, right? Not really.

One of my key criteria for a PVR is the ability for it to check the EPG for last minute schedule changes, plus the ability to let me schedule recordings online. Another important criteria is intelligent storage management, so I never miss a recording because the hard drive is full. A good example of this is only keeping the last x episodes of a series recording.

These criteria pretty much blow every PVR out of the water except for TiVo and IceTV-compatible devices. I'm not considering Foxtel's iQ2 because I don't want to sign up for pay TV, but if I did want Foxtel I'd definitely pay extra for an iQ2.

The Apple TV is a great media player for online content thanks to the iTunes store, but the reliance on the iTunes software for playing back files from my local network is a major pain. I want something that will read any format from any device - something you won't get in an Apple TV unless you hack the bejesus out of it. I need an AirTunes station in the lounge room for streaming music from my MacBook, so I might use an Apple TV for that - which gives me the added bonus of occasional access to the Australian iTunes streaming movie services (and the US iTunes store with a bit of trickery) .

Looking at PVRs, the best IceTV-compatible options are the Topfield TF7100HDPVRt and the Beyonwiz DP-S1. The Beyonwiz DP-S1 features the added bonus of an upscaling, region free DVD player.

Unfortunately neither the Topfield or the Beyonwiz is blessed with intelligent storage management. Beyonwiz's local distributors have previously told me the DP-S1 should one day get this feature in a firmware update, whereas Topfield's distributor says there are no plans to add intelligent storage management because users aren't asking for it.

The Topfield/Beyonwiz options outclass TiVo in a few key areas such as storage capacity and the ability to play media files from your network. Of course TiVo is talking about offering these features next year, along with a lot of online services such as shopping and movie downloads. The Topfield/Beyonwiz boxes should also soon have access to similar services via IceTV.

The fact TiVo is backed by the Seven network, which has complete control over your box, makes me somewhat nervous. The fact IceTV is the David which stood up to the Goliath that is the Nine Network inspires me to stick with them. Ad-skipping on a Topfield/Beyonwiz box is the icing on the cake.

It seems the only way to get a PVR with IceTV and intelligent storage management is to build a Windows Media Centre, which leaves me back where I started - banging my head against the wall because my bipolar Vista Media Centre takes perverse pleasure in finding new and interesting ways to cock up. That leaves TiVo.

The TiVo is a great solution for mums n' dads who want a PVR that "just works", but I'm reluctant to recommend it to power users. For example, you can be sure that the TiVo's ability to play files from my local network will be far more limited than what Topfield/Beyonwiz offers. I'm sure the ability to copy recordings off the drive will also be more restrictive. I'm also suspicious of how Seven might use the platform to force new forms of advertising on users.

If I could get in the habit of manually cleaning out old recordings once a month, the Beyonwiz DP-S1 would seem the best option for now. The Beyonwiz DP-S1 has been an unfinished masterpiece for quite some time. The interface is a little awkward and some of the features are a little flaky. I've been playing around with the DP-S1 again recently and I'm starting to remember that's it a reasonable PVR but a mediocre media player. I've got a Topfield TF7100HDPVRt coming, which should hopefully be more polished that the Beyonwiz. I want a media player which will play ripped DVD files from a network drive, which I don't think the Topfield does but I believe the DP-S1 will offer with the next firmware upgrade.

A good HD PVR that's also a good media player would take care of some of my requirements, but it doesn't look like I'll find one device that I'm happy with.

Apart from that, I still need an HD optical player. It's not that I think we've reached the point where Blu-ray is mandatory for any lounge room, it's just that I need a Blu-ray player in order to test other gear - such as big-arse, high-def TVs.

Panasonic's DMR-BW500 Blu-ray/HDD recorder is the obvious choice if I'm not reliant on the PVR features, but at $2199 it's still rather pricey and it lacks advanced features such as BD-Live compatibility. Maybe a $450-ish Sony BDP-S350 or a Panasonic DMP-BD35 Blu-ray player would be a better option, which aren't region locked for DVD playback. I could upgrade to a Blu-ray recorder later when prices drop.

Of course for another few hundred dollars I could get a PlayStation 3 that's also a games console. The DVD region coding might not be so much of an inconvenience if I've got the Beyonwiz DP-S1 as well, but like I said I'm not sold on the DP-S1's media player features and overly complicated interface.

I've been looking for an excuse to buy a PS3 so I can write about new features as they come along (which is how my iPhone has paid for itself many times over). Maybe the Boxing Day Bunny could pick one up for me at the post-Christmas sales (he bought me my first PlayStation more than 10 years ago). The whole DVD region coding issue still bothers me if it's my only DVD player.

So where does that leave me? I want a HD PVR, a Blu-ray player, a region free DVD player, a media player and a streaming media box all in one. In other words I want a Vista Media Centre, but I don't want a Vista Media Centre because in my experience they're just too flaky - putting a serious dint in my WAF.

The problem is that I keep trying to tack extra features onto devices, such as wanting the PVR to be a good media player. Perhaps I'd be better off with a dedicated media player, such as a Ziova (formerly Zensonic). The Ziova Clearstream CS505 is a highly flexible media player which also features an upscaling DVD player. I could combine it with a Topfield TF7100HDPVRt or a Beyonwiz DP-P1, which is just a PVR without the optical drive. Next to them I could sit a PS3 for Blu-ray, plus of course the Apple TV for streaming media.

Reviews of the Ziova Clearstream CS505 are mixed so I might look around at other options, although if I lose the DVD player feature I have to face the PS3's DVD region coding. A colleague has suggested XBMC running on an old Xbox, which looks like it might be perfect. There's even a Live CD version, so I can try it out on my media centre.

Actually, I might experiment with running XBMC and iTunes on my media centre, maybe under XP instead of Vista. If this works out I won't need to buy an Apple TV or an Xbox. I could try the same thing on a Mac mini and throw in EyeTV as a PVR, but from my tests the Mac mini's graphics card doesn't have the grunt to do justice to HDTV. If Apple would update the Mac mini it would be worth trying, but that's a big if. I'm sick of waiting for a dream Apple device home entertainment device - it will never come because it doesn't fit Jobs' dream of everyone buying all their content from the iTunes store.

It looks like I'm back to three or four devices. Such a set up will let me do pretty much everything I want without selling my soul to one vendor. I can also upgrade components without having to throw everything away and start again. Even if I don't run XBMC and iTunes on my old Vista Media Centre, it's still there for running BitTorrent and accessing online content such as Hulu and the ABC's iView - but if it doesn't need to be a HD PVR, media player and Blu-ray player then perhaps it can be replaced with something smaller, quieter and more reliable.

Devices like the PlayStation 3, TiVo, XBMC and Apple TV are all hybrid PC/AV devices trying to be all things to all men. Individually they all fall short, yet perhaps together they can form a digital lounge room greater than the sum of its parts.

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turbodewd Nov 21, 2008 6:54 PM	How did you not find Vista's Media Center an acceptable solution? I find it a very close match to your requirements - Im quite happy with mine. Mine is quiet, doesnt resemble a PC, has 4 HD tuners, can pause/rewind live TV, uses IceTV's EPG, DVD player (I could install a blu-ray rdr but Im not interested...yet), plays downloaded content (sweeet!). I dont use it to play radio or music nor fiddle with pictures, I leave that to my desktop box.
Adam Turner Nov 22, 2008 12:49 PM	Vista MCE meets my requirements very well, when it feels like working. There's just always something wrong with it. One day it might fail to see an optical drive, another day a hard drive. Sometimes the autoplay fails, sometimes the screen goes blank. Sometimes the remote does't work properly. Like most Windows boxes, it worked fine for a few months but then slowly deteriorated in a death of a thousand cuts. Doing a restore fixes the problems for a while, but I'm just sick of fighting with it and apologising to my family because it let them down. After years of frustrating, we're all looking for a lounge room that "just works".
turbodewd Nov 23, 2008 9:16 PM	I agree that VMC/PCs regularly have issues, if u resolve one issue another seems to pop up soon after. For me my tuner card took too long to change channels. My new one has lightning fast changes...but seems to have a feint stutter problem now - baffling. VMC isnt perfect, its close fit to best solution out there. Perhaps Windows 7 will be goodlier...?!
Adam Turner Nov 24, 2008 10:42 AM	I'm sick of Microsoft's empty promises that everything will be better in the next version. VMC is the best PVR solution out there, it's just let down by the V bit. I'm sick of the frustration of constantly fighting with it, but I'm struggle to replicate all its functionality with CE devices.
Dinks-c Nov 24, 2008 11:09 AM	Got to agree with the comments so far. Being a shift worker I enjoy being able to watch what I want when I want. The WAF is mostly high, however it regularly takes a hit and i am called to fix it. However the selling point for me is that I can fix it, it will play anything I wish to play on it. Anything that even smells of DRM won't see my money and it doesn't have to spend weeks away getting fixed like the Digitec set top box did. Before building the VMC I looked at all the options as mentioned above, most like the Topfield were limited by there ability to connect to the net and the size of HDD's in them and the ability to add more as necessary. Anyway I'm off to fix the VMC, yet again... :-)
turbodewd Nov 24, 2008 11:27 AM	the thing about VMC and PCs in general is that their strength is also a weakness. You can chop and change hardware and applications but occasionally there will be a poorly written driver or the latest MS patch might kill something which was written for Vista pre-patch. Very super complicated and always changing. Its hardly an off-the-shelf solution...which is the strength of, say, a Topfield.
Commentator Jun 12, 2009 10:05 AM	There's a detailed spreadsheet that compares adv. & disadv. of various PVRs at: http://www.box.net/shared/8vm08gircs