Great review Boulder Bum. I have updated the first post with a link to "Colin's" review.

A little bit of a shame regarding not streaming Blu Ray/1080p. One of the big advantages I thought was that if you had a Blu Ray player in your PC, then essentailly you could have Blu Ray on any tv in the house. Obviously if you cannot get the true benefits of Blu Ray quality it is not worth paying the extra premium to buy the Blu Ray discs (this may go hand in hand with Erik's comments regarding the ZvBox encoding at 30fps and not the 23.976fps of most 1080p content).

So overall is sounds as if the ZvBox does what is says, although with the latency issues surfing the web, typing emails, etc does not seem worthwhile.

_________________
Cheers,
Damian

DIY WHS - 12.5TB and growing, too many gadgets to list

Did you read the MediaSmartServer blog today?
Blog - http://www.adigitalhomeblog.com
"Like a midget at a urinal, stay on your toes!" - Lieutenant Frank Drebin

Boulder_Bum,

Meant to ask you a couple questions:

1) Can you start up your PC/Localcasting from the ZvRemote, or do you have to actually go to your pc to turn on?
2) Is there any way to restrict file access during Localcasting, or is access just as open as if you were sitting directly in front of your PC?

Thanks.

_________________
Cheers,
Damian

DIY WHS - 12.5TB and growing, too many gadgets to list

Did you read the MediaSmartServer blog today?
Blog - http://www.adigitalhomeblog.com
"Like a midget at a urinal, stay on your toes!" - Lieutenant Frank Drebin

Thanks!

I concur, though. ZvBox is great for streaming media, but I wouldn't personally choose to use it for everyday computing tasks. I think you could get away with browsing sites like Break.com with minimal headache as long as you had a keyboard to do searches with.



1. Yup! There's a button to launch "Zviewer" and by pressing it, your resolution is adjusted appropriately for TV viewing, the sound is transferred from your computer speakers to the ZV channel and the Zviewer interface pops up on your PC/TV. After launching Zviewer, you can also exit and get to your other programs using the remote.

2. ZvBox doesn't do anything special with that, it just displays what's on your screen. I suppose you could handle that at the computer level, however, by creating a limited-privilage user account.

Thanks for your review boulder_bum. I just finished reading it. It appears to be fair. I'm still not very stoked by the price, however.

If the folks at ZV are reading this, come out with an introductory price to create some buzz for the product and save some face with the $500 price tag.

At $500 U.S. ($535 CAD), plus customs, shipping and handling fees, this product is simply not worth it with the final price that I would end up paying.

_________________
Richard

My gadget blog: http://www.gadgetinsane.com

The price was right for me!

I hear you though. For $500, you sort of expect perfection, but the ZvBox isn't perfect. On the bright side, if you pay extra for on-demand cable service, you may be able to recoop some of the high cost by cancelling it in favor of free on-demand Hulu.com throw Zviewer, though.

Also, they do continue to update the software (e.g. some of the startup problems mentioned in my review are gone and they plan to greatly improve the latency and gain 1080i support), plus I'm really sold on the concept of PC-to-TV.

Since the ZvBox is the only PC-to-TV game in town that actually works, I'd personally still consider the unit if I didn't have one for all the versatility it brings, but the price tag is certainly a tough pill to swallow.

boulder_bum:

You stated in your review that you "wouldn’t recommend streaming 1080p sources like Blue-ray from your computer to the ZvBox." I take it - from above - that this is due to the 24fps frame rate of Blue-ray? Is all HD content being recorded at this frame rate? What about 1080 content that is recorded at 30fps or 60fps?

Also, I like to hear more about the usability - in terms of navigation. I understand that getting around to most stuff in Zviewer is done by arrow keys and play/pause/rewind buttons. This includes Windows Media Center and presumably Hulu. This is good. WMC has a pluggin (3 actually - that I'm aware of) for Netflix Watchnow content. How about navigating the Amazon Unbox app (or Amazon VOD)? How is shopping for movies - outside of Zviewer- with this setup?

What's already setup in Zviewer besides Hulu and WMC? Is there anyway to add what's setup in Zviewer?

How about tunning tuner cards? This is done presumably with WMC. Controlling a Set Top Box (STB) that is connected to the WMC PC via the IR receiver and blaster works with the exception of On-Demand. You still need the STB remote for that. I suppose one could skin that cat by using the Next Generation RF Remote Control Extender. Do you have any user experience views on this?

The price doesn't look too bad in comparison with other media extender solutions. Take the Xbox 360 (especially the elite). You'll need the WMC machine networked somehow to the Xbox. If you don't already have Cat5 ran - you're going to have to run it, get a wireless-n router/bridge, or use powerline adapters. All have cost. Say you want to access the regular web via a browser. You can do it with an Xbox. There is a pluggin for WMC called MCEBrowser that will stream the web browser to the Xbox. You'll need the Xbox controller to navigate in MCEBrowser. A wireless controller would be preferred. This also add cost.

This doesn't account for the multiple issues with the Xbox and other extenders that make them less than optimal for extender use.

This doesn't even mention the cost of multiple extenders for multiple HDTV's.

Depending on how you look at it, the price is or isn't bad. Yes, you do need Cat5 wiring for media extenders (I don't consider wireless quite up to par if you want to stream hd content). However, you are required to have Coax at your PC where you hook up your ZvBox. I don't know about most other people here, but a lot of people I know do not have coax in their office at home where the PC is. Also, the Xbox is a gaming system, not just a media extender. Same goes with the PS3 which also includes a Blu ray player, you have to factor in the gaming and/or blu ray player in the price, so in my mind I don't think you can really compare the price of these against the ZvBox (if you strip out the gaming/blu ray and make them strictly media extenders, then you have a much different price point). To me that leaves the comparisons with the PCH, SageTV, AppleTV, etc... with prices about half as much, if not more, then the ZvBox. I think a lot of the "value" may lie in the number of hdtvs you plan to use. Lets say you have two hdtvs, you could in theory buy 2 PCHs for less then the ZvBox, and at each HDTV the user could have their own experience. If you have 3-4+ HDTVs, then buying a media extender for each one may be out of the question. Media extenders are slowly adding a lot of online content as well, including Hulu, so I do not consider that something unique to ZvBox. Yes, there are pros and cons for each product and I am not touting one product over the other, just pointing out that what one person considers "value" is not the same as the next.

From my personal experience, when I first heard about the ZvBox I let everyone at work know about it. There was a lot of interest until.....you guessed it, they found out the price. Since then no one has mentioned it to me. I actually was quoted in the WSJ when they did an article on media extenders a few months ago. The article mentioned the ZvBox and the price, and when some family/friends saw the article they thought I was crazy for considering something that expensive. That is the biggest challenge, to convince potential users that the "value" of the product justifies the price against cheaper alternatives. It will be very interesting to see how this all plays out. I think I will sit this one out, wait to see if some of the bugs work themselves out, and who knows, more similar products may be just down the road (the mythical slingcatcher...)

_________________
Cheers,
Damian

DIY WHS - 12.5TB and growing, too many gadgets to list

Did you read the MediaSmartServer blog today?
Blog - http://www.adigitalhomeblog.com
"Like a midget at a urinal, stay on your toes!" - Lieutenant Frank Drebin

Thanks for the post boulder_bum!

The latency is one of the primary complaints so good to know that its not with the remote. Does it affect your mousing abilities?

The other big complaint was with buggy software. Any lockups, quirks, or bug outs?

Ciao!

_________________
John E Pombrio
Do not meddle in the affair of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger.

Good points for sure...

Yes the Xbox is a gaming system. The PS3 wasn't on my list because the Xbox has tight integration with WMC - the PS3 not so much. So, for me I don't really look at the PS3 as a WMC extender. The Xbox has no support for Blue-ray so that's one more strike against it. The process for streaming DVD's/Dvix/Xvid is not supported directly and third party support is convoluted (transcoding). Playing DVD's locally adds to the well know noise issue of the Xbox. For me gaming is of no interest and therefore has little value here. To each their own.

Yes users can have individual experiences at different TV's with the PCH, SageTV, AppleTV, etc. For me that's not an issue. It's more important to me to have access to this "addtional channel" at each TV. Again individual needs vary. There's no perfect solution. Also, extender devices like you mentioned are too limited - in my view - on what their UI's give you access to (especially internet content). Yes, these units are about 1/2 the price of the Zvbox. The actual value of the Zvbox depends on what your individual situation and needs. For me the only competition for the Zvbox is the Xbox 360. I don't have Cat5 ran in my house. However, cable is right next the computer in the office. I like easy access to Netflix Watchnow(yes I know there's a deal with MS and Netflix that brings Netflix to the Xbox), Amazon VOD, Hulu etc. Right now I'll give the edge to Zvbox. However, the jury is still out.

The latency issue is from the fact that the Zvbox has to transcode the VGA signal to QAM. This takes a little time. So the issue wouldn't be with the remote, or the coming keyboard/mouse. This being the case, any mouse/keyboard - whether it's from ZV or other 3rd party - would have this problem. The only way to solve this problem is to speed up the transcoding. ZeeVee says that they are working the issue. I asked them how much real improvement could be expeceted considering how it's done. They replied that they felt that "there is room for good improvement." We'll see.

I haven't read much about buggy software.

The other major complaints revolve around:

1) Cost
2) Installation effort (bogus in my mind)
3) The fact that the serving PC is locked up during localcasting (little suzy can't do here homework on the machine while it's busy serving Dad his entertaiment in front of the Easy Chair.)

edit:

There are no "little Suzies" in my house. If there where, they wouldn't be using my media serving PC for their homework. I would have another computer setup expressly for their use.

T^2 - Definitely drop a post if you get the ZvBox to let us know how it works for you.

_________________
Cheers,
Damian

DIY WHS - 12.5TB and growing, too many gadgets to list

Did you read the MediaSmartServer blog today?
Blog - http://www.adigitalhomeblog.com
"Like a midget at a urinal, stay on your toes!" - Lieutenant Frank Drebin

Guess it depends on where your media is, I have my media on my MSS, as do I believe many other members here, so Little Suzy, Frankie, etc... would not be doing homework on the MSS.... Since the ZvBox however needs to be hooked up to a PC and not the MSS, then yes my PC would be locked up...

_________________
Cheers,
Damian

DIY WHS - 12.5TB and growing, too many gadgets to list

Did you read the MediaSmartServer blog today?
Blog - http://www.adigitalhomeblog.com
"Like a midget at a urinal, stay on your toes!" - Lieutenant Frank Drebin

The main reason I wouldn't recommend it is that there is a quality drop in the compressed ZV channel signal that has nothing to do with 720p resolution or frame rate. You hardly ever notice any problems, but sometimes dark gradients have a bit of pixelation (as pictured in my review), and you figure the reason you're using Blu Ray is because you absolutely want the best quality and the ZV channel compression detracts from that ideal too much.



I think anytime you start typing, things get a little painful. I'd personally search for and buy media on the computer, then pull it up using the ZvBox PC-to-TV functionality. That said, most apps like Media Center and iTunes are supported by the normal remote buttons (direction arrows, play/pause/rewind, full screen, etc.).



Right now:



I believe the selection is determined by an RSS feeds that ZeeVee can update and extend, but there's no third-party plug-in that I know of.



Since you're inside of Windows Media Center, the user experience is pretty good.

I have an analog cable tuner and can confirm that the way it works is that the channels are controlled by standard buttons on the remote (useful for browsing to a show with the option of pausing and/or recording it).

The ZvBox doesn't change the way any of that operates, including the USB IR blaster which should still work, though you need a splitter (included with the package) to go to your tuner and the ZvBox.



No lockups ever. A few usability and cosmetic issues. The main bug I encounter is that sometimes when my computer hibernates, it loses the ZvBox and I have to restart it. Not a big deal, but there are a few kinks.

They have fairly frequent software updates, though, and are widdling the list of issues down.

First off - I would like to thank you for your review and taking the time to answer questions. Your input on this subject has been the most useful on the internet to date.



I wonder what impact the keyboard and mouse - if the latency issure remains - will have on this task???



I wonder if you could comment on using a extender like an Xbox or the Zvbox as the primary source of video. Specifically with a tuner card(installed in the 'served' HTPC) as the (small living room ) TV source. For example:

1) Tuner inputs:
- Direct coax cable in to tuner card (to pick off whatever encrypted QAM is available - HD or otherwise
- S-Video input from Digital SD cable box for standard cable company SD content
2) HTPC 'served" via Xbox or ZvBox to downstairs living room.
3) Content displayed on a decent 32 to 37" LCD HDTV

For such a setup - how do you think the pictures quality would fair? Would it just be better to keep the STB downstairs with the TV? Nice advantage of having it upstairs - enables the use of the HTPC as a DVR/PVR.