erland;496104 Wrote: > 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.
agreed. (it certainly would be helpful) erland;496104 Wrote: > 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 that true, nor would my solution require a combo box, you could just have a client in the living room, but a combo box would probably be cheaper overall than a two piece system. hardware is so cheap these days, gets cheaper all the time, i think they could do it. having said all that, i'd pay top dollar for something with all the things i envision. i mean, if there are crazies out there buying the transporter for $2k, i think there's a more mass market for something like this. (yes, i've brashly said buying a transporter is crazy, flame me! [not you erland, i know you wouldn't]) erland;496104 Wrote: > 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. look at some of the links i've posted. there are things coming close. even more if you google it. besides, you don't need all the action to be done in software, you can offload a lot of the video stuff to real time on the fly hardware. btw, play with someones tivo, i think from your POV of simplicity in use, it will blow your mind. erland;496104 Wrote: > 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. eventually i would see that as a goal. but an intro interface could say audio or video. pick one and go to SBS or SAGETV or whatever. erland;496104 Wrote: > 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. sorry, i thought you were agreeing in an earlier post. if you think just making SBS alone be better at audio via software is the answer, then yes, i do disagree, completely and absolutely. i wonder how anyone could think otherwise? as you say, its hard to be convinced, since its simply foolish to think the mass market will gravitate to slim stuff that costs more, does less, and is harder to use. i'd call that POV insane in fact. sure, its a niche, some audiophiles will do it just like some will buy a transporter, but its crazy nonetheless. my friends love music, but they don't love expensive, they don't geek out. they see EASY to use things that WORK with stuff they already use, and cost anything from $50-$150 and best of all, do TV too! i mean, come on, SBS will NEVER compete with that. being audio only, expensive, and geeky may not make them bankrupt, but its no contender in the mass market. imo, they DRASTICALLY need to lower their prices, especially if they are going to stay as audio only. i'm guessing you do agree with that part. i think their increase in sales would cover the decrease in revenue per unit, but its hard to know exactly what price point would be optimal... i just think its a lower one than now. anyway, i wasn't trying to argue with you at all, just trying to answer your questions. i appreciate the thoughtful replies. -- MrSinatra www.lion-radio.org using: sb2 & sbc (my home) / sbr (parent's home) - sbs 7.4.2b - win xp pro sp3 ie8 - p4(ht) 3.2ghz / 2gig ram - 1tb wd usb2 raid1 - d-link dir-655 - 35k mp3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ MrSinatra's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2336 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=72512 _______________________________________________ beta mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/beta
