SanDisk kills TakeTV dead

Here's a sure sign of unpopularity: SanDisk stopped selling its TakeTV device, and shut down TakeTV's Fanfare content portal, on May 15th... and nobody noticed. Originally inspiring fond sentiments with its sneakernet approach to getting videos from your computer to your PC, SanDisk's TakeTV just never got much traction. Faced with competition from the likes of Microsoft and Apple -- not to mention the oodles of networked devices that offer up more content and more convenience which have been cropping up recently -- we'd be surprised if TakeTV sold enough units to fill a briefcase. Anybody out there have any fond memory's of TakeTV's short stint?

[PHATBOX @ Jun 6th 2008 7:21PM]

Wow, I was just bored last weekend and went out to try and find one of these. It's no wonder it never took off I couldn't even find one locally.

[Boo Radley @ Jun 6th 2008 8:06PM]

Probably because they killed it on the 15th.

[Mandy @ Sep 4th 2008 3:17PM]

Well I bought one in January, and it's awesome. I just adore it, and use it on a daily basis. I acutally took it to work with me today, as my portable external hd is busted, this is perfect for transporting movies that I download at work, take it home, plug in and enjoy. I also found it easy to travel with. Stuck in hotels in and around Montreal with only 4 french chanels, it's nice to have season 3 & 4 of the office to watch. I am sad to know that its' no longer on the market.

[Anthony @ Jun 6th 2008 7:22PM]

I had no idea they had even made such a product.

[Alex @ Jun 6th 2008 8:16PM]

x2

[gad get @ Jun 6th 2008 11:33PM]

Me three.

[SLowrAM @ Jun 7th 2008 4:25AM]

If I had known this existed (I heard such a device was coming a couple years ago then nothing) I would have bought one (assuming it was priced fairly).

[Anthony @ Jun 7th 2008 1:34PM]

They promoted this like crazy on Engadget. I just didn't think it looked like it had value to anyone. I'm pretty sure no one else did either- hence dead TakeTV.

[ryan @ Jun 6th 2008 7:22PM]

"sneakernet approach to getting videos from your computer to your PC"

what?

[Richard @ Jun 6th 2008 7:23PM]

I didn't know what that meant either. We can be ignorant together.

[T H @ Jun 6th 2008 7:29PM]

"sneakernet approach to getting videos from your computer to your PC"

LOL.. that IS sneaky.

[Big Orange @ Jun 6th 2008 7:41PM]

Sneaker netting is where you have to WALK it. Think like AS400 Tapes. Walk it from one to the other using sneakers (tennis shoes).

Yeah, it's an old school term. I only found out about it a month ago.

[Kamokazi @ Jun 6th 2008 7:44PM]

Orange pretty much nailed it.

Sneakernet is a networking term that refers to transfering data on physical media that has to be transported to the destination. Sneakernet obviously applies to sneakers walking the data there.

[ryan @ Jun 6th 2008 7:46PM]

but why would you take it from your computer to your PC?

[yode @ Jun 6th 2008 8:03PM]

maybe because your computer is like a Mac and the PC is the PC yea?

[Jeremy W @ Jun 6th 2008 8:23PM]

It's supposed to say "from your computer to your TV"

[Reid @ Jun 7th 2008 12:34AM]

Orange... whoosh.

[Richard @ Jun 6th 2008 7:22PM]

This is the first time I have heard of it...

[Mr. Snuggle Bunny @ Jun 6th 2008 7:27PM]

Ditto, and people say the Zune's advertising is bad...

[gad get @ Jun 6th 2008 11:36PM]

The Zune has advertising? Seriously, I've never seen an ad of any kind for the Zune, unless you count the media attention it gets simply for being a Microsoft device. Unfortunately, SanDisk can't rely on that kind of attention.

[steve @ Jun 6th 2008 7:23PM]

getting videos from your computer to your PC

[kyle @ Jun 6th 2008 7:29PM]

Indeed, Computer to PC, forget about the tv

[Scrodo Baggend @ Jun 6th 2008 7:23PM]

I have one, and it rocks. I keep it on the SD living room TV that the wife uses. I was hoping they would make a HD version so that I could stop having to hook my laptop to the TV in the basement.

Perhaps I'll snag another for the parents before they are all gone.

[ScooterDe @ Jun 7th 2008 5:04AM]

just get a dvd player with mp4 capability and a usb slot in front, then pick up a cheap usb flash memory stick. This is a more versatile setup, albeit not as portable as the SanDisk solution.

[Keith @ Jun 7th 2008 11:37AM]

Sorry to hear your wife keeps you in the basement.

[yode @ Jun 6th 2008 7:27PM]

what is the point of this article. no one cares about this.

[ScOObyDoo @ Jun 6th 2008 7:31PM]

That is a real shame. It was a pretty smart device.

[dave @ Jun 6th 2008 7:40PM]

I have one and love it. I thought it was the easiest way to get downloaded video from my laptop to tv. It seems to play almost anything I put on it. Only complaint is that it wont seem to play any of my video podcasts.

I would like a wireless device for this, but so far nothing has seemed right.

maybe some day my roku netflix box thing will let me stream video from my computer...

[KEROLiUKAS @ Jun 6th 2008 8:07PM]

D-Link DSM-330 does exactly that and more.

[chrisaroz @ Jun 6th 2008 7:39PM]

OK... so does anyone have any good suggestions on getting content from my computer to PC now? This was the only thing I knew of that would do it.

[Kamokazi @ Jun 6th 2008 7:47PM]

Media Center Extenders. You need XP Media Center or Vista Home Premium/Ultimate though.

[Boo Radley @ Jun 6th 2008 8:08PM]

I think someone forgot to eat their frosted mini wheats today.

[The Engadgeter @ Jun 6th 2008 8:36PM]

I'm going to go ahead and assume you meant from your computer to your TV...

This was a horrible device and I specifically remember commenting on the engadget post when they announced it that this was a pointless device that was bound to fail.

How are you supposed to get your content from your computer to your TV? With devices like the PS3, the Xbox 360, the Apple TV, or any TV with a VGA input, the process is much more seamless than the TakeTV. I personally find the PS3 to have the cleanest interface to use, and it is the easiest thing to take all your divx or xvid files, throw them onto a thumb drive, external HDD, or Disc and enjoy them on your HDTV via the PS3 or 360.

[MeatPop @ Jun 6th 2008 8:49PM]

Sadly, you all missed his joke. He was asking if any other products allowed to get content from your Computer to your PC, since this revolutionary device is the only known one in existence to do such mind-boggling tasks.

[The Engadgeter @ Jun 6th 2008 8:58PM]

err... I figured he was referencing the post which said from computer to PC. In the post, it definitely seems like a typo. As other commenters have said, sneakernet is when you have to walk the content over, and the TakeTV functioned so that you put the content on the USB drive from the computer to the piece of hardware connected to the TV, more or less.

The "from computer to PC" part doesn't seem like a joke and doesn't really make sense if it wasn't a typo.

[MeatPop @ Jun 6th 2008 9:07PM]

Okay, read this slowly now. The original article was a typo, but he was making a joke of their typo and I was being sarcastic about the joke in my post. Don't over think things so much, your brain might just explode!

[Tony Rayo @ Jun 7th 2008 12:53PM]

MeatPop just want really badly to think he is funny. The results speak for themselves =p. As far as the device, it was never on my radar and if I knew about it at any point in time, I still wouldn't have bought one.

[bob e @ Jun 6th 2008 7:40PM]

The problem with this device is it is too much work. There are wires you need to connect and reconnect each time you use it. No one wants that kind of effort to watch a video.

[kevin @ Jun 6th 2008 9:35PM]

You actually didn't have to connect any wires other than the first time you set the device up.

The TV dock remained connected to your TV. You just had to insert the USB drive and off you went.

[Chedda @ Jun 7th 2008 10:15PM]

Uh yeah, once you set up the tv dock, there's nothing else to hook up. Drop your files on the thumb drive and dock it... done. I own one and am very impressed with it. Not being someone who games (no PS3/Xbox), this was a much less expensive way to get media to the TV w/o burning DVDs. I also have a Zune and the TV dock for that is cool, but alas the Zune doesn't support Divx/Xvid like the Take TV did.

As far as the Fanfare software... it was rubish. The people who are gonna buy one of these are gonna be the people who already have a source (MPAA approved, of course) for their movies.

[Mark @ Jun 6th 2008 8:00PM]

I thought it would be perfect for sneakernetting content from the PC to the soccer mom minivan with entertainment system. I was just going to wait until I had the minivan.

Then again, a video iPod/nano might have been good enough too.

[Levi @ Jun 6th 2008 8:08PM]

I always kinda wanted one of these. If they go on clearance anytime soon I'll definitely pick one up now.

[Sam @ Jun 6th 2008 8:16PM]

This is a shame
I always feel like my computer and my PC are completely disconnected
Oh wait, those are the same thing and I run a Mac

[Tony Rayo @ Jun 7th 2008 12:57PM]

Epic fail if you were trying to be funny. Congrads on having a Mac though.

[Joshua Walters @ Jun 6th 2008 8:22PM]

Now, everyone remember the Digg Nation sponsorship, watch the old episodes, and laugh.

[HalfJoey @ Jun 6th 2008 8:37PM]

I was planning on purchasing one of these until I saw a specific Pioneer DVD player + a flash drive would do the same thing. If it had come out sooner I would have been all over it.

[Alvin Ashcraft @ Jun 6th 2008 8:54PM]

I bought one when they came out, and it's currently being used as a giant 8gb USB flash drive. It worked fine for media files, but my Buffalo LinkTheater and Xbox can play DivX files on my PC via WiFi.

[hugoliva @ Jun 6th 2008 8:59PM]

See ya at Woot.com TakeTV

[Michael @ Jun 6th 2008 9:42PM]

I was a tester on this unit and the bottom line is it was a fantastic idea....for the time. They were just to short on storage space (and at the time infected with DRM) to be of long-term use. And when they hit the market, they were just too expensive. It's a pity. So for the tech world's time being, it's back to ripping movies and putting them on the iPod or Zune, with their AV cable output, I guess. As for showing up on woot, I wouldn't buy. They're not that useful without FanFare. Although, hmmm, maybe they're hackable.

[ThoLover @ Jun 7th 2008 2:44PM]

It is a great travel device for watching downloaded (MP4) movies in your hotel room. Tough to lug around and Xbox and Playstation for video playback.