http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/ Engadget Comments for Mvix intros HDHome S2 and S4 media servers: HTPCs, with a capacious twist http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/May 27th 2010 11:48AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/
So you can get a TV Tuner, BD player, DVR, Media server, a host of inputs and outputs, and Windows 7 Home Premium for $100? Hook me up!

This looks quit interesting for the average family that simply wants a do everything box at a reasonable price.]]>May 27th 2010 12:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/its not the money but what you get for the money as you point out.
I am building an htpc and for 1200 (and dont consider myself elite of elite) i will be getting

2 tbs of storage + 40 gig SSD
intel i 530
nice motherboard
decent looking case
ceton 4 tuner card (if it ever ships)
]]>May 27th 2010 12:08PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/also a blu ray player]]>May 27th 2010 12:10PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/Um, no.

But:
If you have need for a massive storage media server, you already have storage of your own in 90% of the cases. Someone into such a device also surely has a BluRay already, or a PS3, but if not a BR player is $100, $150 tops for a decent one. A NAS chassis operating as a media server, a set top box to pull from the media server, and a DVR or tuner in a PC fill out the rest, and still stay under $1K. Benefit, if you have an issue, only one device is down instead of your entire home theater and entertainment system for the house.]]>May 27th 2010 12:39PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/May 27th 2010 12:45PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/May 27th 2010 1:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/@tosvus

I'm sorry. You must not understand what today's "average" family home is like. The average family does not want to have separate devices to do all of these things because it is so confusing. They also have multiple TV's throughout the house. Now the lucky few also have coax run to each room but only the VERY lucky few have Ethernet (I spent last summer in the attic running CAT 5) so for the unwashed masses wireless is the only option. They have a cable/dsl/fiber modem & wifi router. They know nothing about what those boxes do except that they allow them to get to the internet. You try and tell them they need a media server and they will either give you a blank stare or go get their serving tray out of the cabinet. You tell them they can take this box home, plug it in to their TV and set it up to connect to their wireless router for internet access to TV shows and they can record TV shows from their local stations and they will jump for joy. Then you hook them up with a couple of wireless gaming adapters on their PS3/BR/DLNA enabled device in the other rooms and they will think you are a genius. ]]>May 27th 2010 2:15PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/
I think *you* need to get a grasp on what the middle american family is like.

That said, as a niche product, this is probably fine for medium-high income families that have a higher than average interest in this area, and no ability and/or interest in tinkering.]]>May 27th 2010 2:59PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/
If you have no interest in tinkering then you are buying an appliance and not a PC. This means a Roku or a Tivo or a really fancy BluRay player.

For a distributed setup, low profile boxes already eliminate that "tinkering" problem. Although building the boxes is kind of the tip of the iceberg.]]>May 27th 2010 4:03PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/
WD Live
http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/07/wd-tv-live-hd-gets-play-to-functionality-full-windows-7-compl/

is a far more appropriate purchase for an average family HTPC solution, assuming they have things like desktop-PCs and notebooks and other forms of storage.]]>May 27th 2010 8:27PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/May 27th 2010 12:15PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/But the specs sound identical to the system I built for £500..

.. Accept mine boots on an SSD too.

4 x 1TB
1 x 40GB (SSD)
BD drive
Atom 330 on mATX
2GB RAM
BlackGold dual tuner
Low profile case

£488.76

I don't think these boxes are fantastic deals...
]]>May 27th 2010 6:37PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/May 27th 2010 12:23PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/
My HTPC cost 600 to build with software.

1000 left for 2TB drives at 150 a piece?? 12 TB of storage and cash left over.]]>May 27th 2010 12:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/$1000 for a ATOM based HTPC setup, they obviously blew it.

I built a mini home server with E7300 / 4 gb low volt ram / 300w SFX PSU / 4 fan controller / Intel mini ITX board / 3 hot swap bay (with 2 x 1.5tb F2's) expandable to 5 tb if i get a Samsung F3 2tb drive. all fitted in a Lian Li Q7 all for the price of $625. Never looked back on ATOM's. (FYI, 67w on average, 74w while streaming)]]>May 27th 2010 3:09PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/May 27th 2010 12:38PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/
No they didn't forget. It runs Win7 HP, therfore it is not a WHS. With Win 7 it can share media very easily, that doesn't make it a WHS.]]>May 27th 2010 12:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/
Yep. You're Right! The article I read on WeGotServed made it sound lie it was a WHS.

So, what a stupid overpriced piece of junk!]]>May 27th 2010 7:47PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/
Whoever buys this is dumb. ]]>May 27th 2010 12:46PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/Not everyone cares about bitstream audio. In fact, most people probably don't have the set-up to really benefit from it unless they've bought a new receiver in the past 2 or 3 years and have a pretty decent 5.1 or 7.1 speaker system and near perfect room acoustics. I'm going to guess that most people fail on that last point. The Ion or ATI 3200 will still do Dolby digital 5.1 over HDMI, and that is perfectly sufficient for most people. However, I still wouldn't buy it. Over $1000 for an Atom CPU. All that storage space and it would take like two weeks to trans-code a single Bluray disc. ]]>May 27th 2010 1:17PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/May 27th 2010 1:37PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/May 27th 2010 3:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/May 27th 2010 3:14PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/
Of course you can use other methods of audio, but they are inferior. It's about quality, sir. And yes it matters because the first to letters of the acronym HTPC stand for Home Theater. There's really no excuse for why modern HTPCs don't have this basic feature. 'specially if they're going to be used for blu-ray watching.

]]>May 27th 2010 3:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/
For example, powerdvd 9 has the ability to decode the lossless, high-rez audio tracks. It then packs those 8 channels of audio into a liner pcm stream (this is known as LPCM). LPCM is in turn sent to your surround receiver over HDMI. This is fully supported by the Ion chip.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-ion-htpc,2329.html]]>May 28th 2010 1:33AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/May 28th 2010 1:44AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/
And as far as the quality argument, it's kind of subjective. Some of us don't want software to do the decoding and would rather have it sent directly to the receiver, others choose to go the route you describe, the sound differences are prolly negligible but my point is that a proper HTPC should have the option to decode through software AND to bit-stream, not one or the other. (IMO) Personally, I do both (LPCM and bit-stream), depending on the media.

Anyway, Happy Friday dude!
]]>May 28th 2010 11:38AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/May 28th 2010 5:53PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/
It's much better to buy network attached storage and plug a cheap atom ion or similar nettop into the tv with XBMC or boxee on it. You can add as many tv's as you want then without the price tag of more storage.]]>May 27th 2010 1:52PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/27/mvix-intros-hdhome-s2-and-s4-media-servers-htpcs-with-a-twist/in terms of limitations it depends on your setup. If you hook up your htpc directly to your tv windows 7 can handle isos. It's the extender for windows 7 that can not handle an iso. I would say that the bigger limit with xbmc is that you can add as many tvs as you like but you cant watch live tv. I think xbmc supports hdhome run but honestly it was never meant to be your 24/7 dvr. XBMC is very slick and but even it has plenty of limitations. I think windows 7 offers the best mesh of solutions you can hook up to your tv for iso support, you can use a 360 in every room for a truely centralized dvr solution while also supporting a movie library. ]]>May 27th 2010 3:10PM