Recent Comments:
Engadget HD's recession antidote: win some Next Generation Home Products gear! {Engadget HD}
Jul 27th 2009 4:52PM It's a comment. It's a contest entry!
Engadget HD giveaway: win a 5x1 HDMI switch and long HDMI cables! {Engadget HD}
Apr 22nd 2009 6:07PM This is my entry.
Logitech Harmony Adapter for PlayStation 3 answers a million prayers {Engadget HD}
Mar 20th 2009 11:53AM IR2BT is hardly clunky...
http://ir2bt.com/
Ask Engadget HD: HTPC or HD media streamer? {Engadget HD}
Mar 11th 2009 4:17PM Oh - I also use it to watch Netflix-streamed movies.
So, the upside, as is fairly obvious, is the flexibility and power. Downsides are the struggles to make this act like any other idiot-proof console, and the fact that the Hauppauge HD-PVR tends to lock up and stop encoding the HD signal (though passthrough continues to work)
Ask Engadget HD: HTPC or HD media streamer? {Engadget HD}
Mar 11th 2009 4:14PM I've got a home-built HTPC - I use it to watch downloaded content, streaming content from major networks websites, TV shows recorded via the somewhat buggy / crashy Hauppauge HD-PVR with Snapstream BeyondTV (DVR software), all on a 46" 1080P LCD (no worries about burn-in). I also use my HTPC to view my photos and home videos, and to serve MP3s for my Squeezebox Classic (without needing the big screen to navigate mp3s on iTunes).
The HTPC runs through a Denon AV-Receiver.
I have the HTPC set to go to S3 standby after 5 minutes of inactivity; currently my Harmony One remote will cause the HTPC to wake when using the Squeezebox; otherwise I have to move my wireless mouse to wake the HTPC.
It does need a bit better WAF, and a couple of improvements would help: It's my intention to use a USB-UIRT (IR receiver via USB) with the Harmony to wake the system, and auto-launch BeyondTV, but I haven't figured out just how to integrate the Harmony with the USB-UIRT and do the 2 improvements mentioned above (I think I need to use something like EventGhost to accomplish both?).
Ask Engadget HD: What's the best PVR software? {Engadget HD}
Aug 13th 2008 8:12PM As a current BeyondTV / Snapstream customer, if BeyondTV decides to charge extra for HD PVR support, I will drop them and pick up Sage or GBPVR.
Ask Engadget HD: Which AV receiver has the best upscaling chip? {Engadget HD}
Jul 9th 2008 2:11PM I was under the impression that the firmware updates could not fix the delay, as it's based on the speed of the processing chips.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14244487#post14244487
"I was following the whole firmware update in the 805 thread when it became available through unofficial sources. The consensus was that it did nothing to help the lip sync issue. So I never bothered. Email from Onkyo confirmed it's hardware related, too many DSP's in the signal path and each one adds it's own delay. Unfortunately no firmware update could ever fix that. If you've really got your heart set on the 875 then buy it where you can exchange it for the 3808 if things go awry."
I don't know if this is true or not, as I didn't follow the firmware thread that closely.
Ask Engadget HD: Which AV receiver has the best upscaling chip? {Engadget HD}
Jul 9th 2008 12:30PM the Onkyo 905 (and 875, for that matter), has a better upscaling chip than the Denon, but... Onkyo buyer beware! There are supposedly audio / lip synch issues with the Onkyo line that could be more annoying than it's worth.
I don't know about the Sony.
