Interested in Media Center extenders? Attend my webinar…

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Next week, I’ll be participating in the first of a series of four web-based seminars on the new HP MediaSmart Connect devices, which were just announced yesterday. (Brandon LeBlanc has a great post with more details over at the Windows Vista Team Blog.)

I’ve been using an early model of this device for the past few weeks, and I’ll share my impressions of it and answer questions from the community. I’ve now had ample hands-on time with three of the four leading v2 Media Center Extender device families: Linksys, Xbox 360, and HP.

More details about the webinars, including sign-up details, here:

Brian Burch, Director of Marketing for HP’s Connected Entertainment group, will lead an interactive demonstration of HP’s latest advanced digital media receiver, and discuss other products on the market today. Brian will be joined by these industry experts who will share their impressions of the HP MediaSmart Connect and their thoughts on how this device will transform your living room experience:

If you can’t make it, leave questions in the comments section here.

Oh, and if you have an old (or new) media-sharing device, you can trade it in for one of these devices. In fact, if you are one of the first to pre-order one of the new devices with a trade-in at 12 noon (Pacific time) today, June 18, you can get the extender free. Details here.

Published by Ed Bott

Published

10 thoughts on “Interested in Media Center extenders? Attend my webinar…”

  1. The “Details here” link does not work… or maybe the offer has been removed. Maybe that’s just as well — won’t the first model have a lot of bugs? I’m not tech savvy enough to fight with our electronics anymore.

  2. Ed, you referenced that you “had ample hands-on time with three of the four leading v2 Media Center Extender device families: Linksys, Xbox 360, and HP”. What is the fourth v2 Media Center Extender device family?

  3. So, this thing costs almost as much as an Xbox 360, but doesn’t play games? I know the Xbox is loud, but that’s a pretty high premium for removable storage and a quieter box.

  5. Sorry Ed, I could never take seriously anything that actually uses the term “webinar”.

  6. I am interested in how well this device plays media (video especially) of all formats, say m4v Xvid, H.264-10, etc. especially when the formats are not wmv.

    Do you know if this will support streaming video from Netflix?

    Also I am interested in why this device cannot also include a web browser and wireless keyboard as an option. If it can decode / stream video surely it can surf the web.

    Lastly does the “HP Pocket Media Drive” plan to include some kind of Blu-ray module? this would be the killer app IMHO that would make these thinks fly off the shelf.

    I will be attending anticipating the answers to these questions and more.

  7. @David
    You do realize a pocket media drive is a notebook sized hard drive, how exactly would you expect blu-ray in a package that size?

  8. A few things my husband and I were wondering about:
    * Will there be a way to connect to iPods/iPhones?
    * Will it be a massive storage device that could automatically back up all of the media in the house?
    * Will it run from that stored data (meaning no computers need to be present)?
    * Can the data be accessed online from other locations through a password? If so, can multiple users access it at once? You can picture a dorm with this system set-up in it — the kids store their videos on it and everyone can watch whatever they want in their rooms.

    BTW, my husband said the use the term “webinars” all the time but it was new to me. I keep thinking it’s “We Binars.” Are you familiar with the Star Trek Next Generation episode?

  9. If it costs more than a Xbox 360 Arcade ($279.99) it is overpriced. A 360 does everything these extenders do and more. Also a 360 can do 1080p which this apparently can not. If it was $200 maybe, otherwise give me a 360.

  10. Sorry but I dunno how to contact Ed Bott, the author of “Windows Vista IO”.
    As an auhorthized translator of this book, can any one describe more clearly about this sentense? Thanks very much!

    (chap15, the first sentense, page 549)
    [quote]
    If you can see it, hear it, and convert it into a stream of digital bits, Windows Vista can probably handle it.
    [/quote]

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