Echo as a WMC Extender

[IownFIVEechos]

I have 5 echos, only use 3 actively. Ran one all week with the holidays, no issues. It is nice when it works. Just live tv of course. I see the sale is over, back in the day I would have jumped all over that deal but I did not want to have to change my user name . The 99bucks is nice. Anyone who wants to do a Media Center setup starting new is lucky in the day and age. You can get the echos cheap, you can get the HDHOMERUN for 99bucks as well. Good time to get into the hobby?

[Cryofax]

I have 2 echos and an XBox 360 slim. When not watching TV, I leave my echos on (with the streaming stopped) so "boot time" is instantaneous when I turn on the TV and just push PLAY on the remote. I wouldn't dream of leaving my 360 on. Boot time between the two (360 vs echo) from OFF state is about the same. 30-45 seconds or so.

I've enjoyed the echoes as a whole house DVR solution. They are quiet and have a small footprint. Downsides are the interface isn't as "crisp" as the 360. Slight lag in response and animations. They've been more temperamental as far as occasional reboots. There's just no way I'd put a 360 in places I use the echo.

For $100 I'd say it's worth the money, assuming you have the experience I did, which is 99% of the time just great.

[fiteclub]

I have had no problems whatsoever with using the echo as an extender. I plugged it in and it just worked. I don't use it as my main tv - I have my PC hooked directly up, but for the bedroom or basement bar, it works great! I think the boot time is the same or less than the netgear one that I have. While there are some files that it won't play, I have never had a problem with live or recorded TV, and it plays most of my files with no problem.

I suggest that you get it.... I have to say that with the holiday price drop I am strongly considering getting more....

Netgear? Netgear never made an extender for Windows Media Center.. Do you even know what you're talking about? Have you ever tried to watch live/recorded TV on the Echo for more than an hour?

In my experience, watching a live/recorded TV show for more than 30 minutes results in a hang/reboot. Crap. Pure crap.

Well, in my experience, the Echo works GREAT. Never hangs, or reboots after watching recorded or live TV for hours. Have had two Xbox's that came down with the red ring of death and had to be repaired each at $100 a pop. Xbox's are also loud (at least the models I have experience with).

[slowbiscuit]

Current Xboxes are not loud and work much better as an extender than anything else.

[grinchy]

Xboxes are definately the way to go for the best extender experience. My Echo locks up occasionally as well but is OK for light use. However, it still annoys me that the lower left preview screen/window on the Echo doesn't scale properly (you just see the upper left corner of the screen).

[fiteclub]

Current Xboxes are not loud and work much better as an extender than anything else.

Hmm, My Echo plays back MKV's better than my Xbox. Other than that pretty much equivalent in my experience.

[barnabas1969]

Reports of the RROD (Red Ring Of Death) have been related to XBox models PRIOR to the "S" and "E" models. I have not read one single report of the "S" or "E" models getting RROD. And, my "S" is quiet enough that I can't hear it from 3 feet away.

[fiteclub]

Reports of the RROD (Red Ring Of Death) have been related to XBox models PRIOR to the "S" and "E" models. I have not read one single report of the "S" or "E" models getting RROD. And, my "S" is quiet enough that I can't hear it from 3 feet away.

I can't hear my Echo from 1 inch away.

[barnabas1969]

Reports of the RROD (Red Ring Of Death) have been related to XBox models PRIOR to the "S" and "E" models. I have not read one single report of the "S" or "E" models getting RROD. And, my "S" is quiet enough that I can't hear it from 3 feet away.

I can't hear my Echo from 1 inch away.

That's wonderful. How often do you watch TV closer than 1 inch (or even 3 feet) from your TV?

[fiteclub]

Reports of the RROD (Red Ring Of Death) have been related to XBox models PRIOR to the "S" and "E" models. I have not read one single report of the "S" or "E" models getting RROD. And, my "S" is quiet enough that I can't hear it from 3 feet away.

I can't hear my Echo from 1 inch away.

That's wonderful. How often do you watch TV closer than 1 inch (or even 3 feet) from your TV?

Just being a little snarky dude. Lighten up. BTW, there are a number of reports of Xbox E and S with RROD or equivalent error.

[DigiTechMedia]

I can't hear my echo with my ear on it. Oh nevermind, its been off since shortly after beta. That prob explains why. Stupid me.

[Madcodger]

Works fine after about two weeks of trying it out. Read both pros and cons and finally just took the plunge. Works just like I'm sitting at the main HTPC. Running with Gigabit router, gigabit switch and Cat6 into Sony Bravia TV. Remote is awful (sized for elves, I think), but functionality is fine.

[Moderator note: unnecessary comments in this thread removed]

[koberhol]

I use both the 360 and the echo. I really did not want a 360 in the kitchen,there i us a echo. it sits behind the tv with no large brick to hide and gets its power off the TV usb. If you have room use a 360 if not try a echo

If the Ceton Gods find out your are doing this you will be excommunicated for life!!! That is #1 cardinal sin! Thou Shalt Not plug the usb connector into anything other than the Supplied a/c adapter.... lol

#2 cardinal sin - Thou Shalt Not use any other usb cable Except the one supplied.

Bad things will come as WAF will drop to Zero!!! Repent my brother! Come back from the darkness!

[spanner]

I use both the 360 and the echo. I really did not want a 360 in the kitchen,there i us a echo. it sits behind the tv with no large brick to hide and gets its power off the TV usb. If you have room use a 360 if not try a echo

If the Ceton Gods find out your are doing this you will be excommunicated for life!!! That is #1 cardinal sin! Thou Shalt Not plug the usb connector into anything other than the Supplied a/c adapter.... lol

#2 cardinal sin - Thou Shalt Not use any other usb cable Except the one supplied.

Bad things will come as WAF will drop to Zero!!! Repent my brother! Come back from the darkness!

I know, but it would not be my worst sin, and I am prepared to repent if need be. So far the darkness is just fine and the echo does hide away nice

[erkotz]

I use both the 360 and the echo. I really did not want a 360 in the kitchen,there i us a echo. it sits behind the tv with no large brick to hide and gets its power off the TV usb. If you have room use a 360 if not try a echo

If the Ceton Gods find out your are doing this you will be excommunicated for life!!! That is #1 cardinal sin! Thou Shalt Not plug the usb connector into anything other than the Supplied a/c adapter.... lol

#2 cardinal sin - Thou Shalt Not use any other usb cable Except the one supplied.

Bad things will come as WAF will drop to Zero!!! Repent my brother! Come back from the darkness!

I know, but it would not be my worst sin, and I am prepared to repent if need be. So far the darkness is just fine and the echo does hide away nice

I know your comment is tongue in cheek, but we have absolutely seen issues caused by using inadaquate power supplies or cables. And they are much more common than you would expect. That's why we absolutely stress that you must use the included cable and power supply,

[barnabas1969]

I'll admit that a 360 in a kitchen might be difficult to hide. I suppose you could put it on top of the cabinets, or mounted underneath somehow. Putting one in a closed cabinet is probably not a good idea due to the heat they produce.

[Jay]

I have 2 echos and an XBox 360 slim. When not watching TV, I leave my echos on (with the streaming stopped) so "boot time" is instantaneous when I turn on the TV and just push PLAY on the remote. I wouldn't dream of leaving my 360 on. Boot time between the two (360 vs echo) from OFF state is about the same. 30-45 seconds or so.

I've enjoyed the echoes as a whole house DVR solution. They are quiet and have a small footprint. Downsides are the interface isn't as "crisp" as the 360. Slight lag in response and animations. They've been more temperamental as far as occasional reboots. There's just no way I'd put a 360 in places I use the echo.

For $100 I'd say it's worth the money, assuming you have the experience I did, which is 99% of the time just great.

I'm up to 4 now as I inadvertently made my DMA extenders useless with my purchase of a Samsung S4. I had 2 echos, so 2 more were added to allow me to retire the DMAs. For what I need them to do, stream Live and Recorded TV, they are a better value at the $99 price tag for me as I don't play console games, I want to minimize the footprint of the device I am using to stream, and I'd like the extender to sip electricity, not chug (older X-Box) or guzzle (newer X-Box).

For those of you wanting to do more, I completely agree go with the XBOXs. Ceton's mistake was over-hyping the Echo to be more than it actually is. If they had simply brought to market a small extender with the current capabilities it has now, bypassed the public beta issue by delaying for a few months, and kept the price in the $129-$159 range, I believe much of the noise we hear now would have never manifested itself.

With that said......help a brother out Ceton who defends you and release an updated firmware, even if it is just to change the bacckground color of the splash screen.

[Madcodger]

My Echos run for a day and then I get a frozen pic, mid-show and for no apparent reason. And all that's asked of them is to do recorded and live tv from a HTPC. Really, Ceton, this isn't much to ask. Just reliability for basic functionality!

[STC]

* I would see if you can focus on getting WMC stable per your other topic before looking at tuner and extender problems. It could all be related.

[koberhol]

I know your comment is tongue in cheek, but we have absolutely seen issues caused by using inadaquate power supplies or cables. And they are much more common than you would expect. That's why we absolutely stress that you must use the included cable and power supply,

I know. I was just having a little fun.

BTW my HTPC setup just received the coveted near 100% WAF since I added commercial skip software to our system! My system is Ceton InfiniTV 6ETH/Echo's (304 FW)/Recorded HDTV/DVRMSToolbox/Comskip. We also really enjoy seamlessly streaming video on vacation via an IPad coupled with a lightening cable outputing HDMI to our Hotel/Condo television. I must thank the TGB community and Ceton for helping me through the trials and tribulation of establishing a reliable HTPC.