Ceton offering continuing sales on the Echo

[IownFIVEechos]

Not speaking for Dean, but they are nice devices when they work. Saves on the DVR fee etc...

OK, and you can get Linksys and HP extenders (for less money) that work better. You can get an XBox for about the same money, and it works MUCH better.

Without rehashing conversations over again, some just like the small device it offers, that is what sets it apart in its class.

[IownFIVEechos]

It never happened to me, but I've read several accounts that said that it somehow reverted to the original firmware. There are two possible ways for this to happen:

1) The update server somehow sends the original firmware.
2) The Echo has an area where the original firmware is stored permanently and the device reverts to it if there is some kind of error.

If it's #2, then you're doomed if the update servers go away. If it's #1, then as long as you're on the latest firmware when the update servers go away, then you're OK.

I will have to trap the IP address it goes to and block it, but I think you are correct it is doomed unless they throw us a bone.

[barnabas1969]

Not speaking for Dean, but they are nice devices when they work. Saves on the DVR fee etc...

OK, and you can get Linksys and HP extenders (for less money) that work better. You can get an XBox for about the same money, and it works MUCH better.

Without rehashing conversations over again, some just like the small device it offers, that is what sets it apart in its class.

The Linksys DMA-2100 isn't much larger.

[IownFIVEechos]

The Linksys DMA-2100 isn't much larger.

Michael Scott -- 'That's what she said'

[barnabas1969]

The Linksys DMA-2100 isn't much larger.

Michael Scott -- 'That's what she said'

One HDMI wire also makes a difference.

The Linksys has HDMI output also. What's your point?

According to Ceton's website, the Echo measures 3.9" x 0.8" x 4.3". I have a Linksys DMA-2100 sitting next to me as I write this. It measures 6.6" wide, 1.5" tall, and 6.6" deep. Still small enough to stick on the back of your TV, comes with a much better remote control, and has much better IR sensitivity (able to easily pickup IR signals which bounce off of walls).

In addition to the "one HDMI wire", you get composite, component, and analog audio outputs so that you can connect it to older TV sets.

EDIT: I added the quote above because by the time I posted my reply, IownFIVEechos had removed his comment about the "one HDMI wire".

[Ed]

The echo does what it was supposed to do for users who set it up correctly.

That's a load of bull if I ever heard one.

[IownFIVEechos]

The Linksys has HDMI output also. What's your point?

I don't have one next to me so I had to google image it, you can see I corrected my original post quickly, but not quick enough. I am stuck with them so like many things in life you just got to deal with them. The other devices have a brick power supply? Am I at least correct on that?

[barnabas1969]

The DMA-2100 has a wall wart for a power supply. Not much larger than the wall wart that comes with the Echo.

The DMA-2100 uses about 8 watts compared to the Echo's 5 watts.

[barnabas1969]

The down-sides to the DMA-2100 are lack of WOL and it won't play cable TV channels which are encoded in H.264/MPEG-4.

If you leave your HTPC on all the time, you don't need WOL. Or, you can customize your router to send a WOL whenever the Linksys "phones home" for a firmware update (which will never exist). That's what I did before I built my new HTPC which has such low power consumption that I chose to just leave it on 24x7.

I've seen some reports that the Echo will play some H.264/MPEG-4 content. I don't know if it will handle cable TV channels which are encoded that way though.

Another advantage of the DMA-2100 is the quick start-up if you leave it in the Linksys menu. On the remote, there is an "L" button. If you press this button while you are in Media Center, it will disconnect from the HTPC and go to the internal settings menu. Pressing the "green button" takes you to Media Center, and you don't have to wait for the extender to boot. This saves a lot of time. You can make your programmable remote's macro/activity send "L" for "off" and the "green button" for "on". It works like a charm.

If anyone is interested, I'm going to be selling my Linksys DMA-2100 complete with power supply and original remote. I don't know if the box is around here, but I'll look. I've replaced all my extenders with XBox 360's. I also have two more HP X280N's that I need to sell. I have three and I'm going to keep one of them for use with the HD-PVR.

[IownFIVEechos]

^^^ Those are all good arguments as to why one would choose an echo. Thanks for the breakdown.

[barnabas1969]

^^^ Those are all good arguments as to why one would choose an echo. Thanks for the breakdown.

WOL is a good reason.

H.264/MPEG-4 may be a good reason if the Echo can play live/recorded TV shows encoded in this way. Can you confirm that the Echo can play live/recorded TV on channels that are encoded this way? All my channels are MPEG-2. I've downloaded some sample clips that are in MPEG-4, and tested them with the Linksys, HP, and XBox extenders. The XBox is the only one of the three that reliably plays them.

The Echo had very slow start-up time. The advantage is with the Linksys on that one.

[IownFIVEechos]

The echo does what it was supposed to do for users who set it up correctly.

That's a load of bull if I ever heard one.

Notice I never capitalize the word 'echo' that should tell you something.

[barnabas1969]

Back when I had an Echo, I did test H.264 encoded videos, but not H.264 encoded live/recorded TV.

I used a high bit-rate Bluray rip as a test. I didn't have an XBox to test at the time. I tested the Linksys, HP, and Echo. The HP worked best on the ripped video, and played it without a problem. The Linksys was worst. The Echo played it, but was unstable during playback.

When I got an XBox to test (long after I returned the Echo), I tried some recorded TV clips that are encoded in H.264. The XBox played it OK, with a little judder. The HP and Linksys would not play it.

[barnabas1969]

The echo does what it was supposed to do for users who set it up correctly.

That's a load of bull if I ever heard one.

Notice I never capitalize the word 'echo' that should tell you something.

I'm stumped. What does it tell us? Are you saying that when you correctly yell "Hello!" into a canyon/cave, that the echo works properly?

[IownFIVEechos]

Back when I had an Echo, I did test H.264 encoded videos, but not H.264 encoded live/recorded TV.

I used a high bit-rate Bluray rip as a test. I didn't have an XBox to test at the time. I tested the Linksys, HP, and Echo. The HP worked best on the ripped video, and played it without a problem. The Linksys was worst. The Echo played it, but was unstable during playback.

When I got an XBox to test (long after I returned the Echo), I tried some recorded TV clips that are encoded in H.264. The XBox played it OK, with a little judder. The HP and Linksys would not play it.

If you use LAV codec or Shark the video is smooth. I think this was in the latest stable build. My problems are, the preview window is no good, the zoom feature is no good and I wake up in cold sweats fearing the day they take down the update servers (that's an exaggeration).

[IownFIVEechos]

Notice I never capitalize the word 'echo' that should tell you something.

I'm stumped. What does it tell us? Are you saying that when you correctly yell "Hello!" into a canyon/cave, that the echo works properly?

Yes and I play the Viola.

[barnabas1969]

Back when I had an Echo, I did test H.264 encoded videos, but not H.264 encoded live/recorded TV.

I used a high bit-rate Bluray rip as a test. I didn't have an XBox to test at the time. I tested the Linksys, HP, and Echo. The HP worked best on the ripped video, and played it without a problem. The Linksys was worst. The Echo played it, but was unstable during playback.

When I got an XBox to test (long after I returned the Echo), I tried some recorded TV clips that are encoded in H.264. The XBox played it OK, with a little judder. The HP and Linksys would not play it.

If you use LAV codec or Shark the video is smooth. I think this was in the latest stable build. My problems are, the preview window is no good, the zoom feature is no good and I wake up in cold sweats fearing the day they take down the update servers (that's an exaggeration).

OK, but you're talking about video not live/recorded TV. The recorded TV clips (they're on this site somewhere) were very different. Even though the HP played a high-bitrate Bluray rip, it would not even attempt to play the recorded TV clips.

[Ed]

The echo does what it was supposed to do for users who set it up correctly.

That's a load of bull if I ever heard one.

Notice I never capitalize the word 'echo' that should tell you something.

Do tell.

[IownFIVEechos]

Notice I never capitalize the word 'echo' that should tell you something.

Do tell.

I too thinks its a POS sometimes. But most of the time it works.

[barnabas1969]

Notice I never capitalize the word 'echo' that should tell you something.

Do tell.

I too thinks its a POS sometimes. But most of the time it works.

For me, "sometimes" was every time I tried to watch TV for more than 30 minutes it would crash/reboot/hang. I'll admit that I probably use the skip/replay/rewind/FFWD buttons more than most people. This would just F-up the Echo every time.