Movies Games and Tech

First Connected TV supporting BBC iPlayer Announced

Tech

Andrew Edney

-

Dec 16, 2009

Today, Oregan Networks have announced the first connected TV which will support the BBC iPlayer service and also other catch-up TV services here in the UK.

This looks very interesting and is certainly another step closer to a truly connected home.

More on this soon, including pricing and availability.

The full press release is as follows:

Onyx from Oregan Networks enables first Connected TV supporting BBC iPlayer and other Catch-Up TV services

London, UK, December 16th, 2009 – Oregan Networks, a leading innovator of Internet media technologies, has announced retail availability of Onyx-powered TVs manufactured by the UK’s fastest growing value TV brand Cello. The product, branded Cello iViewer, is the first connected TV featuring the UK’s pioneering BBC iPlayer catch-up service, as well as an array of other free-to-view web video services. The TV is also equipped with digital rights management technology, allowing delivery of premium Hollywood content services.

Brian Palmer, CEO of Cello, said: “We’ve worked closely with Oregan to bring the Cello iViewer to market and are delighted with the final result. The iViewer will revolutionize TV viewing, allowing internet based media that was once only available through a computer to be accessed directly on TV and making catch up TV easier than ever to access.”

Entertainment, news and social networking services such as Twitter, are accessed on-screen through an animated carousel, and dynamically updated as soon as new information, content or messages become available via the Internet connection. New applications will be deployed to iViewer via remote download, based on consumer feedback gathered through dedicated end-user forums.

Onyx is now available on select 26″ and 32″ flat panel HDTVs, branded as Cello iViewer at the UK’s up-market consumer goods retailer, Marks & Spencer.

Steve Hughes, Technology Buyer, M&S commented: “Being the first retailer delivering on the promise of Digital Home and mainstream consumer connectivity with the BBC iPlayer and Oregan’s Onyx, is an incredible achievement for Marks & Spencer. M&S are committed to continued delivery of innovative products that simplify connected entertainment and provide outstanding value to our customers.”

The Onyx solution powering iViewer is developed by Oregan, as a consumer brand of its Oregan Media Browser – a web delivery platform for connected TVs and Hybrid IP-STBs. Based on deep consumer insights gathered through end-user focus groups, Onyx features an easy-to-use and rich Graphical Interface for family-style living room entertainment. The mix of services available on Onyx caters for a variety of audiences and is a blend of mainstream catch-up TV programming such as BBC iPlayer, with user generated content and social networking applications, such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. iViewer is using the UK version of Onyx, with US and other international versions also in development.

The built-in CE-HTML Internet browser, W3C Widgets engine and standards based media APIs of Onyx, simplify the design and delivery of new media services and applications. Oregan’s Open W3C Widgets Platform – The Widgetry – is used by its CE customers as an extensible framework for scheduled and user-initiated downloads of new widget based applications. The company provides a Software Development Kit for to developers who wish to create innovative apps for televisions powered by Onyx.

In addition to Web TV services, Onyx enables easy access to personal media stored on devices in the consumer’s home network, such as PCs, mobile phones and digital cameras that are compliant to DLNA 1.5 standards.

Mark Perry, CEO of Oregan Networks commented, “The proliferation of digital content from multiple sources and advances in media streaming technologies have made it possible for the TV world to quietly transition into a new plane of openness and variety enabled by the Internet – previously the privilege of the PC world. The launch of Onyx inside an affordable, mainstream TV, marks a significant milestone in the evolution of the TV experience which can no longer be considered separately from the Internet.”

The Cello iViewer TV will be showcased at the upcoming CES 2010 in Las Vegas.

About Oregan Networks Ltd.

Oregan Networks provides deployment ready media browser solutions for retail consumer electronics and carrier grade IPTV appliances, enabling delivery and sharing of Internet video, music and photos. Since incorporation in 1997, over 3.5 million units of Oregan’s software have been licensed to leading global brands, including Sony Computer Entertainment, Philips Consumer Electronics and NTT. The company’s headquarters and primary R&D center are located in London UK, with branch offices in USA, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.

Tech Tip on a Tuesday Morning – Windows 7 Backup and Restore

Timothy Daleo

-

Dec 15, 2009

2

Most of us rely on Windows Home Server to perform our PC backups and store our data but what about standard users? What about your cousin in college or your Aunt with only one computer? This week I will walk you through a quick way to backup Windows 7 PCs.

I do not need this. I have Windows Home Server?

Oh really. There are times when a WHS in not available. There are also times when you do not want to want to keep a backup on your server. I recently had to delete a Vista backup set because I had reached my 10 limit when converting to Windows 7. Boo!

So, we got my sister-in-law a new Dell laptop and I want to have a backup for her in case when she jacks it up. What’s a boy to do?

I’ll tell you what I am NOT going to do: I am not going to drive over to her house, pick it up, drive back home, start it up, connect to my network, install the WHS connector, run a backup that counts towards my ten, wait 45 minutes for it to finish, uninstall the WHS connector, remove the network connection data, shut it down, get my ass back in the truck, drive back over there and then start it up again.

And when I need to restore it? Repeat the process? Hell no!

I’ll tell you what I WILL do: She has an external USB drive that she uses to transfer pictures to her brother’s PC. I will just start the Microsoft Backup and Restore to that drive and go home.

Tech Tip – Microsoft Backup and Restore

I am going to do a demo run on my main PC. In Windows 7 go to the Start Menu and open Maintenance>Backup and Restore.

If this is your first backup then click on Set up backup.

The first time Windows Backup starts it will take a minute.

Make sure you have enough space on your external drive. My Recovery drive was the default and of course did not have the space. I then connected my transport drive that had enough space. Remember to connect your drive BEFORE you start the backup so it will recognize it. You will have to start over if you connect your drive after Setup.

I always like to choose my own backup data set but you can leave it at the default if you are unsure about what data you want to save.

I will back up everything but my Recovery partition. Remind me to delete that partition on my next OS upgrade.

Review the settings to make sure everything is as it should be. Click on Save settings and run backup.

Your backup will now start. Give yourself at least an hour depending on the size of your data.

The backup will take a while since it is an entire backup set and not like a WHS run.

Microsoft Backup and Restore makes a tidy little folder with all of the files it needs to perform a restore. Very nice.

There are more options in this tool such as scheduling but the simple one-time backup is the way to go!

Thank you Microsoft. You save me a lot of time and effort! Seriously.

See you next Tuesday,

Tim

Using Windows Home Server Readers Awards 2009

Andrew Edney

-

Dec 14, 2009

5

As 2009 is nearly over, yes, it went very quickly didn’t it, I thought it was time to announce the Using Windows Home Server Readers Awards 2009.

The categories are as follows:

Best Windows Home Server Hardware

Best Windows Home Server Software (Commercial)

Best Windows Home Server Software (Non Commercial)

Best Media Device

So, why not email us with your thoughts to awards@usingwhs.com

We will be giving away some goodies to a few people selected at random, so come on, get your ideas coming in now!

Also have we missed a category or something you wanted to see voted on? Let us know!

In a few weeks we will announce the shortlist for final votes, so keep watching.

Updated Version of P80 Add-In for Windows Home Server Released

Windows Home Server

Andrew Edney

-

Dec 14, 2009

2

A few months ago, Fasthair did a couple of excellent articles on Kris Rodenhausen’s great add-in for Windows Home Server called P80.

https://moviesgamesandtech.com/2009/09/27/review-of-the-p80-add-in-for-windows-home-server/

https://moviesgamesandtech.com/2009/10/16/p80-2-0-5-add-in-released-for-windows-home-sever/

Last week Kris released an updated version – version 2.5.0.

I was going to do a quick post about it but didn’t get a chance until now.

It seems that there were a few problems with this version, and just to prove how hard Kris works he has been trying to solve them and has released a couple of updated versions since then – so as of today, he is at version 2.5.3.

For version 2.5.3. click here. If you have a previous version of P80, make sure you uninstall it first.

New additions and fixes for this version:

1. Cloudberry Support: You can now view your Cloudberry information on P80. In future versions you can start/stop/pause the backup plans.
2. Languages: P80 now supports Japanese and French!
3. Memory on WHS: P80 now displays the current free memory on your WHS
4. Installer Fix: No matter what port/header/ip you use for your default website, P80 will now install
5. Fixes in regards to the refresh checkbox reporting errors
6. Removal of P80 link from WHS Website on uninstall of P80
7. New P80 Logo! Thanks to the team at Cloudberry for designing this for me for FREE! You guys rock!
8. Alerts on certain actions on the summary page will now display on the top of the page
9. New User Interface design. This new design is not so “scrunched” and is easier on the eyes. Thanks goes to Will (Wriker).
10. P80 Service Images share deleted. You can now find the images at \\yourserver\Software\P80 Service Images. No “ugly” share anymore…

PerfectDisk 10 for Windows Home Server on a Friday night

Windows Home Server

Timothy Daleo

-

Dec 14, 2009

8

To defrag or not to defrag. Is that a question? Tonight I will walk you through the installation of PerfectDisk 10 on Windows Home Server via four short videos. If you have ever thought of using defrag software then check this article out.

Background

Over the last six months I have been thinking about whether defragmentation on my Windows Home Server is really worth the time and effort. I have decided that I will try it on my WHS and see how it performs. What do you think?

To Defrag Or Not To Defrag

Do we need to do it? Seriously? You can argue either way I guess. In theory it makes sense. If a file is in multiple parts it takes longer to read it. However, is there a significant quantifiable performance gain after defragmentation? Is it worth the time and money? If I spend an hour to defragment a drive, would it save more than an hour of actual read time had I not done it?

I am not sure on WHS, but this theory may have real life implications. Would it take more time and energy to move them all to the front or just leave them be?

Microsoft Windows Disk Defragmenter

If Windows Home Server needed a Disk Defragmentation tool would it have not come with it?

Since Windows 95 each Microsoft OS has shipped with some sort of Disk Defrag tool. Windows 7 has a built in Disk Defragmenter so there must be a performance gain by using these types of tools. Right?

I recently did a clean install of Windows 7 on my main system. I would expect Windows to keep the fragment percentage low.

More information can be found at: http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/maintenance/speed.aspx

Do we really need one for WHS? So much stuff is being duplicated and moved around.

PerfectDisk 10

According to the Raxco Software website Perfect Disk 10 for Windows Home Server will:

? Completely eliminate WHS fragmentation
? Maximize Streaming Media performance
? Reduce Backup times
? Improve Anti-Virus Performance
? Seamless integration with WHS Console
? Includes PerfectDisk Pro to also defrag connected PCs.

Perfect Disk is $49.99 for Windows Home Server and also includes a license for a regular PC. You can also buy site license which is a 10 pack of the PerfectDisk Pro licenses and the Windows Home Server.

UPDATE – Raxco Software is currently having a special (as of 12/13/09) on their PerfectDisk 10 Windows Home Server Site License (10 pack) for $59.99.

I am curious if a defrag will make a noticeable difference on my WHS so, I will download PerfectDisk 10 and give it a try. Their manual has 325 pages so there must be something to it. Right?

Equipment Needed

PerfectDisk10 Download
Windows Home Server
Two Beers (Optional as always)

The PerfectDisk 10 software can be downloaded for a Free Trial at:

http://www.perfectdisk.com/products/home-perfectdisk10-windows-home-server/learn-more

Installation

Once you get the msi file to your Add-Ins folder you are good to go.

Initial Defragmentation

I have had my WHS running on the same disks for over a year so I guess I am a candidate for defragmentation.

Adding Backup Drives

I have two USB drives that I use for backups.

Metrics and Additional Functionality

PerfectDisk 10 can do quite a bit more than what I show in the videos.

…and what does the chart mean? Is 100 optimum? Is 100 the best? I could not find a definition in the documentation. $50 for a jump from 86 to 92 in Drive Performance might be a little costly if I cannot explain what the increase is in performance gain.

Conclusion

Overall I like the functionality and interface of PerfectDisk 10. If you are looking for a Disk Defragmenter for your WHS then this is a great choice. In addition, like I said earlier, their manual has 325 pages so there is a lot more to it then what I covered here.

Only time will tell whether PerfectDisk10, and disk defragmentation in general, is worth the effort and money. For now I will give PerfectDisk 10 the benefit of the doubt.

That said…does WHS really need a Disk Defragmenter? Microsoft would have included it if it needed it, right? Seriously.

See you next Friday night,

Timothy Daleo

Time Traveler for Windows Home Server Add-In Update and Offer

Windows Home Server

Andrew Edney

-

Dec 13, 2009

0

A few weeks ago we reported about a new Windows Home Server Add-In called Time Traveler.

Well it has been updated this week and along with the update we have a very special offer for readers of Using Windows Home Server. If you purchase Time Traveler, you will receive $5 off with the coupon “USINGWHS5” during checkout.

For more information about Time Traveler and to buy it, click here.

New Features:

Selectable rollback target folder – rollback directly to the original Share/folder or a separate cache folder
Rollback version finder – easy viewing of rollback points to find time/date of the file you want to rollback. A more informative selection of files/folders during rollbacks
Updated status display – now easier to view the current action being performed by Time Traveler; Online, Updating database, Updating Folder List, and Expired Trial

Bug fixes:

Set full read/write permissions for all WHS users when creating the “Time Traveler Rollbacks” share during installation
Fixed selection of deep folders within the Rollback Single File selector
Fixed apparent hang when selecting a Share containing many files/folders. i.e WHS Console could become unresponsive for a few minutes
Fixed installer failure on some Power Pack 2 and Power Pack 3 systems

Installation tips:

From the WHS Console select Settings | Add-ins | Installed then Uninstall the previous version of Time Traveler
Download the new version of the software, via the link above, to your \\server\software\add-ins folder
From the WHS Console select Settings | Add-ins | Available then Install the new version
The WHS Console will restart
All existing settings and rollback information will be saved from the previous version. You’re done!

Diskeeper 2010 for Windows Home Server Giveaway – The Results

Windows Home Server

Andrew Edney

-

Dec 13, 2009

0

Last week we started our latest giveaway which was 5 copies of the brand new version of Diskeeper – Diskeeper 2010 for Windows Home Server.

Diskeeper 2010 HomeServer edition key features and benefits:

New! IntelliWrite™ fragmentation prevention technology: a major advancement in system speed and efficiency.IntelliWrite prevents up to 85% of the fragmentation every system suffers from. It intelligently writes contiguous files to the disk so system resources are not wasted creating fragmentation. The results? A whole new level of system speed and efficiency beyond what can be achieved with defragmentation alone.
Gain unlimited defrag volume size capacity. Terabyte Volume Engine™ technology has the necessary horsepower to quickly and thoroughly defrag even the largest drives and volumes found on today’s powerful home servers.
Eliminate rapid fragmentation build-up. InvisiTasking^® technology is a truly transparent, background processing technology that allows your PC to be defragmented in real-time, so your high traffic-traffic volumes don’t experience the detrimental effects of fragmentation between scheduled defrags.
Windows Home Server Console Integration. Only Diskeeper 2010 HomeServer includes full integration with the primary WHS management console. From any PC or laptop in your home you can adjust a setting, or view the History graphs — everything you need is available for easy access.
Extend the productive life of your Home Server. Extend the effective life of your Home Server by as much as 3 years.
Increase your Windows home server reliability. Hang-times, freeze-ups and other fragmentation-based crashes on your Home Server affect every other PC and laptop in your home. Fragment-free drives will ensure your gigabyte-sized movies stream to your video screen without a hitch.
Speed up your anti-virus scans. Experience faster back ups and avoid system crashes resulting from fragmentation-related problems.
Protect your system from crashing. Boosts the reliability of your Home Server by automatically preventing crash-inducing fragmentation of critical system files. Leave hang-times, freeze-ups and other fragmentation-related crashes in the dust.
Defrag even with less than 1% free space. Defragment even in the most extreme hard drive environments — with less than 1% free space or with files split into millions of fragments

We asked you to leave us a message in our forums telling us what you wanted to for Christmas.

So, as they say, in no particular order, here are the five winners:

elnath

raechten

jcollison

theho1

alvey65

Congratulations guys, Diskeeper will be in touch shortly with your licences and download instructions.

And for all those who didn’t win – stay tuned to Using Windows Home Server as we have a number of cool giveaways planned for the next few weeks – after all, it is Christmas 🙂

Home Server Show Podcast 68 Out Now

Windows Home Server

Andrew Edney

-

Dec 11, 2009

0

Dave over at the Home Server Show podcast has just released show number 68.

Here is what Dave has to say about show 68:

The Home Server Show 68

In Today’s show we will be going over news items with John, Jim, and Chris. I also have two interviews for you. One is with Nigel Wilks, AKA, Cougar. He is going to tell us about his new Add-In,WHS Health. I’ll also be speaking at length with Tom S. You know him in the forums as WODYSWEB. This will be the first of a couple of interviews about going virtual. Virtualization is a hot topic and we will be covering everything you need to know to get started.

Could Anti-Virus on WHS keep this from happening?

Refreshed Home Computer Restore CD

The Download of the Restore CD

Windows Home Server PP3 Trial Download

The 12 Hour Undelete for WHS

Add-In: WHS Health

So, as usual you can listen to the show by clicking here.

Windows Home Server Health Add-In

Windows Home Server

Andrew Edney

-

Dec 9, 2009

1

Fellow WHS MVP Nigel “Cougar” Wilks has been in touch to let us know about a new Windows Home Server add-in he has written that is out now called WHS Health.

This is what Nigel says about WHS Health:

A few weeks ago, Sam Wood highlighted a new feature that Microsoft has included in Power Pack 3 to expose the state of various components of your server.
Microsoft are using the this feature to generate the content to Windows Media Center’s new Home Server Console View, and I thought it would be useful to expose these to my iPhone so I can follow up on any messages that are generated from Alex Kuretz Remote Notification Add-In.

Several hours later and I had a pretty simple app that renders the pages well on an iPhone or iPod Touch display and lets me see the status of various components of my server. Once I was reasonably happy with the concept I passed the link to Alex and we both started bouncing ideas around and WHS Health was born. So the project grew from a couple of web pages for personal use, to a full Add-In that we are releasing to the community today. There is a similar Add-In available already, P80 that more functionality but I found it too much effort to drive on my iPhone or Touch.

You can learn more about WHS Health and download it from here.

Nice one Cougar! Keep up the good work.

Tech Tip on a Tuesday – Windows Backup or Restore Wizard

Windows Home Server

Timothy Daleo

-

Dec 9, 2009

7

Sometimes we need to back up files of PCs away from our WHS. Microsoft makes a great utility just for this purpose. This utility walk through is for XP but there are similar versions of this utility for Vista and Windows 7.

LINKS

If you are running XP Home you will need your installation disk and to follow the instructions at: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;q302894

More information on XP Backup Made Easy:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/learnmore/bott_03july14.mspx

A similar version of backup can be found in Vista Business, Ultimate and Enterprise Editions. For more information about Vista backups go to:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-vista/features/backup.aspx#complete

Windows 7 Backup and Restore:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/features/backup-and-restore.aspx

BACKUP UTILITY

Click on Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Backup

Click on Next

Click on Back up files and settings and then Next

Click on Let me choose what to back up and then Next

We want to make our own choice because the tool will try and backup all drives it sees. I always just choose my C: drive and the System State. Click on Next.

Select the drive you want the file to save to or Browse to another drive. You must also choose a name for your file. Click on Next.

You can click on Finish or click on Advanced to verify the data.

After clicking you can choose different type of backups. I will just click on Next.

I select Verify data after backup. This selection basically doubles the time to backup but will let you know if something does not copy correctly. Click on Next and Finish.

Click on Replace the existing backups. This will only replace backups with the same name. Click on Next.

All Done

It makes ONE file. I save to different locations each time I backup. One day is my USB drive and one day is my network folder. I always have two days of backups.

How Long?

45 minutes for my 32GB over the work network. Not too bad. The verification took about the same. You should decide if verification is worth it.

You can also set a schedule and/or do incremental backups.

Schedule

Different Types of Backups

It takes a while the first time but once you get used to it the utility is easy. Just before I walk out the door each night I start it. It just takes 30 seconds.

It is a quick and simple tool you should be aware of. It is a great option for backing up systems that have no other option. In addition, the simple file output is easy to keep track of in case of emergency.

Next week I will walk through a folder restore and some other tips next week.

See you next Tuesday,

Tim

Newbie Windows Home Server Developer Kit Released

Windows Home Server

Andrew Edney

-

Dec 8, 2009

0

Nick over at Asoft has contacted us to let us know that he has put together a collection of really useful documents and guides to help would-be Windows Home Server add-in developers get to grips with their first add-in.

Here’s what Nick had to say:

“What I tried to do is create 1 package with all kinds of tutorials by combining them and walking you through the different steps of setting up a development environment up until the release, but also by including on how to create help files, localize an add-in, test it, release it,…”

Two of the best Windows Home Server developers, Brendan Grant and my friend Sam Wood have given permission for Nick to use some of their work in the kit, and Sam even reviewed it! I really don’t know where Sam finds the time 🙂

A lot of this information is available scattered throughout the internet, so this is a really good single source of information – nice job Nick!

So, if you are interested in learning more about creating add-ins for Windows Home Server, why don’t you get a copy of the kit now.

I would love to give developing an add-in a go, but I really don’t have the skill, although I will look through the kit, and who knows?

You can download the WHS Developer Kit here.

Buy an HP EX490 MediaSmart Windows Home Server from HP in the UK and get a little extra

Andrew Edney

-

Dec 8, 2009

3

If you are in the UK, and are thinking of buying an HP EX490 MediaSmart Windows Home Server this Christmas, why not buy it direct from HP?

HP are giving a little extra this Christmas, in the form of free delivery and a free Marks and Spencer hamper worth £50.

So why not buy yourself a Windows Home Server and either keep the hamper or give it to someone else for Christmas? They will think you are very generous 🙂

Click here to buy the EX490 from HP and claim your £50 M&S Hamper.

D-Link and Boxee Join Forces to release the Boxee Box

Tech

Andrew Edney

-

Dec 8, 2009

12

As you know, we here at Using Windows Home Server are big fans of media streaming devices and devices that enable you to watch or listen to digital content on your television. There is a new device in town and its called the Boxee Box.

What is Boxee?

D-Link describe the Boxee box:

Boxee is the best way to enjoy entertainment from the Internet or a computer on a TV. Their free, open source, downloadable software for Mac, Linux and Windows brings all your entertainment into one place – whether it’s from the Internet or from your hard drive or home network. Plus, they overlay everything with a heaping helping of social by letting you share what you’re playing with friends on Boxee, Twitter, and Facebook.

The Boxee Box by D-Link takes the same popular software and offers it up as a great device — the perfect companion to a high definition TV. The Boxee Box by D-Link provides access to more than just traditional TV content. It includes a huge library that spans the Internet, such as university courses, panel discussions, academic lectures, presentations, web-only videos and more from TED, Stanford, FORA.tv, Kid Mango, Next New Networks and more. Boxee also makes it easy for users to add their own favorite entertainment sources with simple RSS or XML feeds available for most online video.

In addition to video content, Boxee users can access great music from sites like Pandora, last.fm, shoutcast, and We are Hunted as well as fun photos from sites like flickr, Picasa and the Facebook.

The Boxee Box By D-Link

The specifications of the Boxee Box are as follows:

Specifications

Item (WxDxH): 120mm x 120mm x 120mm
1 HDMI Connector
1 Optical Digital Audio (S/PDIF) Connector
Composite Audio Connectors
Power Button
AC Power Connector
Ethernet Connector
2 USB 2.0 Connectors
SD Card Slot

For more information click here. It looks very interesting and I want one 🙂

The full statement is as follows:

D-Link/Boxee Partnership Statement

In front of a packed house at their Boxee Beta Unveiling event in Brooklyn this evening, Boxee revealed that D-Link has been named first choice as the hardware partner to release a Boxee branded device for the living room.

Boxee is the best way to enjoy content from the Internet or a computer on a TV screen. With the Boxee Box™ by D-Link®, the two companies have created the easiest way to bring this experience into the living room, allowing people to watch tens of thousands of movies & TV Shows, organize and play their favorite home movies and photos, and play great music from their home network or from Internet sources like Pandora.

“By pairing Boxee’s innovative social entertainment platform with D-Link’s technology we’re able to create a solution that introduces people to what TV should be. Additionally we’re bringing a new level of social interaction to the living room,” said Daniel Kelley, senior director of marketing, D-Link Systems, Inc. “We can’t wait to bring this product to market and are looking forward to demonstrate the Boxee Box by D-Link at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in January.”

“We are happy to be working with D-Link as a hardware partner because we share the same vision for creating solutions to help anyone get the most out of technology,” said Andrew Kippen, vice president of marketing for Boxee. “D-Link has great reach and together we are able to offer consumers an attractive inexpensive solution to bring the Boxee experience directly onto the TV.”

The Boxee Box by D-Link, which has already won a Best of Innovations award from the Computer Electronics Association, reinterprets what TV should be, delivering all the movies, TV shows, music and photos from a user’s computer, home network and Internet to their HDTV with no PC needed. Additionally, Boxee’s core social features make it easy for friends to discover new content from each other through social networks like Facebook, Twitter and more.

In addition to its many software features, The Boxee Box by D-Link makes it easy for consumers to connect the device via HDMI, SPDIF, RCA Audio. The box has 2 USB for expansion and can quickly connect to a home network using both Wi-Fi (802.11n) and wired ethernet.

The Boxee Box will be available through D-Link’s network of etail and retail outlets in the first half of 2010. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price is still undetermined.

Windows Media Center – Ceton Prime Part One (Case and Power Supply)

Timothy Daleo

-

Dec 8, 2009

20

Tonight I start my first Windows Media Center PC build from scratch. I am going to build a gigantic Windows Media Center that will service all of my home media needs for 2010.

Background

Over the last few years we have seen a variety of great systems that offer media recording and playback. The systems range in size and shape and have all sorts of configurations. Some of these systems have been designed very small and work on low power. This is not one of those systems.

Some systems go so low on power that it becomes an issue when recording and streaming. I plan on never ever having that issue. I am going to need some serious power and network connectivity. Ceton Prime will be just that.

The plan is to have this system replace my Moxi Charter Cable DVR AND my WMC PC. I will also be building a rolling test stand to support future PC work.

Timeframe

I get paid every two weeks and will get one item each paycheck. I should be done just in time for the Ceton release. I bought the case and power supply over the last two paychecks. I am not on a strict budget but I am not going to pay more than if I would have just bought a new comparable system from Alienware directly.

Ceton Prime? WTH?

I am naming her Ceton Prime in honor of the Ceton Multi-Channel Cable TV Card I hope will be released someday soon. March 2010?

http://www.cetoncorp.com/

With their 4-tuner card, according to the Ceton web site, I will be able to have:

1 TV set watching live TV while the Media Center DVR records 3 other shows at the same time (4 live streams total)
Four HD channels recording on 1 TV set while other TVs in the home are playing back previously recorded shows.
2 TV sets each recording 2 live shows at once (4 live streams total)
2 TV sets watching a different live channels each, while 2 other TV sets are each recording 1 different show to the DVR (4 live streams total)

The Case – Alienware P2 Chassis

I think I was the last person to buy an Alienware P2 chassis from Dell (ever?) during the $125 sale they had before Thanksgiving. I guess these cases have been around for a while but I had not seen them. I am used to seeing the newer black Cylon looking cases. I think this one looks better. I should have named it Ripley.

Someone should make a case that looks Ancient. Seriously.

My wife and I picked it up from FedEx last week. She calls it the monster. I needed a cool case with a boat load of room. I think this case has a two boat load rating actually.

Chassis Interior

What is inside? All sorts of space, EATX mounting, seven card blanks, three media bays, a light kit and room for four drives. I hope it will not be too loud. There are three fans in the case and another fan on the panel not shown. I have another fan on the power supply, one for each video card I plan to purchase and one for the CPU. This thing will have more fans than Tiger Woods.

PC Stand

I moved the case from the table to my new rolling PC stand. The stand is just a $120 Craftsman roller with a static mat but I have big plans. Just you wait. Just you wait and see. I am not a Gooney…

Power Supply

The power supply is a Corsair CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply.

Whatever. It was $100 and got a good rating on Newegg. It comes with a pretty black felt bag.

Who puts their unit in a sack? Not me. Pardon me while I whip this out.

What the hell am I going to do with all of these cables? Seriously.

This is a big ass case yet all of those wires have to go in that little space?

Trust me. I know where it goes. I am used to holding this much cable.

Just four screws and she is ready. Something tells me I better get a motherboard in there soon. I am glad this is not a transparent case.

What is next?

For my next purchase I have to decide on a motherboard. I want to have as many PCI Express slots as I can afford. I will need at least two for video cards and one for the Ceton card. I have narrowed it down to three choices. I want to go with a Core i5 EVGA board. I am choosing the EVGA boards for their reputation, sound, included cables/components and great manuals.

The current models (in order) I have narrowed it down to are:

EVGA P55 FTW 200 – MSRP $300
EVGA P55 FTW – MSRP $230
EVGA P55 Classified 200 – MSRP $350

I would prefer not to blow my budget on the most expensive i5 board so I am leaning towards the FTW 200 bought through Tiger Direct with Bing Cashback for $275. I get paid this Friday so I want to buy it then.

If anyone has built on a P2 chassis I could use a mentor. The whole light kit and chassis seems a little strange. Thank you Dell for the crappy documentation.

Maybe I will find some good stuff at CES. Did anyone see Ceton on the Exhibitor list?

See you next paycheck,

Tim

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I do not need this. I have Windows Home Server?

Tech Tip – Microsoft Backup and Restore

Background

To Defrag Or Not To Defrag

Microsoft Windows Disk Defragmenter

PerfectDisk 10

Equipment Needed

Installation

Initial Defragmentation

Adding Backup Drives

Metrics and Additional Functionality

Conclusion

New Features:

Bug fixes:

Installation tips:

LINKS

BACKUP UTILITY

All Done

How Long?

Specifications

Background

Timeframe

Ceton Prime? WTH?

The Case – Alienware P2 Chassis

Chassis Interior

PC Stand

Power Supply

What is next?