ISTAR Mini Networked Media Tank player

[JimF]

This was noted by jksmurf in the Popcorn Hour A-100 discussion.
http://istarhd.com/productpage/gallery.html

mvallevand offered to fill us in on it, so the floor is all yours.

[nitrogen_widget]

Anyone know the cost of this?

[bgowland]

Anyone know the cost of this?

Click on the 'Order' tab on the web page.

Cheers,
Brian

[mvallevand]

Thanks JimF. The reason I wanted this separate is to make it easier for those of you considering this ISTAR unit to help in making an informed decision without being mixed up with general Popcorn Hour discussions. I don't have the hardware but I have read the contents of their first firmware release to look at the software and I see it applies to GBPVR users.

1. Software

I fully expect that the device will support sub's PCHServer (probably better now as NMTServer) interface, so you should be able to use GBPVR but sub will make the call.

Will mvpmc emulation mode work? Maybe, but since I am not guaranteeing anything for the PCH it's pretty hard to say anything. The executables seem to be compatible but unless istar gives me one, buyer beware. Likewise I now can run users apps from a USB drive on the PCH rather than a hard disk, and a $10 flash drive will suffice, but the scripts involved might not work on an istar so an external drive might be necessary.

I am also thinking of creating custom firmware, this definitely won't work on the istar, since it uses a different boot sequence.

2. HDMI

Here if you buy the HDMI 1.3 version istar seems to have the advantage. However there are so many caveats on the NMT, istar and avsforum that you have to decide for yourself if it is worth it. Since 32bit colour HDMI 1.3 isn't supported and the only content will likely be from the "scene" and this isn't available yet I think there even the future value is debatable. For content from GBPVR very low value.

Also I won't be testing mvpmc over this HDMI device and it will get limited testing by me even with my PCH. I am not going to responsible for any damages to your $3000 monitor.

3. SATA/IDE

I guess it depends if you want to run your NMT as a file share, remembering that you might have problems running as a share will HD is playing. In theory it would be nice to use the drive as a GBPVR Recordings folder but I personally think this is going to task the cpu too much. If it works SATA drives are bigger and cheaper per MB but if you are like me finding a 40GB EIDE drive to use is cheaper and if silence and aesthetics is the goal an internal laptop drive works nicely.

I don't know anything about the eSATA option and whether this is treated as a fixed or removable device. If it is removable note as the software stands you won't be able to use it for user apps. With a case and drive it's realistically going to add $130 to price. Also note that there is no support for writing to NTFS on the NMT so there will be issues if you think you can move this to a Windows machine.

4. The remote

This is an issue. If you look here http://www.mpcclub.com/modules.php?name=...le&sid=479 the remote has about ten fewer keys than the PCH so there won't be enough keys to emulate the Hauppauge remote and the missing keys might turn out to be important. It will definitely be work for sub and I, and for someone with and istar

I am not a fan of the PCH remote either so I plan on creating a driver for the Hauppauge (easy using lircd). Again no guarantees this will work on the istar.

5 USB

I actually like having a USB keyboard on my PCH, so I like having two ports. With only one (by picture anyway) you'd have to add a USB hub (probably powered). I'm hoping GB-PVR will support the keyboard, it will make searching nice.

6. Heat

Who knows really? Popcorn Hour makes the point that many BD players use this chip without even a heat sink so is the istar's fan even necessary? It is off by default which tell's me something.

7. General

I don't think the perfect NMT box has even been released yet. Personally I'm not against buying a new gen model, but IMHO the istar doesn't offer me anything better.

Martin

[mvallevand]

Hi-Jack posted his review at mpcclub http://mpcclub.com/banner_log.php?id=5067 Also noted is that ISTAR said on his forum that they are going to be replacing the remote that I thought would be the most problematic.

One huge benefit for me based on the review is the VGA out but this means that component video is optional. I saw this in earlier pictures but since they weren't on the pictures on the ISTAR site.

Martin

[JimF]

I haven't tried a composite output for a long time. How horrible would it be? I will eventually be getting HDMI of course.

[mvallevand]

You picked a good day to ask because I just got an HDMI/DVI adapter so I can output the PCH HD signal into my computer monitor so I can do side-by-side comparisons. I certainly was happy to see it auto-detected VESA_1680x1050x60RB!

Basically while I used to think that composite and svideo (which is component) into my SD TV were adequate for my needs, after today I just might dig out my 19" CRT for the computer and use the LCD with the PCH for development.

Horrible is also relative, the NMT platform will do a great job of scaling HD content for your SD TV so you might be able watch things that were to difficult otherwise. It also depends on your needs, some people think that the RF out from the Helios mod'ded MVP is a good thing.

Martin

[UncleJohnsBand]

Does anyone own one of these yet? Just wondering. I am on the PCH waiting list but this unit looks interesting as well.