S1Digital to roll out Xonar-equipped HTPCs

by Steven Kim posted Feb 13th 2009 at 3:19AM

We've seen (and heard) ASUS's Xonar HDAV1.3 HDMI card that is able to pass along lossless digital Blu-ray audio up close and personal, so it was only a matter of time before the hardware found its way into a custom-install HTPC. In this case, the first to market might just be S1Digital's P500 Media Center HTPC. As we said after our demo at CES, the ArcSoft + Xonar setup is a little involved, so it's probably a good fit for the custom-install world where integration legwork carries a high premium. S1Digital's free Windows 7 upgrade offer will remove the "instantly obsolete" barrier to entry, so really the only one remaining is that pesky $6,000 entry price. Any other OEMs are welcome to jump in and try to beat S1Digital to market, but we wouldn't count on a much cheaper option just yet.

Filed under: Blu-ray, Media PCs, Others

Tags: aacs, asus, htpc, media center pc, media pc, MediaCenterPc, MediaPc, p500, proline, s1digital, sound card, SoundCard, xonar, xonar hdav1.3, XonarHdav1.3

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Neutral

kevon27 @ Feb 13th 2009 10:23AM

Hmmm. How about using your cable or satellite company dvr and buying a $200 bluray play with netflix.
A lot cheaper and way much less headache.
HTPC life is coming to a close.

Neutral

Tyrone @ Feb 13th 2009 10:37AM

I agree. Way too much headache, who has time for figuring out that foolishness. I just stream my videos to my ps3 and/or xbox 360.

Neutral

Rivertrance @ Feb 13th 2009 11:33AM

What this and any HTPC really needs it the Hauppauge HD PVR.
Watch and Record HDTV from any HD Cable or SAT Receiver to your PC!
The HD PVR encodes analog ( Component, S-Video, Composiste ) and DD5.1 or 2ch audio into AVCHD.
AVCHD (h264+AC3 .m2ts) can be played back on many PC players ( Win7 as well ).
It can also be streamed and played back in several DMAs,such as SageTV HD Theater, PS3 and Bluerays!.
*Pls note - The HD PVR is also the only way to stream and record Premium HDTV content to the PC.
I've been using it for several months now...and can attest that the latest SW from Hppg is solid.

Cheers, -RT.

Neutral

kevon27 @ Feb 13th 2009 12:45PM

This is how you create a perfect Media player/dvr.

Combine a bluray player to a Tivo HD box.
Add support for netflix, hulu, joost and all the other FREE streaming sites out there.
Allow the playback of mp3, wma, flac, aac - the popular audio codecs
Give a nice glossy interface.
Have the unit cost $199 - 399..
Free EPG.
No subscription fees.
Have the capability to Upgrade the hard drive with any size and brand pc hard drive you want.
Add external esata, usb 3.0, display port, hdmi, coax and toslink out, 7.1 analog, dual gigabit Ethernet, wireless n.
Include a Harmony one remote upgraded with RF and add a IR blaster module to support up 20 ir devices (cables included)
Allow users to create their own apps for the system (games, utilities, etc)
Easy networking - allow multiply "BluVo's - I'm gonna copyright that name" to see and talk to each other so you can play content from any machine. Allow BluVo's to use tuners from other BluVo's on the network with free turners to record other channels to reduce recording conflicts.
No DRM restrictions. Record what you want, stream it around the house, across the web.

And there, you have the perfect DVR/Media Player.

Highly Ranked

demon @ Feb 13th 2009 2:12PM

And of course, all that functionality would cost way more than your ideal selling price, so any company that provided what you're asking for would immediately go under, assuming they didn't do that during R&D. But don't let reality interfere with a nice dream, I guess. :)

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