Ceton Echo, the "Next-Generation" Windows Media Center Extender - Watch live and recorded TV/ HDTV, access personal media libraries on any TV set on your home network +$10GC $179

Quote from vmod32 : So far I'd stick with an xbox 360 [...]

Good to know. I was thinking about getting one for the kitchen as well for similar reasons.
I'll wait to see if any updates fix the responsiveness and audio issues. Thanks.

Ceton is a great company and I expect the audio issues to be fixed for launch. My Echo only has problems sometimes while watching Live SD tv. Which I find odd as the HD content never experiences this. The menu is sluggish. And so are all other extenders (except the 360). But you can change the option to not show menu animations in the extender settings. At the same time it makes the menu appear less fluid but also removes all sluggishness.

I have Media Browser set to display about 50 movies at a time and it renders the cover art immediately (something my other extenders wont do)

The device powers on and off incredibly fast (faster than it takes the xbox to boot directly into Media Center). Consumes something like 5 watts of power. I imagine the Xbox 360 in media center consumes about 150 watts. The cost difference adds up to about $62 a year to run the xbox instead of the Echo (6hrs per day, 312 days per year, at a rate of $.23 per kWh).

If I were to fill my home with Echo extenders (4 total), along with my media server and run them all at the same time, I would consume about 60 watts total (not including power for TVs, switch, router, and modem). Talk about green

Quote from TheKLB : Consumes something like 5 watts of power. I imagine the Xbox 360 in media center consumes about 150 watts. The cost difference adds up to about $62 a year to run the xbox instead of the Echo (6hrs per day, 312 days per year, at a rate of $.23 per kWh).

I found this, re: xbox power consumption, and it seems correct, given the slim's power supply maximum output isnt even 150W (It is 135W), i'd say your estimate is wrong.

Addtionally, the chart shows in game play, which assume the HDD and Optical Drive are both spun up and active. As an extender neither of these would be happening, and one might not have an HDD connected at all. Its probably somewhere near 60 or 70 Watts when acting as an extender.

General question to those very intimate with HTPC. I have one hooked up to a TV and use a MCE remote I got from Amazon. I also have a wireless keyboard. At first, when using the remote, I have it set where pressing the power button puts it to sleep and it doesn't wake up til I press the power button again. Now, every time it goes to sleep, within 30-45 seconds it wakes up again. I don't remember changing any settings for why to where the computer cannot be put to sleep. So now I go through the annoying time of turning off and on the computer when I want to watch TV, which is similar to having an Xbox, which is why I opted to have PCs or laptops as HTPC vs Xboxes.

Any thoughts or has anyone experiened their HTPC not staying asleep when given a command to sleep.

For those trying to decide between this and an Xbox as an extender, consider that the Xbox supports VOD apps such as HBO GO and xfinity on demand.

Quote from hightop32 : I found this, re: xbox power consumption, and it seems correct, given the slim's power supply maximum output isnt even 150W (It is 135W), i'd say your estimate is wrong. Addtionally, the chart shows in game play, which assume the HDD and Optical Drive are both spun up and active. As an extender neither of these would be happening, and one might not have an HDD connected at all. Its probably somewhere near 60 or 70 Watts when acting as an extender.

Sorry, my estimates were based on the Xenons boards. Just look at it running at idle. So it is correct. And I am sure more of those xbox are still in homes than the slim revisions.

Lets say I am comparing buying the Echo to buying a new 360. And my estimate will be based on idle wattage. I am looking at a cost difference of $31 per year. The Echo, at $180 pays for itself in just over 5 years. Which is about when, if we are lucky, a real successor to Media Center would be available.

I will get an actual wattage reading later today with my Kill-A-Watt

EDIT:

Quote : Power Consumption: less than 5 watts

So my initial estimate may even be correct when comparing to the slim xbox if it only consumes 2-3 watts.

Quote from sinik : For those trying to decide between this and an Xbox as an extender, consider that the Xbox supports VOD apps such as HBO GO and xfinity on demand.

yeah its a no brainer (for me), especially with seeing how the UI performs and talk of functionality that should work out of the box 'coming soon'.

I just jumped the gun and bought the Target 360 deal today for 159 after GC. I did not want to wait for functionality to be added to the echo, and the slow joggy menus would just piss me off over time.