Supported Changers
Twice today I have been asked which changers work with My DVDs in MCE 2005 UR2. They are:
- Sony XL1 - PC+Changer for $1100 at Amazon
- Sony XL2 - PC+Changer for $2300 at Amazon
- Sony XL1B2 - Standalone changer for $799 from Sony Style
- Niveus Ice Vault - Changer only for $2500
- PowerFile R200DL (requires a firmware update that I don’t believe is publicly available)
No RS-232/serial changers work with My DVDs.
But the real question is: will there be any MCE-compatible changers that can be used with other vendors’ (or home-built) MCE machines for less than the $12K PowerFile price tag? Currently the Niveus fact sheet claims it is only compatible with Niveus Media Center, but it’s unclear whether that’s for marketing or technical reasons.
IMHO, this will not take off unless it’s within reach of the middle-class consumer. Though I spend a ton of $$ on technology each year, $2500 to $12000 for a DVD changer with a firewire port(s) is excessive.
so true. option 1 is a complete system, option 2 is proprietary (or so we are told to believe) and option 3 is much too expensive.
as it stands, DVD changers are not going to be a mainstream upgrade for MCE owners. why aren’t any affordable, stand-alone changers announced so far?
Guys - I’m in Marketing at PowerFile and would love to hear your thoughts on ideal features and price for an MCE-compatible changer. Keep in mind that the $12K units on our Website are very different both from a software and hardware perspective from the ones being customized by both Sony and Niveus.
One thing we are considering for the consumer market is an embedded NAS-on-chip controller so you could attach via Ethernet and share between multiple machines. Any thoughts or comments?
Jimbo
jsherhart@powerfile.com
I agree that the price points are high and would love to see some other hardware manufacturers enter the market to drive down costs.
It is a bit crazy to think that 300 and 400 disc DVD changers can be purchased for $300, but to find one that is MCE compatible is impossible. I believe the price point for good market penetration is under $500. I’d buy one at that price – no doubt.
Unless you can stream DVDs from the changer to the MCE devices around the home, what’s the point? I own a DVD changer currently, and the lack of streaming from a central point has stopped me from going to Media Center. Why would I use MC, so I can look at photos on my TV? That’s what picture frames are for. I have 300+ DVDs in my collection, and bought the DVD changer to protect them and put them all in one place. I can wire my house less expensively to share the DVD changer than I can to use Media Center.
Hi Matt
I don’t know if you are familier with the Slink-E and CDJ. This was a relatively simple RS232 to Control-S and S-Link device, but the thing of beauty (and *way* ahead of it’s time) was CDJ, a jukebox software package that could control a multiplicity of CD megachangers (the dumber Sony range were ideal) and link to a house IR system. Sony’s DVD changers were far more of a pain as they insisted on putting their own (not-so-smart) GUI in the way.
The combination allowed someone with hundreds of CDs to buy cheap Sony Megachangers, load ‘em up, and let the software go through the lot indexing them, pulling down images, lyrics and track information. All this sound familiar? A 90s precursor/parallel development with Apple & Microsoft; I think Microsft bought up the company (www.nirvis.com).
Now, we tend to assume that everything should be on disc these days, and there is a degree of compression available, and disc space is cheap and getting cheaper. However, CDs are ubiquitous and very tough; putting them in a megachanger jukebox protects them from most accidents. I feel a hybrid solution is the best one. Why load up 400 discs in a unit to rip them all? Frankly that’s hard work. Instead, have a couple or more CD megachangers on tap integrated with MCE and mp3 material, and DVD changers integrated with film material. Sure, there are some who will lock their discs in a vault and play from hard-drive only (and some who will copy anything they can lay their hands on), but the market with money has the legacy disc collection, and taking Slink-e technology to add inexpensive megachangers given the existing Sony relationship seems a no-brainer to me (just send 1% to my account :-)). Far cheaper to keep the burner (which is more likely to go obsolescent sooner) as a singleton unit and keep changers inexpensive.
By the way - I want to link my 3 CD Megachangers and 2 DVD changers up to MCE, please… …and when do you think Blu-Ray/HDDVD changers will be ready?
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