Snapstream's software, etc.

[donnieSoprano]

this thread is a continuation from another that i wanted to move out into a more appropriate forum.

ds

[donnieSoprano]

Originally Posted by pdaughe

DonnieSoprano,

I tried to resist replying to your post, but it's just so interesting. That is, life is certainly a matter of perspective. First, regarding the price of Beyond TV. The problem is that program developers demand to be paid. They also want benefits like paid vacation and health insurance. I work in the mainframe world and development costs have skyrocketed to the point where many companies have turned to offshore development. Personally, I consider the price of Beyond TV to be an incredible bargain (less than two cartons of cigarettes). I was pleasantly surprised to find it comes with an absolutely free EPG! A company HAS to make money, otherwise we, the consumers, lose the products and services the company provides.

In my opinion, Snapstream is surprisingly close to its customers. The Home Theater PC revolution is just taking off and Snapstream provides products that work with a diversity of hardware and software -- that is bold and daring. It's bold and daring because how do you handle the support issue? If I sell you a product for $69 and then spend one hour, just one hour, in customer support of that product, I've just LOST money. One of the ways Snapstream addresses this issue is by providing this message forum (which isn't free to operate), where users can help each other. The company just recently made a google-like search capability available to help us help each other even more easily. There is an absolute wealth of knowledge embedded in the Snapstream forums, which brings us to the issue of the MCE remote.

I don't have any experience with the MCE remote, but if you want it to work with Beyond Media, I am sure there are members in this forum who will be aptly able to assist you. Snapstream definitely does NOT embrace a "it's our way or the highway" philosophy. If you want to use the MCE remote, you may have to work at it, but you can. It's a trade-off of time, your time, vs. money.

I recommend you give Beyond Media a second look. I love Beyond Media, and so do the other members of my family. Personally, I AM impressed because Beyond Media is a relatively new product (less than a year old). It's a difficult decision for a software company: if you wait to make a product available until it has every imaginable feature desired by a broad range of consumers, you may miss the market opportunity entirely. If you rush a product to market prematurely, you risk alienating consumers. In my opinion, Snapstream did it right with Beyond Media. The product provides good functionality and is based on an architecture that is very extensible. Please look at the plug-ins: DVD Library, Movie Showtimes, Comics, one-touch burning, etc. etc. You stated you were "far from impressed with Beyond Media." I am just a customer like you. I guarantee you WILL BE impressed with the wide range of functionality, ease of use, and just plain "glitz" provided by the plug-ins. Honestly, I truely believe it will knock your socks off.

I will stake my reputation on this statement: You will find the cost of the plug-ins to be acceptable, and furthermore, I pledge, publicly on this forum, to pay the cost for you of any currently available plug-in whose price you find unacceptable.

Does that make Beyond Media worth taking another look at?

the price of btv is not my arguement at all. i think it's very fairly priced. btv link...that's another story.

i'm surprised that you're surprised that the epg is free. the paid epg business model doesn't work....think it does? ask tivo.

i agree that companies need to make money. in order to do that, they need to provide products that are accepted by consumers and prices that those consumers are willing to pay.

message forums aren't free, but they don't cost much. i never claimed that snapstream had poor customer service.

with regards to someone providing assitance with the MCE remote: Will Beyond Media work with MCE 2005 Remote? . it appears that at least 2 people (one of those is me) have decided bm wasn't for them for this very reason. i didn't want anything more than the functionality that exists for the remote out of the box in btv to exist in bm. i really think that's an oversight on snapstream's part. unfortunately for them, that oversight cost them my business for that product.

as for the youth of beyond media...i agree, somewhat. i'll use meedio (which is what i've decided to use at home) as an example. meedio isn't much older than bm as a commerical product. sure, it used to be called myhtpc and it was free, but they are miles ahead of snapstream with their userbase, plugin availability, configurability, and usability, imo. i looked at the plugins for bm before trying meedio and i can tell you that meedio has pretty much every plugin that bm has plus oodles & oodles more.

as to taking another look at beyond media....i don't think so. it's just not for me. save your pennies, though, you may want to add another tuner to your btv system, i know i will.

ds

[pdaughe]

I discern from your last post (good post) that you are NOT just a disgruntled customer, and you sound reasonably well informed. Don't you just love free enterprise -- we all have the freedom to choose and the reality is, no single product (we hope) is going to be the solution for all.

I looked closely at Windows MCE, Meedio, Sage TV, PowerCinnema TV Plus, and of course, Snapstream Beyond TV/Beyond Media. I saw a lot of functionality, as you pointed out, in Meedio, and although I didn't actually trial it, I suspect it is indeed a good product. For me, though, there were too many plug-ins, with several plug-ins dealing in the same area, which implied more time on my part to evaluate, install and setup. The Snapstream plug-ins, though fewer in number, seemed to have more depth.

I don't know about you, but time is a scarce resource for me. Building and setting up a HTPC presents enough challenges on its own. A year from now all this is going to be much easier -- motherboards will have on-board tuners and many of the software conflicts will have been resolved. I find it rewarding to be a pioneer in the HTPC revolution. Pioneers help pave the way for others, so they struggle less.

You impress me as a relatively sharp individual -- that's one reason I encouraged you to give Beyond Media another look. I have benefited from the collective knowledge and skills of the Snapstream forum members and I believe you would add to the Beyond Media knowledge base.

However, with no reservations, I absolutely respect your right to choose.

I wish you the absolute best in your endevors.

P.S. You made me chuckle about the tuner -- you're right on -- it still amazes me how much everyone in the family wants to record now!

[donnieSoprano]

thanks for the kind words.

...and you are right. i am not a disgruntled customer. btv has to be one of the (if not the) best software purchase i've ever made. i speak its merits to anyone i talk to on the subject. fortunately for me, though, i gave bm a whirl before i plunked the $$'s down for it instead of blindly choosing a frontend based on snapstream's other software, and it proved not to be for me.


ds