Potential Purchaser has Questions

[PeterBeninya]

Greetings All,

I am considering the purchase of SnapStream, but before I do so, I have some questions. I am fairly literate on PVR technolgy, as I have multiple Tivo units that I have added bigger hard drives to, installed ethernet interfaces into, etc. Tivo is great, but it has it's limitations, especially the cumbersome process of archiving programming, etc.

SnapStream appeals to me because it seems to offer some functionality that Tivo does not do easily.

So, here are my questions/concerns:

1. Is the Windows Media format the only format available for recording? If it is the only format out of the box, can alternate codecs be added? WindowsMedia is a little to restrictive for me, especially for editing and later conversion to DVD-R for playback in set-top boxes, etc.

2. Privacy concerns: Does SnapStream "upload" data as far as viewing habits, etc? Tivo maintains a privacy policy, but the fact that it is capable of any reporting at all is a concern for me.

3. ATI issues: I currently use an ATI All in Wonder Radeon 8500DV, and I think this card is spectacular. I realize ATI isn't the best when it comes to driver support, and I am concerned about the interactions I am hearing about between the SnapStream software and ATI drivers. Do I need to be concerned with this?

That is all I can think of right now, but I would certainly welcome responses from those who have used this product and can offer constructive advice.

Thanks!

PB

[patrick]

I believe i got this as an Email!

I hope my Email answered your questions. If not let me know.

Sincerely,
Patrick

[This message has been edited by patrick (edited 02-21-2002).]

[slickvic]

That's great Patrick, but your reply does not supply the rest of the viewing public with the answers to Peters questions that we need. Care to elaborate for us?

[patrick]

My apologies,

1. The compresion formats are
ISO MPEG-4
Microsoft MPEG-4 V3
WMV 7
WMV 8
we plan on adding codec's. unsure when exactly they will get put in.
As far as DVD i have heard in the near future NEW DVD players are getting a chip that will allow them to play WMV files. but till here is a link to do the convertion http://discuss.snapstream.com/ubb/Fo...ML/000388.html


2. Right now data as far as viewing habits... well there is no data on viewing habits. the only data that would resemble this is.... looking at the recordings you have done on your PC.


3. The radeon 8500DV has not been tested in house yet. My suggestion is to download and run our free trial version and see if you can get it work. http://www.snapstream.com/download_free2.htm