Echo - Windows Media Center Extender

Met all of my expectations! I happen to have a cable connection in my upstairs bedroom, but I have been looking to ditch the monthly cost of a cable box and DVR. Granted, I still have to pay the monthly fee for the cable card, but Comcast did not charge me for the card itself.Setup was easy, except for the fact that this is not a wireless solution….understood that wired is the best solution for consistent HD signals. While Ceton recommends MoCa adapters, I used PowerLine adapters with no difficulty. Picture quality is great – no pixilation! There is some delay when first accessing Media Center and some pixilation when changing channels, but when watching a show, there is no degradation of picture or sound.The only con I would give this is that the remote it comes with it is not a universal remote, so you will need a separate remote to turn on/off your TV and to control volume (even though there are volume controls on the Echo remote). The Echo does work with Logitech Harmony remotes, though. The only other issue I have with the remote is that the buttons are somewhat small. On the plus side, there are “hot key” buttons for the program guide, recorded tv and live tv for Media Center.My next move is to buy another Echo for my daughter’s bedroom, which has no cable hookup. I will buy another PowerLine for her room, which as I stated, works fine.Now I have HD programming with DVR capability, and receive all of my cable channels -- with no cable box! My wife will also attest to the fact that the size of the echo is perfect, as it does not take up much space on her dresser, which is below our wall-mounted TV.I highly recommend this product….especially where on Amazon it is $30 less than buying it direct.

The Ceton Echo is very good, but not great yet, but it has the potential to be.. I will be comparing this unit to the Xbox 360 and a former competitor the Sage HD 200.. When it comes to setting the standard for extenders, the SageTV HD200 was by far the best until Google bought them out and SageTV has essentially ended.. The SageTV HD200 felt like a console unit and hardly used any resources no matter how many you are extending... In addition it played just about any file. The Ceton Echo once the software is updated, feels a lot like a console unit.. It does take a little while for it to boot up, but in my opinion the picture is very good and gives it a console look although it does have problems with some horizontal panning.. Minor, but Ceton is making improvements.. It will only play the files that WMC plays or you have set up the main CPU unit to play. It is still disappointing that you cannot FF or RR anything but a WMV or WTV file. I have converted most of my collection to WTV files to have this ability but what a pain.. The Sage extender played nearly everything so that is an opportunity. Also despite having 14 gigs and a quad core processor, the resources average about 25% for one extender and about 35% for 2.. With SageTV HD 200, you didn't even know if it was on. The resources used were about 5%.. When compared to the Xbox 360 it seems to respond quicker overall. The animation however is sluggish and slower than the Xbox when activated.. It is also not smooth in the animations.. The form factor and the energy needed is clearly an asset and best in class to the Ceton Echo when compared to any extender out there.. That being said, I would sacrifice some form factor for a more powerful, smooth running unit that can play nearly any file.. The alleged potential of having Netflix and other streaming video apps remaing to be seen and until it does, it has to be taken at face value and not based on rumored potential. If that does happen, it will be worth the price of 179.99.In closing, my final assessment is incomplete until Ceton works out some minor bugs and see what this will be at if it develops apps for it such as Netflix and VUDU.. It was a risk when reading all of the complaints and Ceton clearly launched this device way too soon. That being said, I am overall happy with the Echo. The price point with its current features is high.. For 20.00 more, you can get an Xbox gaming console that will do essentially the same thing with better animations.. I will find out within the next year if some of Ceton's rumored promises of Netflix among other streaming apps will be available as well as DTS ability that the chip has the potential of producing.. By then It will be pretty obvious to see if I made the right decision in purchasing this or an Xbox. I do think it should be against the law for Xbox not to allow you to use your subscription to Netflix or any other service that you are already paying for without subscribing to their Gold service.. That is why I went this route. For now I will use my Smart TV. My girlfriend likes it and accepts it and we use it in the living room.. It is not as responsive as the main unit, however it has no video connection issues to the TV like the CPU so it can't be all bad. Good device with a lot of potential, lets see what develops..

This thing became obsolete too fast and was a big waste of money. That has a lot to do with Microsoft letting media center wither and die a slow and miserable death. SiliconDust has adapted, though it has been a slow and clunky and not quite there yet. Ceton has ended up in my ewaste bin.I had been watching the Echo for a while and it seems the complaints about buggy firmware have subsided a bit. The price also dropped, which was a good thing since I feel it was overpriced when released. The Xbox 360 did not cost that much more than this device and it could do more.Setup was easy with no issues. A few minutes and I was up and running. My television guide showed up and I was able to watch live and recorded television with no issues. The performance of the Echo seemed fine without unnecessary lag, but anything was better than the terrible FiOS set top boxes I had been using. I did not try and directly play video from a USB device, so I cannot comment on that capability. I will leave this to my Roku 3 and Plex - the best combination ever.The part that made this a [generous] three star review was the absolutely terrible, regretful, and useless remote control. This has to be the worst remote I have ever had come with a device, other than a portable DVD player from ten years ago. The buttons are so small it was as if they were sized for toddler fingers. The print and symbols are also so incredibly small Ceton should include an illuminated magnifying glass. This remote is essentially useless. Who at Ceton looked over the final product and thought it was ready for production? I think the main unit was ready and they just made a remote to get this thing on the market. I could go on and on, but I think I made my point. I am going to try the Rosewill RRC-126 remote because it will supposedly work with the Echo.Another negative about this product is the somewhat limited lifespan because of Microsoft phasing out Media Center. Microsoft has done very little to improve Media Center over the last few years and did not include it with Windows 8. It is now a paid option for something MS seems to have no interest in keeping around. I wish Ceton would find a Linux solution.Barely three stars, but at least I do not need to lease another cable box.