Just ordered Ceton InfiniTV 4.

Activate: AMD said:
yea I thought the same thing, it sounds like price gouging on the shipping to me. they all have identical shipping charges. I'd say there was some collusion. I've been waiting on mine for 2 months now and the end does appear to be in sight. Cannon's next batch could very well get me mine.
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Fluid Digital is two guys operating out of a TV store in the Woodlands, TX and Cannon is run by one dude who has a day job, what did you expect? ;)
 
channel logos and customize the guide so you only have the channels on the guide that you pay for, so no HBO if you dont pay for it and such.

then flash the newest firmware and dedicate 1 tuner to a networked PC and you have live HD TV of all channels on your office PC :D

works great
 
TechPirate said:
Fluid Digital is two guys operating out of a TV store in the Woodlands, TX and Cannon is run by one dude who has a day job, what did you expect? ;)
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At least with Cannon PC the original shipping was very reasonable like $15. They raised the rates when they had to switch how they shipped the cards due to multiple issues.
 
Just got my Ceton installed with Suddenlink Communications Cable Card. I ran into an issue with the latest Nvidia HD Audio Driver 1.1.13.1 over HDMI causing a Media Center error, but when I rolled back everything worked. Seems to be stable. I was going to ask if you notice a slight delay or slow down in video when you change channels?
 
i dont notice any video slow down.... and channels change very quickly, much faster than the ATI tuner or my motorola STB
 
Blk02 said:
Just got my Ceton installed with Suddenlink Communications Cable Card. I ran into an issue with the latest Nvidia HD Audio Driver 1.1.13.1 over HDMI causing a Media Center error, but when I rolled back everything worked. Seems to be stable. I was going to ask if you notice a slight delay or slow down in video when you change channels?
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I notice this as well sometimes. I also find that it takes quite a bit longer to change channels than it did with my ATI digital tuners.
 
hmm, interesting

I am using ATI 5570 GPU with a indilinx ssd and 2GB of ram and I see faster channel changes and no slow down.

you guys all using Nvidia GPUs?
 
Adidas4275 said:
hmm, interesting

I am using ATI 5570 GPU with a indilinx ssd and 2GB of ram and I see faster channel changes and no slow down.

you guys all using Nvidia GPUs?
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Using a 5450, SSD and 8GB of ram so it shouldn't be related to the rest of the hardware.
 
Just got mine over the weekend while I was in Vegas. Unfortunately I don't have an appropriate comp to throw it into right now. :(
Damn Sandy Bridge issue has prevented me from building a new, mini-ITX, LGA1155 based, HTPC since my mATX LGA775 9400GT crashed a while back.

Supposedly the revised chipset is being shipped to manufacturers for implementation on third party boards today though. So hopefully I'll be able to get ahold of one of the early releases within the next month or so.
Has anyone used it with a RCN cablecard? Any problems?
 
brennok said:
At least with Cannon PC the original shipping was very reasonable like $15. They raised the rates when they had to switch how they shipped the cards due to multiple issues.
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They're one in the same:

https://www.fluiddigitalmedia.com/about_us

Anyway, Ceton screwed up by placing their product with fly-by-night operators. They should have taken it into distribution or placed it with a real e-tailer like Newegg.
 
Well if they had it on Newegg it would just have a permanent 'Auto Notify' button by it.
 
p0lish said:
From what it seems, Fluid and Cannon are shipping cards as fast as they get them, and i'm not sure newegg.com would get them out any faster.
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Well, it's a gamble for CETON to put their one and only flagship product in the hands of two websites with no track record of e-commerce, no ratings anywhere, and from what it seems, no experience.
 
I looked over the site and seen this

Replace your cable set-top boxes and their costly monthly rental fees and enjoy premium cable TV throughout the home,
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So with this card, i would just rent the cablecard itself from my service provider and ditch the set top box? Could i use 1 card and stream 4 different channels to to 4 different rooms?
 
henz0 said:
I looked over the site and seen this



So with this card, i would just rent the cablecard itself from my service provider and ditch the set top box? Could i use 1 card and stream 4 different channels to to 4 different rooms?
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yes and yes...

to stream to 4 different rooms you either need 1 HTPC and 3 xbox360s or 4 HTPCs and Cetons new firmware that enables network functions and then you would have to allocate 1 tuner to each HTPC.

or just watch recorded TV on the other HTPCs.
 
I see. I thought it was an all in one solution.

I have my main rig(where it would be installed) and a htpc in the living room and 1 in my mothers room. I figured with the card i could stream different channels to each htpc
 
Adidas4275 said:
yes and yes...

to stream to 4 different rooms you either need 1 HTPC and 3 xbox360s or 4 HTPCs and Cetons new firmware that enables network functions and then you would have to allocate 1 tuner to each HTPC.

or just watch recorded TV on the other HTPCs.
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henz0 said:
I see. I thought it was an all in one solution.

I have my main rig(where it would be installed) and a htpc in the living room and 1 in my mothers room. I figured with the card i could stream different channels to each htpc
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shocked.gif


You can. You just need to make sure you have the up to date firmware on the ceton card in your main rig and then assign an individual tuner to that network location (the other HTPC). All tuners that aren't assigned to extender devices are retained by the main rig.
 
Lulz. I read that wrong..that's what being up for 27 hrs can do to you.
 
got my ceton installed finally. The Ceton diagnostic software is such a relief after the ATI's lack thereof
 
Since there are a bunch of Ceton owners in here, I was hoping someone could answer a few questions I have about them.

1 - I am looking for a rough idea of the physical dimensions of the card, as I haven't been able to find much info online. Basically, I'm wondering if I might run into any problems trying to fit 2 of them and a single slot 5670 or 5570 into an MATX case and MB. Since most MATX MB's have the slots arranged as PCIE 1x - PCIE 16x - PCIE1x - PCI, I'm a little concerned the cards will not all fit side by side, or the Ceton(s) would be longer than my MATX mobo is width wise. Does this make sense what I'm asking? Currently, I have an XFX single slot 5670 sandwiched between 2 HVR-2250's and that all works just fine. I want to make sure I can do the same without causing any physical conflicts or overheating.

2 - How much of a PITA would it be to move a Ceton from one system to another? I understand you would have to reactivate it - but I hear that's fairly simple as you just have to call your cable company. I wan to put it in a new HTPC eventually, but I'm not planning on building it for another couple of months. I would love to put the Ceton in my current HTPC to get it activated and work out the kinks first, before I fire up the new HTPC that will end up being it's home.


Thanks!
 
1) Its a half-height card, but its actually relatively thick due to a design with multiple separate PCB's stacked. I can take a pic of mine in a mATX board when I get home. The Ceton Isn't particularly long, so I wouldn't worry about that. You should be able to fit them all in side-by-side

2) I don't know about the Ceton specifically, but I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised to find out that upon reformating my first rig, I didn't have to re-pair my ATI DCT. I dont know what would happen if I transferred between rigs, but its plausible that as long as the Ceton/CableCard setup didn't physically change, nothing would have to be re-done (since all the hardware ID's remain the same in terms of S/N's and such) If you do need to re-activate, it depends on your cableco. Comcast did it over the phone for me the first time with my ATI DCT after I bitched enough, and others have been able to do it themselves. Unfortunately, they required a truck roll for the Ceton pairing and didn't even give me an opening to argue for them to just send the pairing signal.

I'd say put it in the current HTPC and see if it works without re-pairing when you build your new HTPC, and if it doesn't, just bite the bullet and have them do the truck roll if necessary... its only a 20 min process anyway.
 
The cablecard is paired to the device, not to the OS. You can move it to whatever system you want w/o needing to call you MSO to repair.
 
Activate: AMD said:
1) Its a half-height card, but its actually relatively thick due to a design with multiple separate PCB's stacked. I can take a pic of mine in a mATX board when I get home. The Ceton Isn't particularly long, so I wouldn't worry about that. You should be able to fit them all in side-by-side
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Sweet. All the pictures online are taken at an angle making it hard to judge the size, I thought they looked deceiving. I only plan on going with 1 Ceton and probably my single slot XFX 5670 at first, which shouldn't be a problem, but I want to leave the option for a 2nd Ceton open just in case. I currently have 4 tuners now, and I know that occasionally I have them all in use and wish I had another tuner or two. I'm going for a compact and powerful HTPC with this new build, and would like to go with a MATX mobo for size reasons. The HD Homerun Prime should be a solid option when it comes out, but until I see them in the wild, I don't want to make future system plans based on something that could be a complete pile of garbage. On the flip side though, I'm not that interested in getting an ATX mobo and case solely so I can fit a 2nd Ceton. I could always use my 2250 or HD Homerun for OTA HD, which would probably solve 90% of the tuner conflicts I see now. I guess what I really need is to find a MATX mobo that has 3 PCIE 1x slots, but everything I have seen has 2 PCIE/1 PCI. :(


Activate: AMD said:
2) I don't know about the Ceton specifically, but I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised to find out that upon reformating my first rig, I didn't have to re-pair my ATI DCT. I dont know what would happen if I transferred between rigs, but its plausible that as long as the Ceton/CableCard setup didn't physically change, nothing would have to be re-done (since all the hardware ID's remain the same in terms of S/N's and such) If you do need to re-activate, it depends on your cableco. Comcast did it over the phone for me the first time with my ATI DCT after I bitched enough, and others have been able to do it themselves. Unfortunately, they required a truck roll for the Ceton pairing and didn't even give me an opening to argue for them to just send the pairing signal.

I'd say put it in the current HTPC and see if it works without re-pairing when you build your new HTPC, and if it doesn't, just bite the bullet and have them do the truck roll if necessary... its only a 20 min process anyway.
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My thoughts exactly. It was more of a curiosity if anyone has tried it yet, than it was a big deal. If anything, I'm putting my cart before my horse here. My plan is to order my Ceton, and then wait until it ships to schedule the truck roll (Insight says they require this, but they will wave the fee for me) and order the rest of the parts for the new HTPC. I figure it's unlikely that I will be able to schedule everything perfectly and have the new HTPC assembled with all the kinks worked out. Knowing this, and the fact that I have the patience of a 8 year old :p, I became curious on how much of a hassle it would be to install it in one system, and then move it to another in a week or so. I've heard it's a pretty painless process to "re-activate" in the event you need to reinstall Windows or something, and worst case it's a 20min phone call with the cable company, but I haven't heard of anyone who has moved it from one system to another yet.


Danman - Are you sure nothing is paired to the OS? I was under the impression that the cablecard is paired to the device, and the device logs the Windows SSID. It's not a direct pairing, but there is a connection. I'm not trying to dispute you, I just have heard differently...


Thanks for the info guys! Much appreciated!
 
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Nope, not paired to the OS. The encrypted programs you record, however, are paired to the OS with Playready DRM.
 
danman said:
Nope, not paired to the OS. The encrypted programs you record, however, are paired to the OS with Playready DRM.
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Ah, I see then. How prevalent is the Playready DRM? Is everything marked with this? I was under the impression that this is typically found on the premium channels like HBO and Showtime, and that most shows don't have it.
 
it depends on the provider, sometimes things get marked as no copy or copy once as a mistake or for seemingly no reason.

My wife ran into this with WE HD channel. she tried to record a movie and it showed a message saying that it was unable to record.

HBO and such are limited to copy once and can only be played back on the machine it was recorded on.

it would be nice to have like a 5 machine limit like itunes has for playready
 
xFROSTx said:
Ah, I see then. How prevalent is the Playready DRM? Is everything marked with this? I was under the impression that this is typically found on the premium channels like HBO and Showtime, and that most shows don't have it.
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Yes, provider dependent. FIOS has nothing marked as 'copy once' while TWC has everything (except locals) flagged as such.
 
here is a pic of it installed (click for full size)

For reference, that is an ATI 5550 installed directly next to it (single slot) Please don't judge me because the ceton isn't screwed in, I can't get the backplate to seat correctly in my case and if i screw it in the x1 connector doesn't fully engage :p

 
I have a ceton & fios, love it. Share TV to all my roommates via xbox360 extenders. 5 extenders currently, will be adding a 6th soon I think. I want to get a 2nd card, with tunersalad but no one has cracked the extender limit yet. Also starting to hit limits of the box I built for it. I think MCE is way better than any tivo/moxi/whatever it only sucks when it randomly get 'network issue' popup and it drops frames. Last time I got that everyone was on it, so I guess I'm just maxing out the box already. Core2quad 2.6 w/8gb ram, raptor 150 for windows, cache & livetv buffer :(

I plan to upgrade it to a i7 950 using ramdisk for livetv (16gb of 24), SSD for windows, media browser & channel cache. Dual gigabit bonded (to procurve 1810). If that doesn't make it fast enough, I'll be peeved.
 
I can't imagine that you don't have enough power already. Maybe try an Intel NIC if you think its a network issue. What kind of usage are you seeing?
 
vxspiritxv said:
I have a ceton & fios, love it. Share TV to all my roommates via xbox360 extenders. 5 extenders currently, will be adding a 6th soon I think. I want to get a 2nd card, with tunersalad but no one has cracked the extender limit yet. Also starting to hit limits of the box I built for it. I think MCE is way better than any tivo/moxi/whatever it only sucks when it randomly get 'network issue' popup and it drops frames. Last time I got that everyone was on it, so I guess I'm just maxing out the box already. Core2quad 2.6 w/8gb ram, raptor 150 for windows, cache & livetv buffer :(

I plan to upgrade it to a i7 950 using ramdisk for livetv (16gb of 24), SSD for windows, media browser & channel cache. Dual gigabit bonded (to procurve 1810). If that doesn't make it fast enough, I'll be peeved.
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An SSD is going to be faster than a ramdisk. If you want overkill, 2 SSD's in RAID1 = winnar. I did this on my main HTPC and now it laughs at image cache loading. I have 450 something movies in media browser using cover flow and I can't get it to lag even if I try.

But I doubt your problem is with your machine's power, I bet it's your network. Unless you have a decent 16 port gigabit switch (Sounds like you have a decent amount of networked equipment in your place), I bet you are getting collision all over your network. I've found 360's to be 1 step above legally retarded when it comes to networking. I used to have issues when I had 2 switches in my network (One for each floor of my place). I reconfigured my network so everything plugged into the same gigabit switch and found my network streaming to be much smoother.
 
Activate: AMD said:
here is a pic of it installed (click for full size)

For reference, that is an ATI 5550 installed directly next to it (single slot) Please don't judge me because the ceton isn't screwed in, I can't get the backplate to seat correctly in my case and if i screw it in the x1 connector doesn't fully engage :p
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Haha, I'm not going to judge. If anything, <3 to you for taking the time to take some pictures for me, I owe you a beer.



PS: What case do you have? I want to watercool this new HTPC I'm planning and your case looks like it might be a suitable option...
 
funny, or not... i cannot screw my ceton in either. it unseats it from the PCIe slot when screwed in.

i wonder if this has been reported to them, they have bad PCI brackets?
 
Adidas4275 said:
funny, or not... i cannot screw my ceton in either. it unseats it from the PCIe slot when screwed in.

i wonder if this has been reported to them, they have bad PCI brackets?
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It's so simple it sounds stupid, but have you tried a washer yet? ;)
 
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