Xtreamer PRO owners Thread

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bansal98 said:
I currently use a PlayOn HD but I am thinking of buying Xtreamer Pro mainly for its two hard drive enclosures. I'd be using it both as a media player and as a backup/RAID box. I've been reading on the Xtreamer forums and on the net in general and there are lots of complaints about it. People are complaining about terribly slow speeds on eSATA and hard disks losing data etc. Has anybody tried these functions on their Xtreamer Pro (basically, anything other than the media playing function). Thanks!!
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I am using this as you plan.. needed another NAS when my dlink NAS maxed out and this seemed an "all-in-one" wonder.

first - using it - pretty seamless as a NAS, but you cannot set userlevel/group level access (Afaik).. every directory is accessible by everyone.

despite the 100mps wired interface, you can stream HD movies, even ones with mulitple audio streams without a stutter. from the perspective of HD media serving- it's all there. (edit - i fed media to my main htpc from the xtreamer in another room)

getting data onto the drive is a pain. over the network; it is unbeleivably slow.. over usb- you get amount 20-25MBps but disconnects frequently , (e-sata did not work for me the first time i tried it). but luckily, the drive is formatted in NTFS, so it's a simple matter of unplugging the drive from the xtreamer and putting it your pc to transfer large chunks of data.

Internet radio stutters - but that could be coz of my (no longer)broadband mtnl connection (since I chose an unlimited option, it's become more of a narrow band connection)

I am using the "supposedly problematic WD15EARS drive, without a problem yet.

hope this helps you decide


(EDIT- just saw your mail.. you can access both drives simultaneously over the network connection, but not over either usb or e-sata)
 
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kapvin said:
I am using this as you plan.. needed another NAS when my dlink NAS maxed out and this seemed an "all-in-one" wonder.

first - using it - pretty seamless as a NAS, but you cannot set userlevel/group level access (Afaik).. every directory is accessible by everyone.

despite the 100mps wired interface, you can stream HD movies, even ones with mulitple audio streams without a stutter. from the perspective of HD media serving- it's all there.

getting data onto the drive is a pain. over the network; it is unbeleivably slow.. over usb- you get amount 20-25MBps but disconnects frequently , (e-sata did not work for me the first time i tried it). but luckily, the drive is formatted in NTFS, so it's a simple matter of unplugging the drive from the xtreamer and putting it your pc to transfer large chunks of data.

Internet radio stutters - but that could be coz of my (no longer)broadband mtnl connection (since I chose an unlimited option, it's become more of a narrow band connection)

I am using the "supposedly problematic WD15EARS drive, without a problem yet.

hope this helps you decide
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I was under the impression that Xtreamer Pro = Xtreamer + eTrayz. But unfortunately, it's not so. My main purpose of buying Xt Pro was to use it as a RAID. I don't care much about NAS. So I am still not clear - given the button on the back to select between A and B HDD, can you see both the HDDs at the same time using eSATA or USB? Also, frequent disconnects over USB don't inspire confidence. My POHD has always been rock solid.

Update - Just saw your response about accessing both HDDs at the same time. This is totally unbelievable. So close yet so far :sad:
 
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kapvin said:
Hi Avijeet,

are you the same avijeet who posted on the xtreamer jukebox development forum? I can empathise with your situation!

I am an xtreamer pro owner too.

Pros - great price, great build for the price, solid hardware features for the price; fast response time from local sales team

Cons- highly under-developed user interface; slow.. hdmi implementation buggy in latest firmware 2.3.4, PQ still a bit away from a true BD player

i had purchased this as an htpc replacement; (I use 7MC+My movies plugin+powerdvd plugin) and there is a huge deal of distance to cover before this can truly replace an HTPC in terms of user experience.

The hardware is all there. needs good jukebox software to be a complete media player.
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Yes m the same Avijeet....

Just opened Xtreamer site...and guess what 2-3 new ads... this time some Flash...Browser....Juke Box... Firmwire..True HD... all teasers....

I dont get it... Is this all for the show? a show to push the sales without a stable firmwire.....
 
Avijeet said:
Yes m the same Avijeet....

Just opened Xtreamer site...and guess what 2-3 new ads... this time some Flash...Browser....Juke Box... Firmwire..True HD... all teasers....

I dont get it... Is this all for the show? a show to push the sales without a stable firmwire.....
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Though it's difficult to know but do you think the problems are mostly with firmware and their hardware is pretty stable?
 
bansal98 said:
Though it's difficult to know but do you think the problems are mostly with firmware and their hardware is pretty stable?
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hi bansal98,

as long as one accepts that it's primary function is a media jukebox, the hardware is solid and firmware updates in the offing look promising.

the e-sata and usb access give it additional functionality and are a speedier way of getting data onto and off the HDDs than the LAN.

but it's not a NAS in anything except the basic sense of the word, and while it offers usb, e-sata functionality, it definitely not a subsitute for (or cost effective as) an external HDD.

my guess is that the E-sata plug on the front panel just gives a direct connection to the hdd (hence the need for a rocker switch to choose which hdd), so it should theoretically give the same transfer rates that you get by plugging it in directly.

similarly for the usb port, it's probably a simple usb-sata interface like one gets on hdd enclosures that cost 200/- - and again the need for a rocker switch.

in all fairness and as a correction to my earlier post, the usb speed of 25mbps was while copying stuff of my d-link nas-via Gb LAN to my pc and then onwards via USB to the xtreamer. in this case, it was my dlink that was the bottle neck as it maxes out at 25MBps over Gb LaN. of course that does not explain the disconnections.

cheers.
 
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kapvin said:
my guess is that the E-sata plug on the front panel just gives a direct connection to the hdd (hence the need for a rocker switch to choose which hdd), so it should theoretically give the same transfer rates that you get by plugging it in directly.

similarly for the usb port, it's probably a simple usb-sata interface like one gets on hdd enclosures that cost 200/- - and again the need for a rocker switch.
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This is the biggest letdown of this device. I'd buy this in a heartbeat if I could access both the disks at the same time.
 
chirag007 said:
How do you want to access both disks at same time?

Through PC? - Not possible
Through xTreamer Pro - yes, that is what it is designed for.
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I understand that it's not possible to access both the disks at the same time through PC. And that seems to be because instead of implementing a proper SATA controller, they have provided direct connection to the internal HDDs. For cost saving, may be.

And I am not blaming Xtreamer folks of cheating or anything like that. I am saying that they could have done this easily and enhanced the device's appeal a lot more.
 
They took all the initial customers for a ride and i am one of them. So i don't trust them now. They can go to any extent just to sell their product and make false promises on the same.
 
I was just browsing around on their forums and have never seen more rude moderators. The folks on the AC Ryan forums appear to be saints by comparison.
 
All,
I'm planning to buy a Xtreamer Pro & from Chennai. Please advise where to buy Xtreamer pro & the price of the same. Also, let me know how to add collection of HD movies.
 
bansal98 said:
I was just browsing around on their forums and have never seen more rude moderators. The folks on the AC Ryan forums appear to be saints by comparison.
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:) +1 to that.

but sumit & co of the india distribution arm seem courteous, punctual, and committed to their word. i have a very positive impression based on ther interaction so far.

if that 2.4 version sees light of day and does what it promises, I will be one happy man!
 
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