Costs of XstreamHD thread

[TheForce]

I thought it would be a good idea to gather thoughts, opinions and facts on what this service will cost us to use and have in place.

Hopefully this single thread can be a collection point for us and the business to understand what is acceptable, i.e. what we are willing to pay for such a service.
All's fair in this thread and comparing to alternative programs sources should be encouraged.

For openers, I'd like to request Scott to post his FACTS regarding what he has learned from xstreamHD as to how the equipment and service costs will impact us. That is- will the equipment be leased or owned. Will the programming be PPV, Pfor all day, Pay for a week available, or permanent pay once or even monthly for a number of downloads.

In order for this to sell it is quite evident from other threads that it largely will be dependent on how competitive the pricing is. I agree but this pricing must be measured against value. In 2010 it is no longer an issue of HD availability, nor is it really an issue about PQ as all providers are doing a pretty good job of delivering within 85-90% of maximum PQ and audio quality, so the service has to boil down to cost, quantity, and variety.

 

[SatinKzo]

I too wish there was some very definitive info because everything I read now (not sure if fact or rumor/speculation) makes me wonder how this thing will not be just stillborn brain-child of some innovators who got some investors to buy in and all seem to be out of touch with the industry and what the consumer will pay.

 

[vurbano]

I thought it would be a good idea to gather thoughts, opinions and facts on what this service will cost us to use and have in place.

Hopefully this single thread can be a collection point for us and the business to understand what is acceptable, i.e. what we are willing to pay for such a service.
All's fair in this thread and comparing to alternative programs sources should be encouraged.

For openers, I'd like to request Scott to post his FACTS regarding what he has learned from xstreamHD as to how the equipment and service costs will impact us. That is- will the equipment be leased or owned. Will the programming be PPV, Pfor all day, Pay for a week available, or permanent pay once or even monthly for a number of downloads.

In order for this to sell it is quite evident from other threads that it largely will be dependent on how competitive the pricing is. I agree but this pricing must be measured against value. In 2010 it is no longer an issue of HD availability, nor is it really an issue about PQ as all providers are doing a pretty good job of delivering within 85-90% of maximum PQ and audio quality, so the service has to boil down to cost, quantity, and variety.

I just think someone would have to be really hard up for HD on demand or really lazy given that you can get BD's from blockbuster for a great price every month with an online subscription and unlimited in store exchanges.. Id like to see the math on this service that can justify it.

 

[goaliebob99]

They dont have me sold on a priceing point either. 399 is really steep given current economic conditions. Two years ago I would have bought one no questions asked, now I can barly afford what I have. Im really not sold especally with 1 TB drives going for as low as 80 bucks on price grabber. They need cut their prices in half and then we can talk. Untill then I think Ill be out of the Xstream HD game unless given a winning mutlitmillion dollar lotto ticket. (i dont play the lotto either, cant afford it)

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

This service is not aimed at the "cheap service" it is aimed currently for the folks who want the best.

I honestly believe at $399 that they are losing money on each system they sell. The drives in here are not $80 drives they are heavy duty drives with a 2 year warranty on them. They are server grade drives. And that's not including the high quality equipment which can handle outputting lossless 7.1 surround sound etc...

Will it work? I don't know only time will tell, however I intend to give them a fair shake and see where they go. What I saw at CES was really exciting.

 

[n0qcu]

Looking at their specs I sure hope they just have incorrect info on the site or they have a serious design flaw,

It states they have three ATSC UHF, 14 - 69 tuners, that would make them worthless to people that have VHF stations.

 

[stonecold]

Yeah i would be a deal breaker for me too since where I live 3 of the major networks actual broadcast channesl are between 2 and 13 VHF only 1 major network is above 14.

 

[SatinKzo]

This service is not aimed at the "cheap service" it is aimed currently for the folks who want the best.

I honestly believe at $399 that they are losing money on each system they sell. The drives in here are not $80 drives they are heavy duty drives with a 2 year warranty on them. They are server grade drives. And that's not including the high quality equipment which can handle outputting lossless 7.1 surround sound etc...

Will it work? I don't know only time will tell, however I intend to give them a fair shake and see where they go. What I saw at CES was really exciting.

Well, there is upscale customer and there is just fools with money customer. No offense to you Scott cause I know you are doing what you love to do in test this stuff out and we all know you will have no problem calling out flaws.

I do think they are probably losing money on the hardware as most of the tv/sat companies do with new customers. Heck even sony had to subsidize the PS3 to get it into homes.

I just think the pricing structure of the "service" is way out of line. The only advantage this offers over things like Vudu is the lossless audio and maybe an improved bitrate for PQ (yet to be seen how it performs in the real world setups).

I'm sure as more info comes to light it will make some more sense or make less sense on the pricing, but to me a monthly fee just to have the privilege of the service is absurd.

I'm glad you are going to try it though cause it will be a unbiased assessment of the company and its product.

Looking at their specs I sure hope they just have incorrect info on the site or they have a serious design flaw,

It states they have three ATSC UHF, 14 - 69 tuners, that would make them worthless to people that have VHF stations.

I just noticed that this morning too. I have 4 VHF ( CBS, NBC and 2 PBS and I watch PBS alot) stations so if it only tunes UHF, it's definitely out for me.

 

[goaliebob99]

This service is not aimed at the "cheap service" it is aimed currently for the folks who want the best.

I honestly believe at $399 that they are losing money on each system they sell. The drives in here are not $80 drives they are heavy duty drives with a 2 year warranty on them. They are server grade drives. And that's not including the high quality equipment which can handle outputting lossless 7.1 surround sound etc...

Will it work? I don't know only time will tell, however I intend to give them a fair shake and see where they go. What I saw at CES was really exciting.

I dont think the "upscale" market is going to be big enough to turn a profit! Also the Upscale market is getting smaller, lets face the fact your in the poor house or you have more money than you know. Anything in between that is disappearing.

 

[vurbano]

Looking at their specs I sure hope they just have incorrect info on the site or they have a serious design flaw,

It states they have three ATSC UHF, 14 - 69 tuners, that would make them worthless to people that have VHF stations.

Yeah ABC here has gone VHF

 

[JimMcC]

Looks too expensive. It will probably disappear way sooner than Voom did.

 

[johnner1999]

one thing it has going for is...

... IF (or when is a better word) cable companies and telco's start putting small caps on data usage. models like netflix streaming, vudo and even apple will be hurt! so if these guys have a sat to beam me the stuff fast enough -- that might be the saving feature.

 

[SoonerSteve]

I have a different take on this. The adoption rate of BD is not so high at this point that XstreamHD could not be a viable competitor. While more expensive than some BD players, it isn't that more expensive. I haven't taken the BD plunge yet so this makes a little more sense to me than many of you who have already made an investment.

Just a different take...

 

[lakebum431]

I just don't see this working (for many of the same reasons others have pointed out). For me, I already have a BluRay player (in my case a PS3). There is no way that this can replace my Dish service as there are things I want to watch on Dish that this service cannot provide. Therefore, I would need to keep my E* service. So the way I see it there is nothing that this receiver does that my current setup doesn't already do for a cheaper price. What the heck am I missing here about where they have set their price point? I'd love to hear directly from the XstreamHD people. Sell me, please!

 

[digiblur]

That would be a no go in several markets with only UHF tuners.

Look at all these full power stations on VHF....

RabbitEars.Info

 

[truckracer]

this is sort of making me think of what voom tried to do. It may very well be a failure.
I think the cost for mainstream market as speculated will be too high. I agree it will probably be the best HD.

I think its kind of like the little dish vs big dish. people will take "digital quantity" over "digital quality"....its the american way of thinking.

"my picture quality may not be the best but i have 1,000,000,000 channels"


I think with the availability of blue ray......and considering how cheap blue ray and blockbusters is right now...this thing does not stand a chance except for a niche market.

 

[dont24]

I have a different take on this. The adoption rate of BD is not so high at this point that XstreamHD could not be a viable competitor. While more expensive than some BD players, it isn't that more expensive. I haven't taken the BD plunge yet so this makes a little more sense to me than many of you who have already made an investment.

Just a different take...

No way this service is going to complete with a BR player and Netflix subcription. I just picked up a Panny BR player for $124. $11 a month for Netflix.

 

[nsafreak]

This service is not aimed at the "cheap service" it is aimed currently for the folks who want the best.

I honestly believe at $399 that they are losing money on each system they sell. The drives in here are not $80 drives they are heavy duty drives with a 2 year warranty on them. They are server grade drives. And that's not including the high quality equipment which can handle outputting lossless 7.1 surround sound etc...

Will it work? I don't know only time will tell, however I intend to give them a fair shake and see where they go. What I saw at CES was really exciting.

Uhhh 2 years for an enterprise class hard drive is actually BELOW industry norm. Your standard consumer hard drives have 3 to 5 year warranties on them with enterprise class hardware having longer warranties. I know I've bought both consumer grade (Western Digital Caviar Black) and enterprise grade (Fujitsu MAG Ultra 320 10K RPM LVD SE) hard drives for my workstations and servers.

It is an interesting service to be sure but I do believe like others that they are pricing themselves out of a lot of homes for what they are selling. The well to do folks that have setup home theater systems that I have seen have something along these lines (or better):

With one main feature being a Kaleidescape system (for those not familiar pay a visit to Kaleidescape - Home ) which is capable of a lot of the same thing s that the XstreamHD is capable of doing but without the monthly costs. So right now I'm failing to see what market they're really going after. Unless they can provide movies a lot sooner than they're released on Blu Ray nowadays (which is usually at most 6 months from theater release) then just what are they able to do that a far more comprehensive Kaleidescape system can't?

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I bet that costs more then $400.

I think my wife will be a lot more happy with one box then two full racks.

Tonight's the night folks!

 

[branchbouncer]

Uhhh 2 years for an enterprise class hard drive is actually BELOW industry norm. Your standard consumer hard drives have 3 to 5 year warranties on them with enterprise class hardware having longer warranties. I know I've bought both consumer grade (Western Digital Caviar Black) and enterprise grade (Fujitsu MAG Ultra 320 10K RPM LVD SE) hard drives for my workstations and servers.

It is an interesting service to be sure but I do believe like others that they are pricing themselves out of a lot of homes for what they are selling. The well to do folks that have setup home theater systems that I have seen have something along these lines (or better):

With one main feature being a Kaleidescape system (for those not familiar pay a visit to Kaleidescape - Home ) which is capable of a lot of the same thing s that the XstreamHD is capable of doing but without the monthly costs. So right now I'm failing to see what market they're really going after. Unless they can provide movies a lot sooner than they're released on Blu Ray nowadays (which is usually at most 6 months from theater release) then just what are they able to do that a far more comprehensive Kaleidescape system can't?

If I spent that much on TV viewing, I'd be watching it from outside the house. Maybe when it warms up out there