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Official "New Max" discussion (Microsoft Mediaroom)

43K views 174 replies 32 participants last post by  Viper550 
#1 ·
Not sure if this is new but i just seen this on Sasktel.com ....

http://www.sasktel.com/EndecaUI/controller/_/Tab-4294966321/Ntt-newmax

Gives info about the "New Max".


The upgrade process for Max customers is automatic and will start in September 2010 and be completed in March 2011.

Before you get your upgrade you'll receive a letter with timelines.
Two weeks prior to the upgrade, you'll receive a package containing:

* a new Max remote control(s),
* a Max User Guide and
* a checklist of what you need to know and do before your upgrade.

The night of your upgrade, you'll see notifications on your TV screen. The upgrade will then happen automatically, overnight.
# Set DTVR recordings from any computer with an internet connection at sasktel.com/maxdtvr.
# Get multi-room DTVR! Record a show in one room and watch it in another.
 
#143 ·
I'm also tempted to wait until Sasktel turns on the ability to use XBOX360's as set tops, and just use those instead, and pay them for their PVR (Be less hardware I'd have to worry about, that's for sure).

I use 3 XBOX360's as extenders now, so using them as Max STB's would be another option I could go for...*if* it works at least as well as media center.
 
#145 ·
I've been using WMC since XP Media Center Edition 2005 was very early beta (so, some time in early 2004 if memory serves me).

It's always been intuitive, and with Win7 it's gotten to the point my parents could set it up.

I got the impression from looking at a few videos online about mediaroom that's what Microsoft was also going for with it, but after using it a couple weeks while figuring out how to get my media center system working with it again I definitely noticed the shortcomings compared to MCE.

It's definitely better than the last two attempts though. I remember the first Max guide...no audio when you turn on the guide, slow, UGLY. LOL. It was almost enough to make me switch to Bell satellite...then I found media center.
 
#147 ·
Kludgy work-around?

I use XBOX360's as media center extenders. Works flawlessly. I have three TV's, each with a 360 (One 360 I bought originally for gaming, that did double duty, a second one I picked up when Futureshop was selling arcade units for $119, and a third I bought used for $20). Then my media center PC just sits in my furnace room with two STB's connected to it's dual tuners.

What solution were you using?

The beauty with this is now I don't even need a set top box at each TV, and the xbox does double duty to get all my other media off the PC as well (Plus Netflix).
 
#151 ·
Ah hah! I knew there was some confusion.

In it's life, Max has had three major changes, correct? I've had Max since it's been available in Saskatoon pretty much (After Shaw decided to treat me poorly so I cancelled all my services with them) and I only remember three major changes to the service.

Maybe I'm forgetting one though.

Either way, back on topic: The new Max, in my opinion, is definitely the best attempt yet. If they ever allow XBOX360's as set tops, I may consider switching over (I don't want a Sasktel box at each TV in addition to the 360's I already have there now).
 
#152 ·
One more thought occurred to me just now. I've read a few reports of people unsatisfied with the speed of the new Max. Whether that's channel changes, guide navigation, or otherwise.

I'm curious if that's a network issue, a set top box issue, or a head end hardware issue?

My thought on how this actually works (but I have no idea in reality) is similar to how an XBOX360 can be used as an extender for Media Center. That is, the entire system is hosted elsewhere and the box just acts kind of like remote desktop to that main system.

In other words, is the Motorola box actually doing any heavy lifting, or is it just doing a kind of remote desktop session into Sasktel's hardware at their CO?

If the box is doing any heavy lifting, I would say that the box may be the limiting factor (And perhaps using a 360 as a set top for Max would solve it?) but if not, then perhaps Sasktel could beef up their head end to make it quicker.

Anyone know any of the details about how it actually works?
 
#154 ·
I would imagine most of the heavy lifting is performed on the provider's head end and the set top box is only responsible for displaying what it's sent and decoding the video bitstream.

But I don't know for sure, and the speed issues people have been complaining about are leading me to wonder how MediaRoom actually works. :)
 
#155 ·
So yeah, I guess, just to make this clear
  • Max (v1) = Pace STB and ... whatever firmware it used
  • Max (v2) = Motorola STB and iMagic/Alcatel Media Manager firmware
  • "New" Max (Max v3) = Motorola STB and Mediaroom firmware

I think the laggy guide may be the box's fault. I've only gotten major UI lag on a high-definition TV. On the standard definition televisions, its actually pretty responsive, and the guide plops up with the same amount of time the old one did. We don't have DVRs here, so they're all VIP1200's.

I have noticed that Telus and AT&T have been issuing these Cisco set-top boxes lately, do they run Mediaroom any better than the Motorola ones?
 
#158 ·
I'm wondering then if this isn't a hardware issue at Sasktel. Underpowered servers, that sort of thing. You'd think the requirements for Mediaroom would be fairly strict from Microsoft though (similar to the requirement for windows phone 7, the specs of the device have to meet certain criteria). You wouldn't be able to just put it on any old piece of hardware.

It's either that or people with MTS/Bell Fibe are less discerning? Doubtful.
 
#157 ·
Just discovered something I actually LIKE about the new max. I have 2 HD boxes, one DVR and one regular box. If I set the DVR to record 2 HD shows at the same time, it will Pull the stream from the second receiver and allow viewing of an SD live stream while recording the other two. Even more impressive is that you can record this third stream while recording the other 2 streams! This of course disables the other receiver which I DONT like, but I don't use the second receiver often.
 
#159 ·
I think it's just getting used to it, to be honest

The media manager guide was ridiculously fast to scroll thru, where mediaroom is much more like the bell guide

ie the old MM guide, you could hit the guide, scroll down, and go thru all 999 channels in about 4 seconds

now it takes about 1 second per page of channels, which to me is where it's kinda supposed to be

coming from starchoice/shaw direct, the new "slow" guide, is still faster than that, so to me it feels nice and snappy

but I see where the complaints are coming from.
I don't agree, but I can see why they're generated
 
#160 ·
I've been using media center for so long that I'm used to how it works (about 1/2 second per page, unless you hold the page button down, then it's about 1/4 second). It's pretty snappy.

My folks have a very old Star Choice box, and you can make a cup of tea between pressing the guide button and the guide actually coming up on screen. My in-laws have Bell satellite, and I find their guide is decent for speed. I should really connect my Sasktel box directly to a TV some time just to check out the new stuff (I've never really looked at it to tell you the truth).
 
#161 ·
I think Tikker has the answer. It sounds like the previous MAX was blazing fast. I think part of the issue is Mediaroom generates the PIP as you scroll through the guide which obviously takes time.

Here are a few tips for using the guide:

- Type the channel number to go to a channel more than a few pages away.
- Use the FF button to advance a day at a time.
- You can customize the guide to remove channels you never watch to remove clutter.
- Use left arrow and press OK on the channel number to see the channel in "list view".
 
#162 ·
The Media Room guide is slower than Media Center, but as Dr Dave pointed out, it does a PIP preview that MCE will never do.

I would love a hybrid of the 2, but I think I give a slight edge to the MediaRoom guide. much easier to avoid commercials with it.

coming from MCE mediaroom is going to feel very intuitive, but some of the changes didn't make sense to me, especially the series recording

that's my one real gripe, but now that I understand the difference, it's not really a huge deal, but it's another thing to get used to
 
#163 ·
Yeah, there's no "picture-in-picture" browsing in the guide. The currently playing media is in the background on Vista media center (Not sure how Win7 handles it...haven't played with Win7 MC).

That's actually a neat feature, though I've never had it before so I don't know what I'm missing, lol.

If Sasktel enables the use of XBOX360's as set tops I may just bite and get the PVR. Until then, I won't, as I don't have room for their set top box at each TV in addition to the 360 I have there now.
 
#164 ·
I would be thrilled to disable PiP in the guide if it would make it more responsive. Note, I don't have a problem with all delays; a delay when changing channels is perfectly acceptable - how many people actually flip through channels nowadays rather than looking at the guide and going directly to a desired program? If I am wanting to check what is on next tuesday, again I have no problem with some seek/delay while the information is retrieved.

However, if all I want to do is check what is on channels 300-400 at this very second, out of necessity I need to access 10 or 20 'pages' very quickly. To my mind, I am accessing a simple, text-based, information system, which is actually downloaded ahead of time and stored.

The problem seems to be the PiP, in particular HD PiP.

As it stands right now, I hate navigating. On occasion, it has frustrated me to the point of turning off the tv and doing something else.
 
#166 ·
@dirtyharry2, I think it's easier to type 300 into the guide than go through 10 or 20 pages.
Yes, I completely understand, and I do. And if I don't find something there, I type "3" and start back at the start in the sd channels. But I still only see what, 300-310, 310-320, 320-330, etc. I'm not in front of my tv, so it could be say 15 channels per view. The point is that each view change takes probably a full second or two or more. Even a single full second is a *long* time for a UI to respond.
 
#167 ·
I dont think it is the tv because sometimes it goes at a somewhat faster speed than usual. I think it just has to do with how fast the internet is at that time of day. I've seen it take 7 seconds to go to a channel after i've entered the 3 numbers and sometimes 4 seconds. Probably since they are using the same old lines to now transfer far more data due to that little screen in the corner.
 
#169 ·
Some odd developments:

The guide metadata seems to have changed, a lot of the channels have differently formatted names or are now missing their logo entirely (and TSN2 HD embarrassingly has the same logo as TSN HD in the guide. Whoops!). Also, the power button on the STB is no longer functioning, while I can turn it on/off with the remote, I can't do so with the button on the box itself.

Also, with this talk of a FTTH rollout, may this make the new guide a little more bearable?
 
#172 ·
SaskTel has made a change to the service where the channel call letters will now be displayed instead of the logos. The change was made in order to increase the performance of the guide.

If you reset your set top box it will change to show all call letters. Also, when 80% of customers are running the updated client where only the call letters are displayed the service will be changed back to only showing the channels customers subscribe to.
 
#173 ·
Okay, just did the update...

Version is now 2.0.26496.301, which seems to be close to the build MTS is using for their 2.0 patch. I also noticed some other UI tweaks so far:

- The Guide/Interactive BG is less transparent. Not liking this. Why bother promoting that feature when you're just gonna make it less visible! (nitpick to me, yes. But will you care? Maybe...)
- The animated swirl on the throbber is now white. Slightly better looking.
- All guide logos are gone, as expected, back to plain labels. Aww. Some of them are just a little too long to fit the side of list without getting cut off a bit (especially near HD and radio stations, but still)
- It does feel a little less laggy.
- The Max logo on the guide (before it goes to that Guide text) is a different style, and isn't squished this time. Yay.
- The "last" button behaviour MTS is getting isn't there.
- Unsubscribed channels at least list a phone number to call about subscribing now instead of a generic error message.
- Power button on box STILL DOESN'T WORK. FFFFFFFF
 
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