Diamond Multimedia XtremeTV PVR600
July 14th, 2005 | by Brandon King
Full Review - Beyond TV and Beyond Media
Beyond TV and Beyond Media Next on the docket is the Snapstream software package, consisting of the Beyond TV and Beyond Media applications. Beyond TV, the TV tuner front end, is very easy to install. The setup process has a straightforward interface that allows you to test your choices and set up your Snapstream.net account. This allows you to set your location and which service you want the programming for (cable, satellite, etc.). Unfortunately, you have to pay for this service after 60 days with the included version of Beyond TV. Your choices are $4.99/month, $29.99/year, or a one-time fee of $69.99. We were not impressed by this, especially since you are paying for listings that are available publicly for free. This does add the ability to add remotely scheduled recording, but this is still a phantom $70 added to the cost of the product. The box advertises the features you will end up paying more for, and they hide the cost by using the “Subscriber Edition” of Beyond TV. There is no mention whatsoever of what the Subscriber Edition includes on the Snapstream site, and you have to read user forum posts to gain any information. Without the subscription, you can only watch what one forum poster called "dumb TV"—watch and record live TV with time shifting but no programming schedules. Another cost you will incur is for an IR Blaster. This is basically a PC-based remote that changes the channel on your cable/satellite/OTA box when a program is scheduled to be recorded. The vast majority of cable and satellite channels are encrypted, so you will still be using that old box under the TV. Add another $25 to what you will pay for a fully functional system. The Beyond TV application is very well designed and straightforward. The homepage allows quick access to live TV, recording and scheduling options, and your Snapstream.net account. The TV application has a beautiful interface, which integrates time shifting at the bottom of the screen. We had no problems with stability, even when we tried to crash the interface by quickly shifting to several points in a recording in quick succession. Shows are recorded to MPEG 2 format with a choice between various quality settings. You can also use the ShowSqueeze function to shrink recordings down to PocketPC compatible sizes. We consider Beyond TV to be a first-rate application all around. One note to power users: Most of the technical details are hidden. Beyond Media is the Media Center front end. The full screen interface is easy to read and navigate, with access to Beyond TV, pictures, music, videos, DVD playback, weather, running applications, and disc navigation. Music playback is quick and easy, with iPod-like navigation, and making playlists takes seconds. One nice feature is that music does not have to be indexed. This means that navigation is slightly slower when selecting a navigation option (for example, browsing by artist), but the program launches quickly and always displays recently added music. Photo slideshows can easily be set to music as well, with smooth transitions. Photo and video navigation uses a grid system, rather than a list format, complete with thumbnails. Using Beyond TV within the Beyond Media application is seamless and does not appear to the user to be a separate program. Again, a first-rate program. 
Images Courtesy Snapstream
Image Courtesy Snapstream
RSS Feed
by Jason W on August 27, 2005:
“It works generally as described. Here are a few gripes besides those already listed: 1) No HDTV support 2) I should've bought a dual tuner. 3) IR Blaster does not reliably change channels for comcast digital cable. The channel must be typed, then...” More...