The N800 as an incredably overpriced remote
 

So, I work at a high end audio store (like 5 figures for pair of speakers high end). And one product were getting in soon is the AudioReQuest S series.

http://www.request.com/products/sseries.asp

Basically its an headless audio server with 1.5 TB of HD space, a digital out, and three RCA/XLR outs, it auto rips cds into WAV, and some other stuff too, but at 10k, its pretty overpriced, in my opinion

Anyways, they actually market a "freedom handheld" which is jsut a branded n800

http://www.request.com/products/freedom.asp


itll cost almost 800 US for the n800 and the software completely setup by them alone







I get almost the exact same funtionality with a few dozen man hours, mythtv and canola2.

Re: The N800 as an incredably overpriced remote
 

Interesting. OS2007. They don't even bother to upgrade it to diablo before installing. I wonder how they handle having to re-flash (or how much of a deal that is if you arn't hacking around).
I'm guessing thier biggest selling point is the no-programing, the even stress that you don't even need a new interface. So it's not likely someone who bought it would wind up here, thier butler might though.
The $10k is for the 1.5TB 'server', plus their software correct? I wonder how much they charge for the IT, maybe around $1k (based off the original sell price)?

Re: The N800 as an incredably overpriced remote
 

:D

One of us is doing that!

Re: The N800 as an incredably overpriced remote
 

I'm in the process of doing that with my N800. I'm using Eventghost, a USB-UIRT, XBOX w/ XBMC, 3.5TB unraid server and will be integrating X10 so I can control my lights.

Almost full home control for less than $1k. :)

J

Re: The N800 as an incredably overpriced remote
 

Wow, I need to mimic that business idea. ;)

Re: The N800 as an incredably overpriced remote
 

I'd like to add that functionality to my itunes/n800, "netsync for itunes"

Re: The N800 as an incredably overpriced remote
 

This is not overpriced, but a complete rip off. You could buy a 770, decent computer, High End audio card, 3 TB storage, and really good speakers for under 5k, with the bulk of the cost being the speakers. It wouldn't be that hard to tie them together either.

Or you can be cheap and buy an modded xbox, 770, and cheep 5.1 speakers for like 500 bucks.

Maybe I am underestimating the quality or something, because 10k seems way too expensive...

Re: The N800 as an incredably overpriced remote
 

ELAN Home Systems does this also. ELAN even removes the Nokia logo from the device, leaving the "N800" marking hanging oddly in space.

Re: The N800 as an incredably overpriced remote
 

I went a different route...

I bought this wireless audio bridge (Sondigo) which it connects to your receiver via either Toslink or RCA, I chose Toslink, once it is connected you can control and play your music from your pc in any Media Player of your preference, I ended up using MediaMonkey since it manages pretty well songs over 10,000 entries, pretty smooth and if people don't like how it looks, the skin is also customizable to make it look like the Itunes app. From there, I just connect my beloved N800 via VNC to my pc.

Re: The N800 as an incredably overpriced remote
 

Well the products been around for a lil while, so im guessing
A. They didnt bother to update the spec sheet
or
B. They didnt bother to look into updating their n800s
presumably it does everythingthey advertised, so while bother with diablo

jsut a guess though



Its about 400 for the "freedom" remote alone (ie a plain ol n800 OS2007) and 370 for the software
so $770 USD



Well, my initial thought was I can do the exact same thing with about 2 large

But

A. This is audiophile gear, you expect to be given a bit of snakeoil (RE: $500 "audiophile" ethernet cable)

B. This is built as a showpeice in a media station, and is supposed to be pretty plug n play. So programming server time for customers would need to be included if you were to market it

B. There is built in xlr/rca outs. Getting a card thatll do that proper with the expectations that alot of audio tweekers would want would cost near a grand alone.


C. FItting it all in one enclusive headless box, that is noise insulated would add quite a bit more cost and time

D. Its rather pretty, consdiering

So, IMHO, while 10k is a ripoff, I dont think its as big of one as my immediate reaction. You can get similar results for less, but an all-in-one with seamless integration can cost a pretty penny


The resellers price is 9k, the retail is 10, im guessing their cost is around the 7.5-8 mark

Re: The N800 as an incredably overpriced remote
 

Nice post, CleverJake.

One thing I would add: High end, low-maintenance gadgets require quite a bit of mark up because they aren't selling many of them. Most of us would have fun building something similar, but I'm guessing the set of audiophiles who are also computer geeks is pretty low (compared to the audiophile population as a whole or compared to the entire population) :)

Re: The N800 as an incredably overpriced remote
 

haha
most of the audiophile/computer geeks work in the industry on some level
theres a bit too much knowledge required to be one to not put it to use.


Most of the people that buy stuff like that are well-to-do people that simply want "the best" without any work.
so, we charge markup, they get plug and play, and the world spins round

Re: The N800 as an incredably overpriced remote
 

http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20080621

i also wish i could point you all to a satirical song about a shop selling high end audio gear for home use, but its in norwegian so...

Re: The N800 as an incredably overpriced remote
 

haha, that reminds me of a guy who insisted that there MUST be a ultra high quality USB cable that would make his music sound better

silly rabbit

Re: The N800 as an incredably overpriced remote
 

Many of the home automation system specifically use the N800 or can at least be used with a N800. It is an obvious choice for an inexpensive wireless touchscreen. In fact, it is really in a class by itself. The only thing that it is lacking is a docking station. Unfortuately that is what really keeps this device from really shining in this arena.

I am actually doing this myself. I use a software based home automation system called Charmed Quark Controller (or CQC for short). I am using mine as more of a A/V distribution system but it is designed to be a complete homeautomation system where you can tie your alarm system, lighting, pool controls, RDIF, weather station, sprinkler system, etc, etc, etc into it.

I use the N800 as well as some IR remotes, a wall mouted touch screen, and a couple of UMPCs around the house to have full control of the system.

It's amazing what you can do, and CQC is DIY friendly which is the biggest difference between it and AMX, Crestron, Elan or others. With those systems, you cannot make changes yourself. You will always have to have an installer come and do things for you. As a consumer, you don't even have access to software or hardware. You have to buy everything from the dealer and accept their high (although deserved) markup.

If you love tinkering with stuff - and you must if you love linux, then CQC or similar systems can be very appealing. I've put my system together uning a lot of used equipment I've bought and while none of it is cheap, I've spent a fraction of what one of these other dealer systems would have cost.

You can customize your screens competely with CQC. Here are a couple of the screens that I created for the N800 and N770.

CD Repository
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...aCDBrowser.jpg

Now Playing CD screen
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...NowPlaying.jpg

DVD Repository (this screen shot was taken as a test when I only had a couple of DVDs in the repository. It now has all the DVDs I own on it). You can browse the DVDs, pull up the details, and select a DVD to play. It will turn the selected TV on and change all settings to watch the movie and start playing the movie.
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...DVDBrowser.jpg

Weather
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...kiaWeather.jpg

Local Traffic Cameras
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...kiaTraffic.jpg

If you like what you see, come visit at CQC and be sure to find me in the forums.

Re: The N800 as an incredably overpriced remote
 

It looks appealing but the price is pretty steep for my small pockets :(

Re: The N800 as an incredably overpriced remote
 

yeah, 700 can be a bitmuch

My prefered way is the mythtv full frontend port

I cna control x10 home automation, stream the media, control the backend server, which, one its wired correctly through my house, will give full sound system

Im gonna bee GUIing my mp3 daemon soon too,
I just wish the audio portion of mythtv wasnt so backassed

Re: The N800 as an incredably overpriced remote
 

@sic0048: Just curious... how do you store your dvds? I have a DVD changer but my brother and I were hoping to rip ours and store them (space is cheap) but can't find a good way to automate it reliably, both because of various DVD anti-piracy mechanisms, and because a lot of our dvds have subtitles, etc.

Either way, that's a very cool looking system. If I was willing to pay for the hardware necessary to automate that stuff (ok, and alarm system, and a pool, and...), I would definitely want some DIY software for automation.

Re: The N800 as an incredably overpriced remote
 

Well my system is strickly A/V right now. One step and one budget item at a time. But that is the benefit to going DIY. You can move at your own pace.

I use a Sony cx-777es 400 disk DVD changer. It has a serial control port so we control it that way (not via IR which is less reliable). Bought it used on E-Bay.

You can also used ripped DVDs just as easily, but I like the changer better (just makes things simple and I don't need a fast computer to play stuff on). I have ripped all my CDs in Windows Lossless format and I do use the computer to play them back. I have a Delta 410 card which allows multiple concurrent streams. I can have three different things playing at the same time (don't have a need for more), but I could have up to five with that card.

Re: The N800 as an incredably overpriced remote
 

From what I understand AnyDVD is well worth the cost. It strips out the built in anti-piracy crap in real time and allows you to rip almost any DVD. I think it's about $30 from Slysoft. Combine that with your ripper of choice (DVD Decrypter for example) and you'll be able to choose what stuff you keep (like subtitles) and what stuff you leave out (like different audio tracks and extras/previews).

Re: The N800 as an incredably overpriced remote
 

DVD Shrink (it's free and it does the same as AnyDVD) then DVD Decrypter