TVSquad

SageTV's STX-HD100 media extender is available starting today. You can pick the set top box up for $199 from the SageTV store. SageTV also plans to offer a $249 bundle in the future that will get you an STX-HD100 and SageTV software.

Brent Evans got his hands on a review unit and wrote up a pretty extensive review. Overall Evans was impressed, but he does complain that the remote control does not have universal features to control your TV and while the unit comes with AV cables, there are no HDMI or component cables for HDTV.

Nitpicking aside, the STX-HD100 is reportedly quiet, easy to use, and supports a ton of file formats including AVI, ASF, MPEG-1/2/4, MKV, QuickTime, MP4, OGG, WMV, H.264, VOB, MP3, AAC, AC3, FLAC, and WMA. It also sports 2 USB ports on the front that are currently inactive, but could be used in the future to add support for a keyboard, external hard drive or other device.

I'm still a bit skeptical that there's going to be a ton of demand for these boxes, since they are designed to work only with SageTV software, which is probably still a pretty small niche. How hard would it have been to throw some Windows Vista Media Center compatibility in there?

If you're running Windows Media Center on your PC, you can buy a media center extender box to stick next to your TV. Companies like Niveus, D-Link, and Linksys all make boxes that let you access your Windows Media Center menus, recorder programs, and other media. But if you're using a competing media center application like SageTV, those boxes won't get you very far.

So SageTV is taking matters into their own hands and building a dedicated SageTV extender device. No word on the pricing or ship date yet, but you can check out a bunch of pictures of the upcoming STX-HD100 over at the SageTV forums.

What we can tell you is that the box will feature HDMI, component, composite, and S-Video outputs. It also sports an ethernet cable for connecting to your home networks. No WiFi included. There are also two USB connectors, although it's not clear yet exactly what you'll be able to use them for.

The STX-HD100 looks like it won't work with Windows Media Center or other applications.. According to the retail package, you need SageTV software to apply, which seems like an odd move to us. We would have expected SageTV to use this box as a way to build name recognition in the marketplace. The best way to do that would be to position it as a standalone device that works with all the major PVR/media center suites, but save some advanced functionality for SageTV software users.

[via Engadget]