I think HP should reconsider iStream for the EX47* platform. I understand that sometimes there are technical limitations, but the ex47* series are not that old. And many users have upgraded RAM and/or processor. The MediaSmart Servers are way to expensive to expect users to upgrade their hardware every 18 months. I think this move is going to alienate more customers than it will cause to upgrade.

And of course we can't get the Mark 2 WHS in Europe anyway so owners here are doubly hurt. No new hardware, and poor older hardware support too. Great.

Let's face it, HP does not care about the domestic user, it wants corporate orders from companies with fat bank accounts.

I for one don't believe the 'underlying architecture' rubbish either. Has the OS changed that much? No. HP need to treat us with respect and understand that a lot of us are in the industry and also IT savvy. If you're not interested then tell us straight that it's a corporate decision not to support the Mark 1 any longer, but don't hide or spin the truth.

This is the same stunt that HP have pulled on iPaq owners. You want updates? Go buy a new one! Me I'll use a retired PC which will do the job and be upgradeable.

Rick

scottyc123 said: How about 25% off to the purchase of a new system? Us Gen 1 users were basically beta testing their HW and SW...

Since I've already seen deals on the new models that amount to 20% - 25% I'd rather have a $200 rebate that I can get regardless of where I buy. Or a 50% discount on the new model if I buy directly from HP.

 But the preferred approach for me (and probably most others) is to offer ALL of the new features for the EX47x models. Make them all optional add-ons so each person can find the right balance between performance and functionality based on whether they upgraded their RAM and/or CPU. Go ahead and put plenty of disclaimers around the upgrade that it may degrade performance and that the CPU upgrade will void your warranty.

If each new feature works by itself buy my EX47x can't run all of them (if that's what I want), then I'd see the value in upgrading to the new models (assuming they really do have the RAM and CPU power to do it). But as things stand now, I don't see any valid reason why the EX47x can't do just about everything the new models can do (though probably a bit slower). But if the hardware is truly a limitation, then a generous upgrade offer to the new models would be a reasonable resolution.

I'm guessing that the "public statement" was made with little or no actual understanding of the details and was simply an attempt to put a positive spin on the already-made decision to EOL the EX4x series after the upcoming update. If they had really understood the situation, they would not have said anything because there is no way you wouldn't expect the huge negative reaction that followed.

The productive thing to do here is to channel all of the energy being put into these comments and start a letter campaign to HP. Anyone up for taking a crack at a letter? We can then share with users here, on mediasmartserver.net, and wegotserved.com. If people are willing to send a letter (snail mail), HP will be forced to realize that we have numbers and are organized, and we might get a more satisfying response. Who's game? I'm willing to work on this effort if a few others will join me in organizing.

jbl1120 said: Strange: I'm pretty sure this page had > 50 comments when I posted on 4/24. In fact, I'm positive I had to scroll through two pages of comments before I finished reading them all and posted. Where did all the other comments go?!?

Only 2 comments have been removed by moderators. Both were pretty much dupe posts by the same user.

HP should give us the things that work like the Twonky upgrade, the video convertor and others in it's own upgrade. Some of the stuff is reasonable to leave off... Just give us something instead of a poor letter.

That's a lot of hositlity there, and I completely disagree with you on several points. Keep in mind, I don't work for HP. My opinion is my own.

"...both of which were brought to the market prematurely with great hype and then unceremoniously dumped when the hype failed to match user expectations."

I think the EX470 is a great product.  How has it not met user expectations? I won't completely disagree on the MediaSmart Connect. It could be a better product, but I wouldn't say its useless.

"I cannot in good conscience recommend a company whose product support terminates on the day that next year's model is announced."

You must not recommend many companies then. Shall I go through a laundry list of products I own that became unsupported after the new model ships? Let's be fair, there's an upgrade for the EX-4xx line coming in May. It's received several updates over the past 18 months, and it will continue to receive updates and possible upgrades from MS.

"I expect product support for at least five years from the date of product launch - not free upgrades, mind you, but the ability to upgrade the software/firmware and keep it reasonably up to date."

A five year support cycle for a PC? Are you kidding? Dell stopped giving me driver and firmware updates for my laptop when it was two years old, and I can't get any new version of their custom apps. I don't even understand your part about upgrades. You don't want free upgrades, but you want free software and firmware updates? Isn't that the same thing?

"Worse, the new HP servers are an inferior design compared to the original, in that they do not support e-Sata port multiplier technology. The last thing I want is a dangerous rat's nest of external USB drives, each with it's own power supply, cluttering up the place. That's why I got a home server in the first place - to stop having to rely on external backup drives."

What was that about the EX-470 not meeting user expectations? Based on the reason you bought your EX-470, none of the new features on the EX-48x line have anything to do with backups.

"Here's an example of HP's incompetence..."

Pretty much everything in your example reflects oddities and limitations with Windows Media Center and Windows Media Extenders. It's not a perfect ecosystem. In fact, I can't think of any DMR that doesn't have some sort of problem.

That said, I keep my DVD library in XViD format with 5.1 audio in the videos folder on my EX-470, or h.264 with 2 channel audio. It streams perfectly to my MediaSmart Connect without a Vista PC on.

I'm not hostile, just exasperated. I'm not a computer geek, so it never occurred to me that a consumer product designed to function as part of a home theatre system would be incapable of passing multi-channel audio through its HDMI output, or that a product designed to store videos would be incapable of supporting the most common video format of all - DVDs. Having found out the hard way after purchase, my thoughts on this were "Ok, these are new products - I'm sure they'll fix them in some future firmware or software upgrade". Instead, early adopters of both MediaSmart products (Server and Connect) were left high and dry, with no upgrade route except to start all over again and buy something else. I will eventually buy that something else, but it likely won't be from HP. The fact that HP has now been dragged kicking and screaming by the overwhelming howl of protest from buyers of the original server to do the right thing by us is a promising development. Getting at least one software upgrade for the MediaSmart Connect that would enable it to play DVDs off the MediaSmart server might just change my mind about HP's willingness to properly support what they sell.