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Buying 2nd hand K-System

D

Diskreet

Active member
Good morning.

I am looking to get into K-Scape, and temporarily to get started am looking to purchase a couple units second hand to test the water before investing further into the wonderful world that is Kaliedescape.

So my question is, if I buy a K-Player 5000 and K-Server 2500 but to be bought from two separate system owners.

Is this a risky move, will the units need to go back to Kaliedescape to be synced/re initialised or paired ? Or will I be able to sync them together and buy some extra drives in the near future.

I understand the limitations of the older system compared to the m-Series.

My other option is to save up and buy a Cinema One, but my concerns with the Cinema one is the limited expansion of the system.

Any thoughts welcome.

Many Thanks
Sam.
 
Hi Sam, there is no problem buying used equipment, provided of course that it is in working condition. You will not need to send the component's to K, they will find each other on your network, assuming they are both currently set to DHCP in the Network settings of each component, otherwise you will have to identify the IP address of each component and reset them to work with your LAN.

Most problems with older components are fortunately limited to power supply or drive issues. K sells power supply replacement kits at a reasonable cost ($50) for most components, and drives can be replaced individually. The largest drive available for the Server you mentioned is 1TB, so if Blu-ray is in your future in any big way, I'd consider a larger Server.

Be careful of scams for K equipment, they do exist. You should always get the Serial number of a component before buying, and if you need the help, I'd be happy to run the number for you to check the history of that component, but more importantly verify it is a real number. Contact me by PM if you'd like me to check. You could also buy used from a forum member that has been confirmed as being a legit Seller, like KSCAPE75 as one example. I personally know him and he can be trusted. There are certainly others as well.

Hope that helps.

Jim
 
Plenty of folks here can vouch for Jim as a good dealer to work with, too, even if you do start with used equipment. Have no fear of Jim putting a hard sell on you just because he ran some serial numbers for you. He's there if you need him, but won't bug you if you don't.

Wasn't there a thread a while back about it being good to make sure the seller does something on top of just setting the thing back to DHCP before shipping a used server to a new buyer? Maybe unregister it with K, too? Or was there something else it's a good idea to ask them to do if it's still working on their network? I can't remember for sure. Whatever it was could be overcome, but it was just a good bit easier if they did it for you first.

Anyway, Jim is spot on with the advice. It is like buying anything else electronic off the 'net...do it carefully and do your homework and there are no issues with it.


--Donnie
 
Thank you everyone for the comments, I fully understand buying anything second hand, especially something as volatile as electronics.

I am in the process of the trying to get the serial numbers now.

In my heart of hearts I would prefer to buy brand new, but sadly can't afford the premier line, and would be happy with the cinema one if I knew you could buy a server that was compatible to expand its storage.

Once again thank you for your comments, hopefully will be a owner some time soon :)

Sam
 
I ended up getting into Kaleidescape by buying a 3U server second hand along with some K5000 players. I couldn't be happier with my purchase. Jim actually helped me out before and after I bought the system from someone else. My only words of wisdom would be that I wouldn't invest a bunch of money on components that aren't the ones you really want. Don't get stuck with a server that will run out of storage or the ability to upgrade storage too soon. If you love movies, then your are going to want bluray or at least the HD quality from the K Store. And the K5000 won't play that stuff. I had to upgrade to the M500 right away. I promise you won't be sorry. It has surpassed my expectations and even my wife is happy that we bought it.
Chris
 
Thank you for your input Chris.

At the moment I have a popcorn hour and Apple TV utilizing iTunes on my server as well as a blu ray player for discs. I can use it, and enjoy it, but it is techie, time consuming loading discs, getting all the meta data etc. I have taught my girlfriend to use it, but sometimes it crashes or comes up with error messages which need a bit of tweaking.

A k-scape will make it possible for her to load discs on, and mainly for it to be reliable.

So my thinking was to get a server and player second hand now, allowing me to buy a m-player in the future getting me that blu-ray playback. But also allowing me to buy more servers in the future too

Which is why I am tempted by the cinema one as it can play blu-rays.

Ahhh decisions decisions.
 
A Cinema One is an excellent way to get your feet wet in the K pool. I have sold Kaleidescape for almost as long as they have been around, and have always wanted one for myself, but the cost kept that from happening. The new Cinema One was too good to pass up. Sure, it's extremely limited in terms of capacity, but it is my understanding that they are working on a solution for that (beyond the current solution of adding a second Cinema One.) I still have my "home-made" server solution, but am using the Cinema One for all the movies I purchase from the K-store. And it's also a great little Blu-Ray Player.

Whichever way you decide to go, I'm sure you will be very happy.
 
Are they working on a server for the cinema one ? Is there any public mention about it or is it just rumours at the moment ?

I would assume it would be a closed box, without the ability to add more drives.
 
Diskreet said:
Are they working on a server for the cinema one ? Is there any public mention about it or is it just rumours at the moment ?

I would assume it would be a closed box, without the ability to add more drives.
Click to expand...

They showed a prototype at last years CEDIA show. It looked like a Cinema One without the disc slot or buttons. There is no official announcement, and if you ask them they just smile and say it's something they are working on. No ETA, no pricing, no details. But it makes complete sense to me. Enough to jump on the Cinema One bandwagon.
 
Diskreet said:
Are they working on a server for the cinema one ? Is there any public mention about it or is it just rumours at the moment ?

I would assume it would be a closed box, without the ability to add more drives.
Click to expand...


Guys, keep in mind that K has not ever "officially" acknowledged this is coming, and I would not buy a C1 expecting additional storage capability beyond the already stated ability to add another C1.


Jim
 
My Kaleidescape journey began with a Cinema 1,then i added 2 x 1U servers & 2 K5000 players(All 2nd hand).After a lot of saving i traded a 1U server in via the kscape 4TB upgrade program,then shortly after that i got my M700 & finally i had Bluray.

Now with the K store and the great ipad app,2 years on my system is now perfect,(until one day i run out of hard drive space & i have to upgrade again),now my wife & 2 kids love it just as much as i do.

Ian.
 
Has K ever explained why they made the new C1 incompatable with the premier line servers?

Maybe they i have and i missed it?

Ian.
 
Other than indicating they wanted the two lines to remain separate, no other explanation has been mentioned. It "may" be a design limitation, given the single drive system of the new C1, but not sure.



Jim
 
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