Digital VCR Support

[Mike Lange]

I have a new Creative Labs Digital VCR and I think I'm ready to buy the Sage products - but a couple of questions first.

Is the Sage TV and Recorder software comaptible with the DVCR?

Will my DVCR remote function with Sage? If not, what is the "fix" to have a functioning remote?

I am connected to a satelite reciever:
Will Sage control the satelite box?
Can I schedule recording with the satelite box?
Will the programming guide work for DISH TV?
Can I use Sage TV without the programming guide?

THANKS for the help,
Mike Lange

[Mark Lamutt]

Creative DVCR is mostly compatible, although some users have had some problems with it. Do a search on the forums to read all about it. The remote has also been talked about, but I don't remember what was said.

Yes, Sage will control a satellite box with an IR transmitter (currently the Actisys IR-200L, and very shortly also with the USBIRT). I have an Actisys controlling my Dish receiver.

Yes, you can schedule recording through SageTV and Sage will change the channels on your sat box.

Yes, the guide does work with both satellite providers.

You wouldn't want to use SageTV without the guide, and there's no reason to.

[justme]

.

Is the Sage TV and Recorder software comaptible with the DVCR?

I don't have a Creative card. I have a Hauppauge PVR250, but alot of other people do use the Creative card. There were some problems with AV sync on some machines with the Creative card. You would have to get a creative user to tell you if they have been fixed, or just download the SageTV trial and try it out yourself.

Will my DVCR remote function with Sage? If not, what is the "fix" to have a functioning remote?

I don't personally know the answer, but I imagine the remote should work to control SageTV. As for IR transmit, there is a great thread here that should give you some hope. It may also answer alot of you Creative specific questions.

Will Sage control the satelite box?

See the thread above for Creative IR answers. But Yes SageTV can control you Cable box with many external tuner devices. The Actisys IR-200L is officially supported By SageTV. You can buy it at the online Frey store.

Can I schedule recording with the satelite box?

Yes. You could have SageTv change the Satellite box channels using an IR transmitter. You could watch the shows on either channel 3 or using your cards composite input(I know this works with the PVR 250 at least.)

Will the programming guide work for DISH TV?

Yes, no problem. As a matter of fact many people in a currently unsupported area use the Dish data and remap channels.

Can I use Sage TV without the programming guide?

Yes. Though the EPG service is currently free. So why do that. If you need a less full featured recorder look at SageRecorder.

Hope this helps. Keep in mind I'm not a Frey support person, so don't take what I say as law. I'm just another happy SageTV user.
Best of Luck.

[justme]

Sorry I guess I typed too slow.

Also since Mark mentioned the USBUIRT you can get it here. I have one and the IR recieve works great in the 1.4.3 beta. With native IR transimt on the way it's a good choice. This way one device does your IR recieve/transmit. It's cheaper than buying two devices, it's small, and it's USB.

[randyest]

SageTV does NOT work well with Creative Digital VCR. The audio and video are out of synch in both live TV and recordings. Apparently some people get it to work by dedicating the PC 100% to sage (no other apps or use), but that seems risky (and wasteful) to me.

You have been warned.

Wish I had been.

[Watter]

With native IR transimt on the way it's a good choice. This way one device does your IR recieve/transmit. It's cheaper than buying two devices, it's small, and it's USB. [/B]

I'm curious. How do you have it set up to do both reception and tramission? It would seem that it would need to be facing the Sat/Cable receiver in order to control it which would preclude it facing outward towards the viewers for remote control reception.

-Watter

[justme]

There are two answers to this.

In my case the IR transmit signal is strong enough to be facing at about a 45 degree angle away from my cable box and still work. I have it half way in between my cablebox/TV and computer. It's about 6 feet to the cable box and about 8 feet from where I usually sit. Some people have even reported the USBUIRT IR transmitter siganal is strong enough to bounce off a wall. I can't commit on that, but I can say IR transmit was not a factor in the positioning of the USBUIRT. It was the ability for good IR reception everywhere that I or my wife may sit with our remotes.

The second solution, which I'm not using at the moment, is that the USBUIRT has a jack in the back to accept IR transmitter extenders. The jack is a stereo, with independant current limited amps for each channel, so you can actually have two seperately placed IR transmitters besides the one on the front of the USBUIRT. The IR extenters are not included, but Jon does list some suggested models. I tried the ones that came with my Tivo and they worked fine. These come in very handy if you have equipment hidden deeply in an audio/video cabinet or even in another room. I've seen posts of some people running wire for 30 feet easily.

I hope this answers your question.
PS:The USBUIRT now comes with a matching black USB cable. My usb cable was 5 feet long. I believe Jon can custom build one with a different cable length if desired. At least he was offering to do this at one time. Now Maybe that this device is really catching on he may not have the time to do a custom cable length.
Also in case someone who read the thread on the USBUIRT's ability to wake the PC from standby mode reads this... I can now personally say the answer is Yes it can wake my PC. Both my wifes and my remote can now wake the PC from standby with the press of a specifically assigned button.