SageTV and Hauppage PVR2 (USB)

[Darrelpr]

I just returned my Adaptec VideOh! Media Center because of some really lame software limitations. I've ordered an Hauppage PVR2 and I have a few questions I hope someone can answer...

1. The PVR2 is new on the market. Has anyone actually had a chance to run it through its paces with SageTV? If so, how well do they work together?

2. Will the Hauppage allow you to log off or shutdown XP or W2K without losing your list of scheduled recordings? Will it record even if nobody is logged on to the system?

3. What's the playback video quality like at full screen?

Apologies if these questions have already been answered - I did a quick search of the forum but didn't find anything applicable.

thanks in advance!

[dkardatzke]

We have tested the USB PVR2 and it worked just as good as an additional tuner for SageTV. There are no quality limitations when using USB 2.0 and SageTV recognized the device right after we installed it.

I'll let Jeff fill in more on the specifics because he personally tested the device..

[Darrelpr]

Thanks Dan. I'm encouraged to hear that the video quality isn't compromised.

My bigger concern though is how Sage TV handles the scenario where you log off of NT, W2K or XP then log back on only to find that your list of scheduled recorded programs has been blown away. With WinDVR 3 (bundled with the VideOh!), you cannot log off or shut down until your program has completed recording. Otherwise, you have to reprogram every time you log back on. According to Adaptec support, this is a known “limitation.” I think it's a showstopper bug. My primary machine is a laptop and I have to logoff and shutdown regularly.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this won’t be an issue with the lates rev of SageTV.

[jmeeks]

I can't believe that the USB PVR2 has anything to do with saving your recordings, schedule, etc. That is all within the SageTV program and it's associated database files which are unaffected when you logoff. I logoff all the time and never lose any recording information, schedule or otherwise. You should have no worries with respect to this.

If you shutdown while your recording, obviously the recording will stop at that point.

I'm also sure that you won't be able to record anything unless someone is logged on and SageTV is running. (at least asleep)

I would think your playback quality may be limited more by your laptop screen resolution than the Mpeg2 files the PVR generates, full screen or otherwise.

[Lester Jacobs]

Originally posted by dkardatzke
We have tested the USB PVR2 and it worked just as good as an additional tuner ... when using USB 2.0 ...

Has anyone tested this with USB 1.1? My main HTPC is a bit behind the times when it comes to USB and only supports up to USB 1.1. Can anyone confirm whether SageTV will work well with the USB PVR with a least the Great recording setting (2 GB per hour)? I may be able to expand my PVR budget to get the USB PVR as an additional tuner, however I'd like to hear some test results first.

I also have a USB battery backup on this computer, but I'm assuming this doesn't affect bandwidth on the USB bus that much...

Regards
Lester

[sub]

Lester, I doubt USB 1.1 would keep up. It just wouldn't be able to transfer data fast enough.

[Darrelpr]

Originally posted by jmeeks
I can't believe that the USB PVR2 has anything to do with saving your recordings, schedule, etc.

Agreed. But given the capabilities of the VideOh!, I would've thought that Adaptec would be bundling better quality software. I'm willing to bet that I won't be the only customer who returned a VideOh because of the bugs (er, "limitations").

That is all within the SageTV program and it's associated database files which are unaffected when you logoff. I logoff all the time and never lose any recording information, schedule or otherwise. You should have no worries with respect to this.

Good to know (and I would've thought this would be a no-brainer).

I'm also sure that you won't be able to record anything unless someone is logged on and SageTV is running. (at least asleep)

Windows MCE does in fact support recording programs - even if nobody is logged on to the system (at least the demo I saw of MCE 2004 did this). I wonder how hard it would be to add this functionality to SageTV? (I'm not a coder - I'm just thinking aloud. No flames please.)

I would think your playback quality may be limited more by your laptop screen resolution than the Mpeg2 files the PVR generates, full screen or otherwise.

I have to give credit to the Adaptec unit. On my laptop (14.1" 1400x1050), the video quality was surprisingly good. Granted, I'm not using it for commerical video editing but recorded TV shows (at "Best" quality) looked pretty close to what I see when playing DVDs.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting the Hauppauge and putting it through its paces with Sage. Based the screen shots I've seen and the feature list, I wouldn't mind paying the $$$ to replace the WinTV software.

cheers!

[Narflex]

Actually, it works fine with USB 1.1. My workstation's mobo is a little out of date and that's all it supports, and that's what I use it on regularly. (I also tested it on one of my USB 2.0 systems, worked fine there too).

I think there's a way to configure SageTV to run without anybody logging onto the system, should be a simple registry edit.

[mlbdude]

Originally posted by Narflex
I think there's a way to configure SageTV to run without anybody logging onto the system, should be a simple registry edit. [/B]

Woah, how do we do this? I would have thought SageTV would have to be written and installed as an NT service.

[Narflex]

Check the beta forum....I made post there.