my dream is impossible, right?

[pheitman]

I have a dream... but I woke up this morning realizing that it is probably an impossible one.

I've started thinking about building a new computer with one of the key uses being as a media server (TiVo and Music). Unfortunately, because of the cost and because it's on 24/7, I'd also like to use it for other purposes. In particular I'd like to be able to use it as a general purpose computer without disabling the htpc functionality. I have a home office within about 25 feet. During the day I would like to be able to use remote desktop in WinXP Pro to use it for personal email, etc. I was also thinking about using a kvm switch and a 25' cable to be able to play games on occasion.

What I just realized this morning is that when the system is up and running Sage, I won't be able to connect to it with Remote Desktop because XP only wants to support one user at a time. I've read that Sage can't run as a Service so I need to log in and run the .exe, right? For a remote connection, I'm guessing that it's possible to use VNC instead of remote desktop. I'll have to check that out. Would connecting up my monitor and using both the monitor and the TV work at all? After reading the forums I was thinking of getting an FX5200 as the video out. Can anyone confirm whether it supports both a TV and Monitor at the same time?

Has anyone solved this problem before? Does it have a solution?

[wanderer]

You probably could achieve what you want using VNC, KVM, etc. But it would be a real mess with cables everywhere and you may run into problems in trying to use the PC as a PVR *while* playing games.

I suggest you look at this another way. You say you're looking for a 'media server' for PVR and music. SageTV on a low end PC (say a P3-600) is just that. You could probably pick up an old Compaq Deskpro PC for $100 or less and use that as a base. Load it up with hard drives and a PVR card (or 2 or 3) and you're all ready to go.

You also say that you're looking to get TV output from the PVR, so I'd suggest getting a PVR-350 card instead of the 5200. In a few weeks when the next Beta release is out you'll be able to get the SageTV GUI on the S-video output from the 350 card.

You can then network the SageTV 'media server' to your other PC(s). You could even run the SageTV client on your PC in your home office and watch live TV in there that is streaming from the media server!

[-LD]

remote desktop doesn't log a user OFF, it switches users or logs the user out (depending on which user you connect as)...their programs still continue to run

[stanger89]

Just curious, if you're planning on connecting to your Sage box with remote desktop, you'll need another computer to do that right? Why not just use that for email and whatever else? Also, I thought KVM's were for connecting 1 keyboard/monitor to multiple computers not one computer to multiple monitors (could be wrong haven't looked carefully).

If you're just worried about wasting the power of a new computer why not get an EPIA powered Mini-ITX computer, they seem to be perfect for a dedicated SageTV box. They can run almost silently and their very small.

[jptaz]

This is pretty much my setup.

SageTV runs on my media server I have 3 PVR 250s which don't use more than 10%
CPU and I can do general office programs, and video editing, dvd burning, programming,
and I could probably play games but I am not much of a gamer. Having my computer with
all the drives and PVR cards in the office is better because the playback client PC is very
quiet, which I can't say for my media server.

I have been pretty pleased with the FX5200 and I have the monitor and TV in use at the
same time. I have the TV as an extended desktop to the left of the main montior with
both displays setup at 720 x 480 Resolution. The reason for this is that SageTVClient does
not scale things properly if the main monitor is at a different resolution.

Hope this helps,
John