Purchasing SageTV and General Usage

[Kaervek]

I have a few questions that I haven't been able to find answers to on the forums. Forgive me if they've been asked countless times, but I sincerely searched for quite some time before committing to this thread.

• I fully intend on purchasing a copy of SageTV, but am curious as to how long it will be until I can use it. Will I receive an activation code via e-mail for my 15-day trial software, or will I be waiting a week for a package at my doorstep?
  
• When selecting programs to record in the future, is it possible to have SageTV record these programs without actually watching these programs? I understand that I can simply minimize the window and mute the speakers, but is there a more streamlined and "hidden" way to record television while I utilize my monitor and speakers for other uses?
  
  For instance, could I be recording a television show in the background with SageTV seamlessly while listening to WinAmp and browsing the web at the same time?

I think that's all I really have to ask at the moment - setup was amazingly simple, and it really hasn't taken me much time to completely fall in love with this software. I actually purchased a copy of Windows XP:MCE the other day, and I'm waiting for it to come in the mail. I'm regretting that now, as I could have simply paid less for SageTV!

Actually, that leads me to some further questions:

• Are there any benefits to running SageTV on a computer with XP:MCE over a computer with XP:Pro or XP:Home? If so, what might those benefits be?
  
• I intend on utilizing SageTV Server and SageTV clients in the future so that I can have multiple HTPC's setup throughout my home - am I going to need a seperate license for each copy of the software I'd be using, or do I only need to purchase the software once, installing it as I need it?

Thanks in advance for the help, and I look forward to taking part in future discussions here as I usually do when I've become emberassingly addicted to something new

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by Kaervek

I fully intend on purchasing a copy of SageTV, but am curious as to how long it will be until I can use it. Will I receive an activation code via e-mail for my 15-day trial software, or will I be waiting a week for a package at my doorstep?

The trial is usable upon download. When you purchase it, the license key is sent via email almost immediately. If you buy it & don't get the license right away, check any spam blockers you have to see if it is sitting in the spam list.

When selecting programs to record in the future, is it possible to have SageTV record these programs without actually watching these programs? I understand that I can simply minimize the window and mute the speakers, but is there a more streamlined and "hidden" way to record television while I utilize my monitor and speakers for other uses?

Unless you are actively watching something that is currently recording, the in-progress recording's video is not shown anywhere; it just records.

For instance, could I be recording a television show in the background with SageTV seamlessly while listening to WinAmp and browsing the web at the same time?

Yes.

I intend on utilizing SageTV Server and SageTV clients in the future so that I can have multiple HTPC's setup throughout my home - am I going to need a seperate license for each copy of the software I'd be using, or do I only need to purchase the software once, installing it as I need it?

A SageTV or SageTVClient license is for installation on a single PC. Normally, you would only buy 1 copy of SageTV + as many SageTVClient licenses as client PCs you plan to use.

The Placeshifter & Media Extender licenses are different -- those licenses are registered on the server PC and are for as many simultaneous connections as placeshifter/extender licenses you have purchased.

- Andy

[Kaervek]

Originally Posted by Opus4

Unless you are actively watching something that is currently recording, the in-progress recording's video is not shown anywhere; it just records.

So if something is recording, can I tell SageTV to "Standby" and it will continue to record in the background?

Ha, I just don't want to stop what's recording right now, but I don't want to watch it right now either. Oh, the dillemma!

Originally Posted by Opus4

A SageTV or SageTVClient license is for installation on a single PC. Normally, you would only buy 1 copy of SageTV + as many SageTVClient licenses as client PCs you plan to use.

The Placeshifter & Media Extender licenses are different -- those licenses are registered on the server PC and are for as many simultaneous connections as placeshifter/extender licenses you have purchased.

Looks like I have some more reading to do!

Thanks alot for the help, Andy!


-Aaron

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by Kaervek

So if something is recording, can I tell SageTV to "Standby" and it will continue to record in the background?

If it is just Live TV, it will stop recording; if it is a scheduled recording (Manual Recording or Favorite), it will record while in standby mode.

More info is in the PDF manual in the SageTV directory (or: Setup -> Help -> View Manual). The Quick Start Guide w/this info starts on p. 18 for v5.

- Andy

[newzenith]

I noticed Opus4's reply mentioning their immediate response when purchasing a license key in this thread: "The trial is usable upon download. When you purchase it, the license key is sent via email almost immediately. If you buy it & don't get the license right away, check any spam blockers you have to see if it is sitting in the spam list." However, what I experienced in the last two days was really disappointing.

I installed SageTV trial version about two weeks ago, I used one weekend to figure out different configurations/plugins to make it almost working as expected. However, there are still some issues I'd like to sort out before buying it. But last week I had to go to a business trip and wasn't able to get back until Friday night. When I checked my recorded programs, I found SageTV stopped working because of running out of trial period. I figure I was pretty impressed by SageTV's functionalities and probably will place the order sooner or later anyway (even I still have issues waiting to be resolved), so I submitted my order on Friday night.

After the online order, I immediately received an email from orders@sagetv.com confirming the order and said that I will receive "another email shortly with your license key and download link ...". However, I waited for 12 hours and still haven't received any follow-up email. I then tried to send another email to orders@sagetv.com as suggested in their original email asking what is happening with my order, but now after 40 hours there is still no single word from SageTV. I understand that my order was not placed on a business day, but couldn't their license code system automatically generate a code after receiving an order (as suggested by Opus4)?

This has been a frustrating experience, especially when I found out that SageTV's main competitor - BeyondTV is sold at Fry's Electronics for $30 after rebate. If I could talk to a human at SageTV, I probably would have cancelled the order and went with BeyondTV.

[Opus4]

The license is automatically sent after the purchase; it isn't sent manually by a person in the office. As I said above & you also quoted:

Originally Posted by Opus4

The trial is usable upon download. When you purchase it, the license key is sent via email almost immediately. If you buy it & don't get the license right away, check any spam blockers you have to see if it is sitting in the spam list.

Did you check to see if it got tagged as spam? Most people missing their license had it mis-tagged as spam & automatically placed somewhere they don't normally check. Customer service won't be back in the office until after the weekend, but I'm not sure on what day due to July 4th coming up.

Edit: What's even worse is that I've heard of cases where a response was sent in reply to a request for another copy of the license & the spam system marked that reply as spam also... leading to a never ending case of emailing support & not seeing a response. I don't know if that happened to you too, but you really need to double check your spam/junk mail area.

- Andy

[ke6guj]

One thing that has been mentioned in the past is that your actual license key email is sent as coming from your email address. Some email systems consider mail that has the same FROM: and TO: to be spam.

the subject of the email will probably be "Your Purchase from SageTV"

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by Kaervek

• When selecting programs to record in the future, is it possible to have SageTV record these programs without actually watching these programs? I understand that I can simply minimize the window and mute the speakers, but is there a more streamlined and "hidden" way to record television while I utilize my monitor and speakers for other uses?
  
  For instance, could I be recording a television show in the background with SageTV seamlessly while listening to WinAmp and browsing the web at the same time?

In fact, SageTV can run as a Windows service, so it can be there recording with out any app running on your windows desktop or sitting in the tray. I really like the Service mode because it separates the recording/backend function from the UI portion, which makes it nearly impossible to screw up recordings.

I think that's all I really have to ask at the moment - setup was amazingly simple, and it really hasn't taken me much time to completely fall in love with this software.

Great to hear, I had the same experience (long ago ).

I actually purchased a copy of Windows XP:MCE the other day, and I'm waiting for it to come in the mail. I'm regretting that now, as I could have simply paid less for SageTV!

Look at it this way, you can never have too many legal copies of Windows

Actually, that leads me to some further questions:

• Are there any benefits to running SageTV on a computer with XP:MCE over a computer with XP:Pro or XP:Home? If so, what might those benefits be?

None that I'm aware of. There have been rumours of some DirectX fixes in MCE that aren't in the other versions, but I've never been able to pin them down.

[newzenith]

Andy,

Thank you for your reply. At least I was finally able to find some man from SageTV to answer my question.

I double-checked everywhere in my mailbox and still could not find any further email from SageTV after the confirmation email. It sounds strange why the follow-up emails would be tagged as SPAM because the first order confirmation email from SageTV went through without any problem. It actually showed up seconds after the order submission. I suspect that there was some hiccup with processing my order which needed human attention. Guess I'll find out on a business day. BTW Andy, my order number is #, so if you have a cycle to help looking into this case, I'd appreciate that.

[Opus4]

For the purchase, did you use the same gmail address that you used for the forum registration? If so, how do you get your gmail email? If you download it into your email app via gmail's pop3 option, then make sure to check the "Spam" or "All Mail" folder in your gmail account online.

BTW: I removed the order number, since no one on the forum would be able to help look that up, including me.

- Andy

[ben_95sl1]

both emails arrive at virtually the same time....I had the exact same experience: hotmail lets the first one through, but the 2nd email is tagged as junk mail. I'm sure its in a junk/spam folder somewhere.