Important Version 6 Upgrade Information

[robk]

$30 is very fair, I've been watching TV on Sage for 2 1/2 years! A while back I purchased a client license and shortly afterwards bought a placeshifter license. I find the Placeshifter much more usable than the client, just wish I could trade in my client license (which I never use) for another Placeshifter license! That way, if someone at home is using Placeshifter and I'm on the road I could also use Placeshifter. Oh well, all in all, it's a bargain for such a great piece of software, especially with the enhancements of V6.

Rob

[kkoz]

All this talk about $30 being fair for any upgrated is a 100% non-issue as far as I'm concerned. This PVR system lets me distributed TV, DVDs, Music, and Pictures through out my house. The guys at the home theater store want mega bucks to install closed in systems that do this. And can you click on a show and say, transcode this to a format that works with my iPod or Archos media play. Uh, no can do. If fact, being a closed in system, you often can't ever get the media you own out of their system do to something with it on your own.

The SageTV system is virtually 100% user controlled and provides 100% access to your content.

To me that is worth a lot of money as it lets me configure my home system the way I want it to work.

How do you place a value on that? I have two SageTV servers, 2 Clients, and 2 MVP / Placeshifter licenses. I think I've spent a sum total $250'ish for all that. Can you say major steal. Oh, you want $29.95 twice to upgrade my two servers. No problem, you got; the order has been placed.

There is no other system out there that gives you the flexibility to work with your media in a total automated home configuration.

For me it is an absolute no brainer to purchase the upgrade. And, I hope they come out with v7.0 quickly (maybe with the ability to configure Favorites with the ability to automatically compress after recordering). If they need to generate revenue to continue to invovate, I'm more than happy to help in their revenue collection as long as they innovate.

And heck there is a Mac OS X client in the works. Say, Mac Mini as a SageTV Client by my LCD display. Hopefully, I'll be able to stream HD content.

They are working on very cool and inovated technology. Just look what they brought to marked in the past 12-18 months (compare the to BTV or MCE). I don't think there is a comparable alternative in the market place.

Well, I could keep going, but I think I've made my opinion on this clear. Obviously, I have no problem with this upgrade policy. Just keep bringing the inovation, and you've got a customer for life.

-Kevin

P.S. You do need to "beautify our UI". You are behind BTV and MCE in this regard, and I think it hurts you when SageTV is compared against these products. Such reviews never seem to do more than gloss of the apps, and a clean, well defined UI, that is visual appealing makes a big difference to these type of people.

[Lucas]

I guess the $30 is all relative. To some here, that just bought v4 six months ago and are running a bare bones system, it is probably a bit unfair.

To many of us though, including myself, that started out with a bare bones HTPC/PVR costing a few hundred 2-3 years ago and eventually bought into the streaming audio/video on demand idea, throughout the house, the $30 compared to the $3-5k paid since on Servers, clients and Tbytes of disk is a no brainer. The $30 paid is just a protection on the existing investment!

[rickgillyon]

Originally Posted by jbuszkie

I might lose the window of discounted upgrades. Who knows how long it will take before they release the stable non-beta version.

Then buy your key now at $30 and wait to install until the release version. You trust Sage to produce a good system by release time? (although I think it's very good now)

I'd happily sell my house and all its contents...

[dj-abstract]

i just bought my sage tv 12/27/05. when i use my key it says its a pre v5 key??? i havent even had my v5 a year and im being told mine a pre v5 key?? did i miss something? i thought i paid for v5 back then shouldnt i be included in the free upgrade?

[rickgillyon]

Originally Posted by dj-abstract

i just bought my sage tv 12/27/05. when i use my key it says its a pre v5 key??? i havent even had my v5 a year and im being told mine a pre v5 key?? did i miss something? i thought i paid for v5 back then shouldnt i be included in the free upgrade?

Dec 2005 wouldn't be a v5 key, it would be an earlier version. So I'm afraid you either have to pay for an upgrade or simply stick with v5.

Nothing wrong with sticking with v5 if you don't think the new version is worth it.

[dmiraclejr]

My key purchased from PCAlcamy.com on May 4, 2006 for "1 x SageTV Media Center Version 5.0 - Version: Download: Windows - English" also says that it is a pre version 5.0 key. Thirty dollars is not that big a deal knowing the use I will be getting out of Sage in the future but I am positive that this key should be showing up as a version 5 key. Guess I need to contact Sage.

[Cabalsan]

Ok, my turn to weigh in.

Don't know my number off hand, but purchased 1.3.8 back Sept of 2003.

Anyways, I'm a notoriously cheap SOB. So if I want to keep using v5 for the rest of my life, that's going to be just fine, right?

I just upgraded from ver3 to 5 a month ago, so I 'prolly wouldn't upgrade to ver7 anyways.

I'm going to go thru the pdf a bit more regarding ver 6, but as far as I can tell the only diff is HDTV support? So us guys on analog SDTV system shouldn't even bothering to upgrade.
EDIT:

We're still supporting V5.0...it is our current release product. But there will probably not be anymore updates to it released.

I hope that means that no updates only and in say the year 2007 you cut the EPG data to force us v5'ers to upgrade, ala Cingular and the CDMA/GSM forced phone upgrade!

________
Thanks

[Kirby]

Originally Posted by Cabalsan

I'm going to go thru the pdf a bit more regarding ver 6, but as far as I can tell the only diff is HDTV support? So us guys on analog SDTV system shouldn't even bothering to upgrade.

Thanks

I guess I dont follow that comment at all. Of the 30 major features listed, only #8 and #20 are specific to HDTV.

[jominor]

Originally Posted by kkoz

If they need to generate revenue to continue to invovate, I'm more than happy to help in their revenue collection as long as they innovate.


-Kevin

One more thing. Remember, it takes paychecks to get people to write CD players and rippers. Don't confuse the nerdlingers, glorious as they are, who do things on their own time with people who have to make a living.

Buy the upgrades, Sage hires more developers, and more features appear.

This cannot happen with lifelone free upgrades and the constant flipping of licenses from one client to another.

[Cabalsan]

Originally Posted by Kirby

I guess I dont follow that comment at all. Of the 30 major features listed, only #8 and #20 are specific to HDTV.

Hence the ? at end of sentance. lol

OK, just found the change log on pg 214 of the manual.

[bcjenkins]

Originally Posted by bbig119

I'm fine with paying a $30 fee for the upgrade now, after having so many previous versions free to upgrade. My concern is that now that the upgrade policy has changed, will I have to pay another $30 for the next upgrade in 6 months or will I get another year or two before Sage asks for another $30?

This software works well, but I think this policy change will create a gray area between upgrades for new features and upgrades that fix previously advertised ones. Why should someone have to pay money to fix something that was supposed to work when they bought the product.

Like I said, I think the $30 this time is well deserved, but I hope this doesn't start a slipperly slope.

This is not a mandatory upgrade, is it? If you find the features compelling, you should stroke the check. If you don't run 5.04. Unless I missed something in an announcement, Sage has not said they were forcing an upgrade by refusing to support or provide epg data for any prior version. Please let me know if I am wrong.

B

[lotusvball]

Originally Posted by robk

$30 is very fair, I've been watching TV on Sage for 2 1/2 years! A while back I purchased a client license and shortly afterwards bought a placeshifter license. I find the Placeshifter much more usable than the client, just wish I could trade in my client license (which I never use) for another Placeshifter license! That way, if someone at home is using Placeshifter and I'm on the road I could also use Placeshifter. Oh well, all in all, it's a bargain for such a great piece of software, especially with the enhancements of V6.

Rob

I take it this is not possible. I too have a client license that I have no use for, but am looking at getting a placeshifter license. It would be great if I could do a trade in or a discount and then terminate any future rights to my client license.

BTW - $30 is cheap for an upgrade. If you don't want the upgrade don't buy and stop complaining.

[jbuszkie]

Originally Posted by lotusvball

BTW - $30 is cheap for an upgrade. If you don't want the upgrade don't buy and stop complaining.

We're not complaining were discussing!

[Olive]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

Unless I missed something in an announcement, Sage has not said they were forcing an upgrade by refusing to support or provide epg data for any prior version. Please let me know if I am wrong.

Ha! I was waiting for someone to say that before I chimed in. I'm not interested in the new features of version 6.0, and since we're talking about support, will there be a version 5.1 or 5.0.5 or whatever that includes the fixes that I was told would be included in "the next release"? More specifically:

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19449
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?p=170657

Olive

[blade]

Originally Posted by Olive

Ha! I was waiting for someone to say that before I chimed in. I'm not interested in the new features of version 6.0, and since we're talking about support, will there be a version 5.1 or 5.0.5 or whatever that includes the fixes that I was told would be included in "the next release"?

It has already been said there will be no more releases for v5. The "next release" is version 6.

[Olive]

My point was, less than a year after I bought a license, I would have expected support to include providing a release that fixes my problems. Call it v5 or V6, that's irrelevant to me.

Olive

[robk]

BTW - $30 is cheap for an upgrade. If you don't want the upgrade don't buy and stop complaining.

I'm not complaining, I bought the V6 ugrade the day it came out!

Rob

[heffe2001]

Originally Posted by blade

Of course I'd rather have another free upgrade, but I don't see it as any different than purchasing MCE, Windows XP etc... When the new version comes out your going to pay for those products even if you just purchased the old version the day before.

This isn't entirely true, if you were to buy a new PC today, it comes with a coupon for a free copy of the equivilent version of Vista (providing that the PC wasn't built months ago, but even then, with proof of purchase, most PC manufactures will pony up the upgrade). Just like the Sage cutoff, it's usually time-dependent.

[rickgillyon]

Originally Posted by heffe2001

This isn't entirely true, if you were to buy a new PC today, it comes with a coupon for a free copy of the equivilent version of Vista (providing that the PC wasn't built months ago, but even then, with proof of purchase, most PC manufactures will pony up the upgrade). Just like the Sage cutoff, it's usually time-dependent.

I've bought 4 Dell PCs and 4 laptops in the past three months, never seen such a thing yet.