Thinking about SageTV, have some questions...

[robhix]

Hey all,

I have been bitten by the PVR bug (ok, really its my wife, but I like it too). We have been playing around with GBPVR and are somewhat satisfied. We are considering purchase of SageTV, but I have some questions.

First, let me say that right now we are doing everything on the computer screen. I have no interface to the television yet because I am slightly confused. I have a WinTV-PVR-150 (non MCE) capture card, a Dish 301 receiver, and the computer is a 3GHz Pentium with 1 GB of RAM.

First Question: I need to be able to use the computer at the same time I am using SageTV. This requirement will go away in the future when we can actually build a dedicated media center PC, but right now I have to live with it. What hardware do I need to make this happed with SageTV? With GBPVR I would use a MediaMVP to stream the interface to the television. Can this be done with a good video card, and if so which one? Can this be done using the SageTV Media Extender?

Second Question: Has anyone on Dish network had a problem with the program guide in SageTV being wrong. This is the main problem we have with GBPVR right now. None of our local channels show up like they do on the Dish Network guide.

I am planning on ordering a USB-UIRT device since they seem to work better with Sage.

Once I have all the equipment together I will download the trial verison of SageTV and try it out. I am just trying to get a little information ahead of time.

Your comments and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Rob Hix

[paulbeers]

While I do not have satellite television (I use good old cable), I haven't read any problems with program guides so I my guess is there isn't any problem, but someone else can advise on this.

The main reason for chiming in, is that the Sage Extender is a Hauppauge MediaMVP, just like GBPVR. The difference though (unless this has changed), is that GBPVR requires a large of amount of processing power from the server since all the work (such as moving up and down in the menus, etc) is done on the server. The Sage solution, actually loads Sage tv software onto the MediaMVP and the only thing your server has to do is stream the videos to the MediaMVP. All decoding/meu changes/etc is done on the unit itself, leaving your server with very little processing demand by the client. This is a much perferred way if you are not going to be using a dedicated server.

As a side note, the MediaMVP has probably the best SD output (at least at an S-video level, my Nvidia cards with component and DVI connection looks even better, but that also could be the higher quality connection) and lets not forget that it is completely silent which makes it great for your livingroom/bedroom/etc. No one wants a bunch of fans and hard drives whirling in the living room (although notebook hard drives/silent PSU's/quite CPU fans can realllyyyyy help).

As far as hardware, to be honest, getting a MediaMVP and a USB-UIRT would probably do, especially if you are more of the Office/Internet type on your main rig. If you do a lot of gaming or video editing, etc you are going to want to do a seperate server. The nice thing about Sage, if you use it in client/server setup, is that the server does not need a whole lot. Look at my server setup. It is about a 4 year old computer that I had around my house (I did up the ram as it used to only have 256mb) and using a client/server setup is the most stable route. The reason is that the video playback is always the biggest crash culprit. If you have a dedicated HTPC that does both recording and playback, if you have a crash during playback, anything that is recording is lost. With a client/server setup, if the client crashes, the server continues on recording and no loss/no foul. My server rarely crashes (it happened two days ago for the first time in months).

Just my .02 worth.

[robhix]

paulbeers,

Ok, another question. The Sage extender pretty much roped me into using Sage forever whereas the MediaMVP would allow me a more flexible setup for later use. I am assuming that purchasing the MediaMVP license gives you the same thing from the MediaMVP that you would get from the Sage extender. The only difference I really see it the Sage extender lists the S Video output and coax S/PDIF output wheras the MediaMVP does not. I would like to have the two funcitons. So MediaMVP gives me more flexibility (if I ever wanted to leave Sage), and the Sage extender gives me more flexability in terms of the connections. I guess I have a choice to make here.

From the way I read your original post, using the Sage extender / MediaMVP route is more like a client/server setup. The extender is the "client" and my main computer is the "server". Would this help resolve the possible playback crash problem that you were referring to?

Future Plans:
I have two Dish 301 receivers, and I imagine both will eventually be in the system with two capture cards in the computer. The main Home Theater will either be using a media center PC type setup or the Sage extender / MediaMVP (more preferable to me) route. In the neat future I want to add a television in the bedroom and an extender device. Hardly if ever will both telvsions be used at the same time. For the most part this will be a system set up to let the kids watch whatever they want to on the home theater while mom's and dad's shows are being recorded in the background. Then mom and dad will go to the bedroom after the kids are fast asleep and watch their recorded shows. My only problem is that I may need one more dish receiver in order to tape both shows for me and for my wife.


Thanks again for the help,
Rob Hix

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by robhix

The Sage extender pretty much roped me into using Sage forever whereas the MediaMVP would allow me a more flexible setup for later use. I am assuming that purchasing the MediaMVP license gives you the same thing from the MediaMVP that you would get from the Sage extender. The only difference I really see it the Sage extender lists the S Video output and coax S/PDIF output wheras the MediaMVP does not. I would like to have the two funcitons.

At the moment, the only SageTV media extender is the Hauppauge MVP. Since you already have one, all you would need is the extender license & then register that on the server.

If your MVP doesn't have the same types of connections, that just means you have an older model.

- Andy

[paulbeers]

Originally Posted by Opus4

At the moment, the only SageTV media extender is the Hauppauge MVP. Since you already have one, all you would need is the extender license & then register that on the server.

If your MVP doesn't have the same types of connections, that just means you have an older model.

- Andy

Yeah - What Andy Said...

Both are the same, just an older model if no SPDIF output (I only have 2 older models). Infact one I bought from ebay before Sage supported them and the other I bought from Sage directly.

And yes, if you used a client/server setup where the Hauppauge is a client, and your main computer is a server, that would protect you from playback crashes. *see my signature* I have the occassional crash (not so much form the MVP's, more from my full client rigs since they play back HDTV) when doing playback, but rarely from my server. I used to have a single HDTV computer with two tuner cards and while it was fairly stable, it would occassionally crash and I would lose anything it was recording. When I switched to my current setup...the WAF went thru the roof. When a client crashes, sure it is annoying, but all you have to do is reboot and start watching the show again. My wife loves to start watching something in the living room and then when it gets late, just continue to watch the show in the bedroom.

Once again, just my .02 worth.

[robhix]

One more question...

What is the difference (if any) between SageTV and Sage Media Center. I see both mentioned in the forums and other places, but do not see both options in ordering the software.

Thanks again,
Rob Hix

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by robhix

What is the difference (if any) between SageTV and Sage Media Center.

There is less typing involved when you write "SageTV" instead of "SageTV Media Center".

- Andy

[mickp]

I'd like to point out that crashes aren't the norm (for me at least) and if this is happening then it may be time to look at what's causing the problem.

Just my 2c.

Mick.

[PhillJones]

Originally Posted by robhix

One more question...

What is the difference (if any) between SageTV and Sage Media Center. I see both mentioned in the forums and other places, but do not see both options in ordering the software.

Thanks again,
Rob Hix

There is an add-on called sage MC which gives sage an MCE kind of look and radically improves the functionality of the media center (your music collection, photos, videos you download etc) part of sage.

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/down...hp?do=cat&id=1


Since it was generously written by a third party though, it's not officially supported by sage.