Should I switch?

[flex1grip]

I use MCE now and was wondering about SageTV.

I have a few simple questions. I read up on some stuff and through this forum some but I only found older posts before V6:

1. I use MyMovies in MCE. Without having to manually move XML's etc. Is there an automated way, in sage, to import my folder of movies and retrieve album art and movie info etc? I heard I can use dvd profiler to do this but I was hoping that every time my binary news downloader added a video to the folder something could monitor it and list it.

2. If I fully switch to sage, is there a way to make my "Green Button" on my MCE remote fire up sage?

I cant remember the other questions I had.

Thanks a lot guys!

Ray

[petereader]

Welcome to Sage (Hopefully )flex1grip.

I don't have much experience with MCE but I will try and anwer your questions as best as I can.

There a few threads that talk about using the MCE button with Sage. The first link appears to be a MediaPortal plugin someone modified for Sage. The download link has been removed (I guess the author wan't very happy about it being used here), but the poster does mention to contact him if you still need it. Try sending him a PM.
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22718

This link talks about enabling the MCE button through HIP:
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22150

As far as importing your movie folders, you should just be able to add the directory where your movies are to Sage under Video Directory. They should then just show up in My Movies
I personally use SageMC as my interface and it allows me to grab metadata (including cover art) of my movies from imdb and save it with the click of a button (well, a couple of buttons. I know you could also sync your DVD Profiler Data, but I don't use it so I couldn't really give you any details on that.

I hope this at least helps to answer part of your question. If you'd like me to elaborate on any of this just let me know.

[Alfiegerner]

I'm not sure if there is any way of getting profiles / cover art for a collection of movies at once in sage, or if there is any way to automate the process for new files.

Flachbar, is this a possible addition to SageMC?

Out of interest, what is making you switch from MCE? You'll be in good hands with Sage btw, I'm away from home at the moment and just been using the placeshifter

[flex1grip]

I have tried out all of the DVR software on the market. There is a lot of software that I like but the main thing I want from a DVR package is that I want it to feel store bought. I have MCE set up so well right now that my girlfriend clicks through TV and Movies like she is using a charter DVR. She goes through the movie list and see's the cover for, let's say, The Lion King. Clicks on it and plays it.

The two main titles I have tested are:

MythTV: Good software but, if I'm gone my roommate can't fix it. The MCE remote doesn't really match the software well and the buttons don't perform how you want them to. Takes FOREVER to boot up and is missing the extra little details, plug-ins, and support. It is a pain in the ass to get everything working and updated. If anything breaks I have to read for an hour in the forums and try to get everything working... meanwhile the TV is unusable.

MCE: Great, I love the look and features it has. I like how it makes you think you bought a space-age tivo. What I don't like is the feel of it. Many menus take a bit to load, or the remote will act really slugish because the menus are still loading.

I want to try sage because when I installed V5 the menu's were snappy and quick. But sage v5 freezes after a couple seconds of live TV from my Hauppauge.

I installed v6 and it wont even get past the loading screen. So, so far, Im not happy with it. But, its a computer, and its probably just something I have done or need to fix. So I am going to give it a full out try before I decide what to use.

Thanks again for your help everyone!

Ray

[Alfiegerner]

Likewise I've trawled through the PVR software market several times.

Now and then I set up another system but always end up using Sage as our main day to day system. Basically, as a PVR i think it's best of breed and it doesn't look too shabby when you load SageMC (just my opinion). I think Mediaportal and MCE have some things that they do better than Sage (user interface mainly) although last time I tried Myth it still felt pretty amateurish to me.

When the Mediaportal TV server is out I'll certainly be tempted to have a look at that, athough at the moment I'm pretty engranined in the Sage camp. I'm working away fom home at the moment and placeshifter rules.

[sainswor99]

Hopefully this post won't offend the moderator gods, but honesty is the best policy. Here's my .02:

I have no experience with MCE, so take the following with a grain of salt. I think Sage is the best PVR software that incorporates full media center functionality (ie, Photos & Music as well as PVR). If you are a person that likes to tweak and or customize settings, Sage offers a lot of opportunity. However, in my opinion, the GUI navigational structure is confusing, and as a stock setup, lacks flair. If you want a simple PVR system that looks good out-of-the-box, but has fewer customization options and less media integration, you may want to look at another alternative.

In other words, I think SageTV has a lot of power and functionality if you have the patience and bravado to experiment, but there are other alternatives if you want a simple PVR system.

Stu

[travisbell]

Hey guys, thought I would chime in as well.

My history started back in the day with Meedio, and as time wore on I found myself using MCE exclusively. I have though, since version 4, owned a license to Sage.

MCE is great, it's my #1 for looks and usability. I actually had a tough time giving it up (especially) with Vista MCE. Man, that is one sexy media center.

Here's what it came down to for me though, and please do understand that everyones needs and uses are different.

I (used to) do all my media center(ing) through my Xbox 360, and the rather huge limitation of being pigeon-holed into using MPEG2 and WMV video is a huge, huge practical use factor. As of yesterday I think I had 400 some videos. Out of the 400, 370 are Xvid or AVC files, that, do not play natively on the 360. This was a huge win for Sage.

In regards to live TV, MCE is a rockstar. The best on the market IMO. Interface is unbelievably slick, and sexy and it aways works. I have never had a recording go bad, or not start, and like I said, it is just awesome. MCE is the obvious winner here for me.

For music and pictures, MCE really wins out as well. But here's why I am still always wrestling with this. MCE (IMO) is better in 3/4 areas, and could really just benefit from better codec support on their extenders. This feature is so important though, that is counts for probably 6/10 points. Hence, me using Sage currently.

I love Sage, but I love MCE too. It's such a difficult decision for me. I don't use a lot of the extra features of Sage so when it comes right down to it the decision doesn't even have that many factors to it. I have never been quiet about my love for MCE and should MS ever roll out the rumored "softsled" OR allow 3rd party codecs on the Xbox360, I am going back. Hands down, it's not even a contest for me.

Cheers guys,

[rickgillyon]

Favourite handling. That's why Sage wins it for me. I can tell Sage to record everything with "mountain" anywhere in the title, with "everest" anywhere in the description, or just stuff I've never watched with CSI in the title. I can tell it I want any of those in a certain time period on a Tuesday.

And I can have ten tuners and they don't charge me any extra. Woot!

[Alfiegerner]

I think that for a lot of people the dvb-c/s support is very important. If MCE was able to handle these standard I'd be tempted to try it. At the moment the Sage support for them is in its infancy, but at least we have plugins (my theatre, SBDA Recorder) to make these useable. The fact I can't use my dvb-c / s cards in MCE at all makes it a no-go.

[travisbell]

Originally Posted by Alfiegerner

I think that for a lot of people the dvb-c/s support is very important. If MCE was able to handle these standard I'd be tempted to try it. At the moment the Sage support for them is in its infancy, but at least we have plugins (my theatre, SBDA Recorder) to make these useable. The fact I can't use my dvb-c / s cards in MCE at all makes it a no-go.

That's not 100% true...

http://www.digital-everywhere.com/cms/en/index.php

They do have it working although it's a bit of a hack... not that the MyTheatre we use right now isn't... but it is possible.

Cheers,

[rickgillyon]

Originally Posted by travisbell

That's not 100% true...

http://www.digital-everywhere.com/cms/en/index.php

And I must say, I've tried a *lot* of dvbc cards (Terratec, Twinhan, Technotrend, Hauppauge), and the FireDTV/FloppyDTV is by far the best and most reliable.

[travisbell]

Originally Posted by rickgillyon

And I must say, I've tried a *lot* of dvbc cards (Terratec, Twinhan, Technotrend, Hauppauge), and the FireDTV/FloppyDTV is by far the best and most reliable.

Yes, I agree. I went through 2 cards before trying the FireDTV and love it. It's so reliable and stable, I never even knew what I was missing.

[Alfiegerner]

Originally Posted by travisbell

That's not 100% true...

http://www.digital-everywhere.com/cms/en/index.php

They do have it working although it's a bit of a hack... not that the MyTheatre we use right now isn't... but it is possible.

Cheers,

Very interesting, thanks for the heads up.

[jayrbrown77]

Originally Posted by travisbell

Hey guys, thought I would chime in as well.

My history started back in the day with Meedio, and as time wore on I found myself using MCE exclusively. I have though, since version 4, owned a license to Sage.

MCE is great, it's my #1 for looks and usability. I actually had a tough time giving it up (especially) with Vista MCE. Man, that is one sexy media center.

Here's what it came down to for me though, and please do understand that everyones needs and uses are different.

I (used to) do all my media center(ing) through my Xbox 360, and the rather huge limitation of being pigeon-holed into using MPEG2 and WMV video is a huge, huge practical use factor. As of yesterday I think I had 400 some videos. Out of the 400, 370 are Xvid or AVC files, that, do not play natively on the 360. This was a huge win for Sage.

In regards to live TV, MCE is a rockstar. The best on the market IMO. Interface is unbelievably slick, and sexy and it aways works. I have never had a recording go bad, or not start, and like I said, it is just awesome. MCE is the obvious winner here for me.

For music and pictures, MCE really wins out as well. But here's why I am still always wrestling with this. MCE (IMO) is better in 3/4 areas, and could really just benefit from better codec support on their extenders. This feature is so important though, that is counts for probably 6/10 points. Hence, me using Sage currently.

I love Sage, but I love MCE too. It's such a difficult decision for me. I don't use a lot of the extra features of Sage so when it comes right down to it the decision doesn't even have that many factors to it. I have never been quiet about my love for MCE and should MS ever roll out the rumored "softsled" OR allow 3rd party codecs on the Xbox360, I am going back. Hands down, it's not even a contest for me.

Cheers guys,

I have to agree with you on this. I recently started using MCE because I could never get HD 1080i content to playback smoothly. Can't do it with MCE either, probably the Nvidia Decoder, but using the Xbox360 as the media extender for HD playback works great. I have the same issues with the .divx playback at the 360, so currently I have to switch video source from the 360 to the DVR to playback .divx easily.

Another thing that I enjoy about MCE was the ease of use, setting up the HD channels was a breeze compared to Sage. MCE is just not as buggy as SageTv is.

So it is a toss up. On one hand I would like to get SageTV working well, but on the other hand I don't want to spend countless hours trying to get it working. So currently MCE with the Xbox360 media extender is working out very well for me.