"Switching to SageTV" Forum

[mayamaniac]

With all the BTV users switching over to SageTV, it reminds me of those Apple "Switch" commercials:

SageTV Guy: Hi, I'm a SageTV.
BTV Guy: Hi, I'm a BTV.



Anyway, lots of BTV users are asking questions about SageTV, maybe start a new "Switching to SageTV" forum. In this forum, have sub-forums such as:

Switching to SageTV

- Switching from BeyondTV
- Switching from MCE
- Switching from MythTV
- Switching from Meedio
- Switching from GBPVR
- Switching from Tivo
- Switching from ReplayTV
- Switching from Cable DVR
- Switching from DirectTV DVR
- Switching from Dish DVR

etc...

And in each sub-forum, have FAQs, Stickies, and Comparison Charts of the differences between the competing product versus SageTV. I think this will greatly help competing product users switch to SageTV.

Just a suggestion...

[Brent]

I think it's a great idea. I'm in the process of testing SageTV as we speak and if it goes well, I'll likely be switching for good. As I'm setting things up I'm taking notes and will share with the others where its helpful.

I'll also be asking plenty more questions as well of course

[jdamore]

Heres a lot of folks' opinions of why they dropped btv..
http://forums.sage.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=26990

I think the most important issue for a lot of converts is getting their hundreds of hours of recordings imported into the "recordings" in sage. We need an advanced import plugging quick!

SageTV Guy: I have the HDX
BTV Guy: I'm handsome

[Brent]

Originally Posted by jdamore

Heres a lot of folks' opinions of why they dropped btv..
http://forums.sage.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=26990

I think the most important issue for a lot of converts is getting their hundreds of hours of recordings imported into the "recordings" in sage. We need an advanced import plugging quick!

SageTV Guy: I have the HDX
BTV Guy: I'm handsome

I've followed that thread for a while now. If you want to know the number one reason BeyondTV users are switching to SageTV you just have to say the word "integration". It might sound strange in these parts but Snapstream a few years ago scrapped their 3/4th of the way complete integration of their Beyond Media Product into their Beyond Media product. Beyond TV does the pvr work and Beyond Media was the basic front-end that did video, music, dvd, photos etc. A very bad decision was made to give up on the HTPC front-end and sell BTV as a better pvr software for Microsoft's media center. I still shake my head at that mindset today.

Anyway, after saying they had "integration" on thier list and giving hope that it would happen just a little down the road, we are in the same place we were two years ago. BTV is better than it was then, but not by leaps and bounds. I still think Beyond TV has many advantages over SageTV including ease of setup, fewer problems (probably because of fewer options though) and more built-in features (sage requires comskip and true ff/rw plugins to get functionality that is built-in to the standard BTV install). With as good as SageTV is for features, plugins and strong user-community Sage is very, very good. If SageTV stepped up their standard interface "look and feel" and built-in more of these features to the standard install, they would easily beat the and BTV users that remain and even many Media Center users.

I personally wouldn't have switched to SageTV just for the extender, but I know many others who would and are. For me the new HD extender (if it's all it's cracked up to be) is just gravy. I like SageTV and it looks like it will be my HTPC software of choice very soon.

[gveres]

Just to offer a counter point, the integration doesn't mean anything to me. I am only interested in PVR functionality. The first reason I am looking at switching is because I bought a Mac and I want mac support (check for Sage). Then as I started to learn more about it, I realized that there actually is a solution for recording HDTV from my sat provider. This is now the most compelling reason (check for Sage).

Integration is nothing to me compared to those two items.

Greg

[flavius]

One forum would be enough, though.

[mayamaniac]

Let's keep the "BTV disappointments" posts in that thread Brent posted above. This thread is about setting up a forum for people who is using a competing product, but are thinking of, planning to, or beginning to switch to SageTV.

I'm a former BTV user and would've found it mighty useful had there been a specific forum that answers all my concerns before I switched. I really took an risk purchasing SageTV when switching back then because the SageTV trial is only 15 days and it wasn't enough time for me to thoroughly test a complicated software as SageTV.

Anyway, waiting to see what Jeff/Narflex or Andy/Opus4 thinks about this idea.