Want to make the jump

[crimkid]

I have been lurking here for about 1 year, but havent had the equipment or funds to really try. Now i have a little of both. My question is, i have a Dell 1600 server that i want to use, dual 900mhz processors, 2 GB RAM, if i get the Sage bundle that has the software and dual tuner card, and i get the media extender for 2 TV's, do i have to have seperate cable running into the TV?

I have been reading and not been able to figure out, if i am recording 2 things at a time, with the dual tuner, that means i cannot watch regular TV right? My wife and i both work, so we tend to record a lot of stuff. I just needed to know how many tuner cards i needed, if we were also recording 2 shows at 1 time? and if i have one dual tuner card, can i record something, and have both TV's watching different shows? I am still trying to figure out how everything works with Sage. I thank everyone for any input.

[GKusnick]

Watching and recording count the same as far as tuners go. So you need as many tuners as the number of different shows you want to watch or record at the same time. With two tuners you can watch two different shows, or record one and watch one, or record two (and watch none). If you want to do three things at the same time (e.g. record one and watch two, or record two and watch one), that would require three tuners.

This is all assuming we're talking about different shows. Two different TVs watching the same show count as only one show being watched, and take up only one tuner. Similarly, if you watch a show that's already being recorded (or watched by another TV), that's still only one show and one tuner.

If you plan to do all your watching through Sage, then you could in theory disconnect the incoming cable from your TV and connect it to the PC instead. But if your signal is strong enough, I'd suggest using a splitter to feed both the PC and the TV, so that in a pinch you can still watch TV the old-fashioned way, using the TV's own built-in tuner, for those times when Sage has all its tuners tied up with scheduled recordings.

[paulbeers]

You can not watch 2 live shows and record 1, if you only have 2 tuners....however, if you aren't watching live shows (aka pre-recorded), then you can watch as many as you want and still record 2 shows. Watching live tv thru Sage is inessence recording a show, and is dependent on the amount of tuners.

[davephan]

Crimkid,

Wow, you have a lot of patience to be standing on the edge watching the forum for a year before driving in. What are you using now to record TV programs?

I have one PVR-350 tuner, so I can only record one program at a time. One tuner isn't enough for me, because of recording conflicts. I am eventually going to add more tuners.

I have two MVP extenders. However, only one of my MVP extenders is licensed, so I can only use one MVP at a time. If you have two MVP extenders, one for each of two TV's, you will need to license both of them to use them at the same time.

If you have two tuners, you could record two programs at once, and watch up to two different previously recorded programs at the same time. It won't take very long before you have a 'backlog' of recorded programs that you have not watched. So, you might not be watching 'live TV' that often.

I usually don't watch live TV through SageTV. I usually just switch the TV input to the cable TV when watching 'live TV' and switch the TV back to the MVP when I want to watch SageTV recorded programs.


Dave

[Yalbik]

crimkid,

One thing you may want to understand (assuming you don't already have some other PVR solution), is that typically once you have a PVR, your live TV watching drops drastically.

Right now, I ONLY watch live TV for sporting events. And even then, I watch "near live", so I can FFWD all the pointless gabbing.

Everything else I watch recorded so I can skip commercials, pause when I want, FFWD boring parts, etc.

But the info provided is correct. Each unique show that is being recorded simultaneously uses one tuner. Watching live tv is equivalent to recording the show.

You do not need cable hooked up to your TV, but you may want it anyways to take advantage of the TV's tuner (if all your sage tuners are in use).

Personally, I've disconnected cable to all my TV's in order to reduce the number of splits (picture quality goes down with each split). I've never missed it, but as I said I rarely watch live tv.

[John@TunerUK]

I'll second that. Since getting sage I hardly ever watch live TV. Maybe once or twice a week perhaps.
Just set your favourites, and let sage stockpile everything until you're ready to view

And with all your ripped DVD's just a few clicks of a remote away, I find myself watching those more too