New to Media Storing and SageTV

[joshabts]

Hello all!

I am new to the whole media sharing and storing and SageTV scene. I was hoping someone could help me out and point me in the right direction given my current situation.

I purchased a Windows Home Server, and have that up and running. I would like to store all media on it, including recorded TV, ripped DVDs, music, photos, files, etc.

That said, I also have a home theater PC we have been using as our main place for storing videos, as well as it has a tv tuner card in it for watching our cable. This computer is currently running Vista Ultimate.

I am wondering what I would need in order to be able to get cable from any networked computer (presumably utilizing the home server), as well as be able to call up any ripped DVD that I want that would be stored with its information (cover, short info, etc.) on the server as well. I also have a TV in my bedroom that is currently standalone with a cable input. I am looking to add some sort of extender or a small pc in order to access all content on that TV as well.

Is SageTV what I would be looking for in order to do all of this because from my understanding I cannot directly record and stream live tv with just media center and home server? If so, what software do I need to look at purchasing in terms of products and licensing? Will I be able to "stream" my cable from my home server to the living room tv or my bedroom tv, or will that only let me watch recorded shows?

Any guidance with this would be greatly appreciated! I am at a loss for where to go next!

Thanks,
Josh

[stanger89]

Let's start with the easy part, yes SageTV will do all of that. You'll need a copy of SageTV Media Center for WHS, your choice of tuner cards, and enough storage space in the WHS machine for all your media. That will handle the TV recording, media storing and streaming it all around the house.

Now for the rest of the system there are several options:
SageTV Client
SageTV Placeshifter (one license included with Sage for WHS)
SageTV Media Extender (aka Hauppauge Media MVP)
SageTV STX-HD100 HD Media Extender

I'll let you surf the forum for the details on each, as it's been discussed in depth, but here's my recommendation:

For any PC you will be doing serious watching on (ie if it's driving an HDTV or something), you'll want a copy of SageTV Client.

For other PCs where you just want to casually view TV, Placeshifter will work fine, and has the benefit of you only need as many licenses as you'll be using simultaneously.

For the TVs, I'd go with HD100 Extenders, it's just a better device than the MVP, more capable, but for SD only TVs, the "MVP" will work fine.

With that, you'll be able to watch LiveTV, Recorded TV, DVDs, whatever other media you want, on any TV/display with some Sage client (software or extender) attached.

[joshabts]

Okay, let me make sure I am clear then.

So if I purchase the Media Center SageTV version that will cover my WHS computer.

I would then want an extender to connect my TV directly. And that would require (comes bundled with) a Media Extender License (aka MVP License?).

If I purchase the SageTV client, can that only be installed on one computer, or once I purchase the client software, can I install it on as many computers as I need?

Thanks for the quick reply and help!

[joshabts]

Also forgot one other question. Is it possible to tune more than one cable channel at a time using a standard TV tuner card? Or would I have to have a dual tuner? I want to be able to watch one channel in one room, and a different channel in another. Not necessarily have to record, but at least view.

Thanks!

[Thomas Wischgol]

Originally Posted by joshabts

Also forgot one other question. Is it possible to tune more than one cable channel at a time using a standard TV tuner card? Or would I have to have a dual tuner? I want to be able to watch one channel in one room, and a different channel in another. Not necessarily have to record, but at least view.

You will have to have 2 tuners, either in form of a dual tuner card or two separate tuner cards, if you want to watch two different channels in either room. Once you get used to SageTV (and DVRs for that matter) you probably will notice that you no longer watch live TV anymore. This means that you may not need additional tuner cards even if you add more clients (in form of HD extender, MVP, or Sage clients) to your system.

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by joshabts

If I purchase the SageTV client, can that only be installed on one computer, or once I purchase the client software, can I install it on as many computers as I need?

SageTVClient is licensed per installation. If you want to run it on two different computers, you need two licenses.

Placeshifter, on the other hand, is licensed per connection. You can install it on as many machines as you like, so long as you never have more active connections than licenses.

Placeshifter licenses are interchangeable with Extender licenses and install on the server. Client licenses are not interchangeable and must be installed on the client PC.

Originally Posted by joshabts

Also forgot one other question. Is it possible to tune more than one cable channel at a time using a standard TV tuner card? Or would I have to have a dual tuner? I want to be able to watch one channel in one room, and a different channel in another. Not necessarily have to record, but at least view.

To watch or record more than one channel simultaneously, you need more than one tuner. Each individual tuner can record or watch just one channel at a time (so that would be two channels for a dual-tuner card).

In Sage there's no real distinction between watching and recording. Live TV is just a recording that you're playing back at the same time as it's recording.