SageTV: PVR vs. Media Center

[tchapin]

Well, SageTV changed the name of the product from SageTV to SageTV Media Center, didn't they? It seems like they think that they're a media center.

One of the reasons why I bought Sage and a few MVPs was so I could get access to all my media with one piece of software and one piece of hardware at every display. The only portion of the media that I wish was more flexible is the music section. I end up listening to whole albums and not doing much playlist types of stuff because of it.

In terms of being connected to my TVs, that's the state of affairs.

However, for mobile viewing, I use Orb from my phone and usually from a laptop as well. Placeshifter is nice, but the interface slows down a lot when outside my home network.

And for music listening while at a computer, I use J River's Media Center on my server and their Media Center Jukebox on my laptop or desktop machine. It's quicker and more flexible.

I had tried the SageMC STVi for connecting JRiver w/ SageTV, but never got repeatable satisfactory results.

I would love to get to the point where I could eliminate both of those "extra" pieces of software. I only found out about this recently, and haven't tried it out yet, but J River Media Center does allow TV placeshifting. Very interesting.

Todd

[tmiranda]

I have just about given up using Sage for my audio files. If I point Sage at my collection of 15,000 or so MP3's the UI on the HD100 slows down so much (all munus, not just music related) that it is unbearable.

[wado1971]

Originally Posted by stanger89

So going forward, I think Sage really needs to focus on getting their media functionality up to the same level as the PVR functionality. And at the moment I'm not sure how to do that....

I agree.

More & more options have become available to bring media into the living room & I see that trend increasing. Due to that, I've recently re-evaluated how I will manage my media in the future and what hardware/software combo I should choose.

I've decided to stay the course with SageTV for a few reasons:
1) First & foremost They have the PVR/DVR thing nailed!
2) I see continued improvement for 'Online Content'. IMO they see the writing on the wall and understand the importance to customers. (ie - hulu announcement & my hope/confidence that Netflix is next).
3) With the introduction of the HD200 as a 'Stand-Alone' device I think they have squarely announced that they will be shifting more focus to improving the media center functionality.
4) Lastly, and this is the one I'm less confident will happen, I think maybe... possibly they may improve the UI appearance.

So my short answer is: I use SageTV today because it's a great PVR/DVR..... I'll use it tomorrow because it will become a great media center (which in my definition includes bringing ALL media from both my HDD's & the internet seamlessly to my tv/remote).

Edit: So to finish the thought.... the UI Main Menu should have the focus on "Media Center" which I think is the future for SageTV.