Advice before purchase: SageTV and HP MediaSmart WHS

[sksjedi]

Hello
I am looking to dump comcast and its dvr. I want to do the following:

I want to get rid of my cable tv provider and go back to over the air broadcast reception. The issue is that I need a DVR. There a a multitude of PC based DVR's out there using the WHS as a storage folder, but my PC draws a lot of power.

I want to do the following:

Hook up an antenna to a USB HDTV Capture device (to capture Over the Air (OTA) HD signal), plug that into the HP Mediasmart Server 475. Install DVR software on the server, and program it as a DVR. I can then stream to my main PC as needed, or to TV.

Will SageTV do the trick without any advanced tinkering? If so, what will I need to purchase?

Thanks in Advance

[S_M_E]

I don't recommend the prebuilt WHS boxes, they're usually underpowered and don't have enough RAM for my tastes but people do use them.

You'll also need a client or placeshifter (they are different) to play on a PC and you might look at an extender to play on a TV.

[Bandit]

I would also recommend the HD Homerun for your tuner. 2 OTA tuners per HDHR and they use network so don't have to be near the main box.

[Texas-Hansen]

I'm using a HP MediaSmart Server EX470 with a Sage HD200 extender and SageTV media center WHS addin software. I added the HD200 about 2 or so weeks ago. I do not use the system for capturing OTA television so I can't help in that area. I do use it for streaming ripped DVD movies and music. It works great. For my uses as listed above, I have not found it underpowered or having too little RAM (once I upgraded it). It now has 2GB of RAM (upgraded it but note the new HP MSS EX485/87 comes stock with 2 GB RAM). The processor is indeed only a single core AMD but it runs at 2.0 GHz and consumes very little power (the processor can, with a little work be upgraded to a dual core but you loose the power efficiency). (Also note that the new HPEX485/87 comes with an Intel Celeron single core 2.0GHZ processor). It's a very efficient little box and takes up very little space. It has 4 drive bays and the drives are hot swappable. Easy in, easy out. I like it and it works very well with SageTV and the HD200 extender.

You might check out www.mediasmartserver.net to see if anyone has done what you want and how it handled the tasks with the single core processor. It's a forum dedicated to the HP MediaSmart Server and, like this forum, has lots of good info regarding the HP MSS.

[S_M_E]

Originally Posted by Texas-Hansen

I do use it for streaming ripped DVD movies and music. It works great. For my uses as listed above, I have not found it underpowered or having too little RAM (once I upgraded it). It now has 2GB of RAM (upgraded it but note the new HP MSS EX485/87 comes stock with 2 GB RAM). The processor is indeed only a single core AMD but it runs at 2.0 GHz and consumes very little power (the processor can, with a little work be upgraded to a dual core but you loose the power efficiency). (Also note that the new HPEX485/87 comes with an Intel Celeron single core 2.0GHZ processor).

I consider that underpowered but...YMMV. I still suggest building them rather than buying them, they're more expandable/versatile that way. Single core or Celeron isn't something I'd ever recommend for a Sage+WHS server, even if it does work for light usage.

[sandor]

Originally Posted by Texas-Hansen

I'm using a HP MediaSmart Server EX470 with a Sage HD200 extender... I do not use the system for capturing OTA television so I can't help in that area. I do use it for streaming ripped DVD movies and music. It works great. For my uses as listed above, I have not found it underpowered or having too little RAM (once I upgraded it). ...

yes, you are right, a single 2.0 ghz Celeron or basic AMD chip is fine for SD-DVD and music, especially if you are using a HD200 entender for viewing.

However, i bet it would be a royal pain to use that hardware to properly and consistently playback HD. Recording OTA HD is a piece of cake, it simply writing a <19 mbps stream to disk. Playback of OTA HD (and all HD) is the power hungry, CODEC screwy monster.

...oh, and if you add in commercial skipping, transcoding, multiple clients, etc, all of a sudden even a 2 ghz Core2Duo starts to seem a little wimpy.

[SWKerr]

I assume the WHS is a sunk cost at this point but you can definitely get more value by building your own if that is not the case. THat is a weak cpu but As long as you don't run comskip I doubt you will have any problems. (You can still use it but it may take forever.) My WHS uses almost no CPU in normal activities.

The HD HomeRun is the best option for your setup as you don't have any internal ports. ($160) I know it will run on WHS. You can buy a USB tuner but you will only have one tuner and WHS support is unlikely. (You can probably find a driver that will work if you try it but no guarantees.)

After the server install you can use the Sage Client on you PC to control recording and playback content. (This assumes a reasonably decent PC)

For playback on the TV you have several options.
1. Sage Extender. $200
2. HTPC $300-$400 (with Sage Client)
The extended does not currently do Hulu and will probably never support every online option. It does do some. If you are giving up cable this may be more important to you. The primary advantage of the HTPC is that you can do any online TV viewing with it. The negative is it uses more power and is more difficult to setup.

For my analog TV I actually have a VGA converter that converts to componet and then eventually to the Coax that goes to multiple TVs. I control it with IR extenders and a Firefly remote. So it is not impossible to use your current PC for the TV depending on your setup.

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by SWKerr

THat is a weak cpu but As long as you don't run comskip I doubt you will have any problems. (You can still use it but it may take forever.) My WHS uses almost no CPU in normal activities.

I'm not entirely convinced the CPU is all that slow. My old server was a 2.0GHz (166Mhz FSB) Athlon XP, and it didn't have serious problems running Show Analyzer on HD mpeg2 recordings. I think it was even able to keep up in real-time, as long as there was only one recording. It was also able to transcode HD files to my MVP at the lower quality setting.

The HD HomeRun is the best option for your setup as you don't have any internal ports. ($160)

I definitely agree with this. Get the HD HomeRun. It's a little more expensive than some alternatives, but it's well worth it.

And, I'm actually going to deviate from some of the other suggestions in this thread and say that it probably makes more sense for you to go with a pre-built system like the HP Media Smart server than to try to build your own. You could probably put together a faster machine for about the same price, but I'm not convinced it's worth the extra effort unless you like that sort of thing.

For the same reason, I'd recommend the HD200 extender over a HTPC client. But as SWKerr pointed out, it doesn't work with online video sites. Although SageTV is/was working on Hulu support on the extenders, given the Boxee situation I'm not entirely convinced it's going to happen. So, if online video is important, you'll want an HTPC.