Possible future user needs help!

[glen4cindy]

I've been reading and reading, but, I am having trouble absorbing everything I would need for my house.

I currently have 3 TV's, with 2 Tivo style DirecTv receivers, and 1 DirecTv DVR.

I am trying to find a way to ditch DirecTv. I have BASIC cable which is 30 channels bundled with my HSI and telephone service. I could take my dish down, use my basic cable and OTA. I also have Netflix Instant Viewing that would serve to suppliment what I am losing by ditching DTV.

I want to be able to record at least 2 streams like I can now with DTV. But, I need to serve 3 TV's so I don't think 1 PC would be enough.

I don't have HD TV's or HD tuners so I don't think the HD sharing box would be an option for me. In the store, I saw SageTV Client License for MVP, which I don't quite understand, but, I think that allows me to share Sage over my home network to different TV's but, TV's don't connect to the network, so would this mean a media PC for each TV?

I might be getting to the point where my expense in getting these things setup and going is going to exceed what I will save by ditching DTV, or may be in the situation where it will take some time to recoup my savings.

I would also like to be able to use content from Hulu and similar sites to supplement content we would lose from DTV too.

Thanks for any help and answers you can give me.

[mike_15]

I don't have HD TV's or HD tuners so I don't think the HD sharing box would be an option for me. In the store, I saw SageTV Client License for MVP, which I don't quite understand, but, I think that allows me to share Sage over my home network to different TV's but, TV's don't connect to the network, so would this mean a media PC for each TV?

Media MVP
The MVP is an alternative to a full computer. This like all SageTV systems need network access. It is not as powerful as a full computer but is simpler and more cost effective. It works well for analog SD content, but it wasn't intended for HD but can be used for HD with some success. it forces your main computer (server) to convert the HD to SD. To get around this Sage came out with a HD client, HD Home Theater This was designed for HD content and the server does not have additional processing to send the video to the other TV. either of these could be used instead of an additional computer at the other 2 TV's.

I could take my dish down, use my basic cable and OTA....I want to be able to record at least 2 streams like I can now with DTV.

To keep similar function you will need at least two tuner cards, one for the OTA and another for the two analog cable lines.

I would consider the HVR-2200 as one of your cards, it is a single input two tuner card, it has an internal splitter. This would future proof you you could use it for your analog cable for now, and also in the future you could also use it for QAM should you upgrade your analog to digital (OTA is also an option)
http://www.hauppauge.com/site/produc..._internal.html

Other than that you would need one more tuner for your OTA.
NewEgg
the HVR-1250 is an inexpensive third tuner. it would be good for QAM or OTA but doesn't have hardware encoding so I would not use the analog input.

something to also know is some tuners are hybrid, meaning they have separate inputs for analog and digital signals. but only one can be used at a time. If you get one of these, only plan to use it for either analog or digital, switching on the fly doesn't work smoothly.

(I should have went to sleep hours ago, so I apologize if some of this isn't clear)
Mike

[freedml]

Here's the short answer.

One PC is plenty for the house, but dedicate it to the recording function.

You'll have to run networking cable from the PC to each TV and buy 3 HD Theater Extender boxes and a network switch. I know your TVs aren't HD (yet), but it's much easier on the PC if it delivers HD quality to the set-top box.

You'll need two tuners or a dual tuner. If you want to keep cable then one of them will need to be compatible with your cable system (QAM, Analog, whatever) and you'll need to have a way to have SageTV control the cable box.

That's it. For some people SageTV works great right away, but more likely you'll have to fuss with it and tweak it to get it to work well. If you're up for that, then jump in.

[glen4cindy]

Originally Posted by freedml

Here's the short answer.

One PC is plenty for the house, but dedicate it to the recording function.

You'll have to run networking cable from the PC to each TV and buy 3 HD Theater Extender boxes and a network switch. I know your TVs aren't HD (yet), but it's much easier on the PC if it delivers HD quality to the set-top box.

You'll need two tuners or a dual tuner. If you want to keep cable then one of them will need to be compatible with your cable system (QAM, Analog, whatever) and you'll need to have a way to have SageTV control the cable box.

That's it. For some people SageTV works great right away, but more likely you'll have to fuss with it and tweak it to get it to work well. If you're up for that, then jump in.

That's a hugh laundry list that will certainly not save me any money over DTV, at least not right away!

I've got no cable box to worry about, just what comes over the coax, and they offer our OTA DTV signals so a tuner that would take advantage of the multiple streams would be a plus.

I'm quite sure I don't want to go into the $600 expense of the HD Theatre boxes before I even get my feet wet with Sage. Since right now, 100% of my TV content is SD, I might investigate the MVP box from Hauppauge right now if I go the Sage route. I could get by with 2 TV's to start.

I also would still need a dedicated HTPC to even begin to use Sage, and actually 3 tuners would be nice. On Tuesday evenings, my wife likes to record American Idol AND The Biggest Loser. Having a 3rd programming choice would be nice.

Does Sage have the ability to add Hulu, Joost or other services that would stream the shows that I will lose by dropping the Discovery pack on DTV?

I would like to be able to browse these sources for content should there be anything in the guide that I don't like, or should I only be able to have two sources and want to watch something online.

Will Sage output Closed Captions in the video signal the way my DTV does now? My family uses a TV Guardian to filter out foul language from TV and movies, and this unit requires CC to work.

Thanks,

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by glen4cindy

That's a hugh laundry list that will certainly not save me any money over DTV, at least not right away!

I've got no cable box to worry about, just what comes over the coax, and they offer our OTA DTV signals so a tuner that would take advantage of the multiple streams would be a plus.

I'm quite sure I don't want to go into the $600 expense of the HD Theatre boxes before I even get my feet wet with Sage. Since right now, 100% of my TV content is SD, I might investigate the MVP box from Hauppauge right now if I go the Sage route. I could get by with 2 TV's to start.

Seriously, don't even waste your money on the MVP. It works OK, but the HD200 is way better. It sounds like you'll be recording HD, if you do that and use the MVP the PC needs to transcode the HD into SD so the MVP can play it. That takes a LOT of horsepower on the server side. Where as the HD200 can just play them directly. I think the HD200 will save you money in the long run as you'll probably end up getting them eventually anyway.

I also would still need a dedicated HTPC to even begin to use Sage, and actually 3 tuners would be nice. On Tuesday evenings, my wife likes to record American Idol AND The Biggest Loser. Having a 3rd programming choice would be nice.

Not necessarilly, if you've got a spare PC lying around, that would probably be plenty to run a SageTV server feeding HD extenders. My server is an Athlon XP 1800+.

Does Sage have the ability to add Hulu, Joost or other services that would stream the shows that I will lose by dropping the Discovery pack on DTV?

The HD200 can do some of that via PlayOn.

[freedml]

Originally Posted by stanger89

the HD200s will save you money in the long run as you'll probably end up getting them eventually anyway.

Been there, done that. If you already know what you want to do and how you're going to do it, then why ask?

It isn't all about saving money. Part of the advantage of SageTV is having your whole audio/video library available to every TV in the house.

One of my favorite extra features is having my vacation/family pictures as the screen saver when the TVs are left on.

I would say that MVPs 'barely' work. They put a huge processing load on the server.

[glen4cindy]

Originally Posted by freedml

If you already know what you want to do and how you're going to do it, then why ask?

That's just it. I don't know exactly what I am going to do.

I like the look of the SageTV menus. The look really similar to my Tivo menus and I think it would be easiest for my wife to get used to.

There just seem to be so many things available with the SageTv that I don't even know where to begin. I know I want 2 TV's minimum. Right now, I have 3 TV's all with dual tuners. I don't see that happening with Sage, but, what I don't have is a media library available at each TV. What I record on my Tivo upstairs, I have to watch UPSTAIRS. When I want to save a show off to a DVD, I have to sit and do it REAL TIME. If I understand SageTv properly, both of those would be things of the past.

I would not be using HD because I right now, I have my DirecTivo, a DVD/VHS combo, a Roku Netflix box, and a Wii hooked up to my surround sound system, all using compsite video connections, and composite video to the TV. There are only 2 component and no HDMI connections on my surround system. If I were to buy the HD Theater unit which seems to be the best bet for what I am expecting, I would be using the SD output because I would be removing the Tivo SD input to the surround and replacing that with the Sage unit. I am using all composite inputs because otherwise, my family would have to deal with switching the TV input to one of the 2 componet inputs available on the surround system. They just now have learned how to swith inputs on the surround system to play the Wii, a DVD or the Tivo.

Does SageTv pass the closed captioning signal thru the HD Theater unit? Right now, I use the optical audio on my Tivo thru a TV Guardian and then to the surround unit. This removes foul language from TV shows and movies. I would like to keep this, especially for my "little ears".

Thanks for the continued help.

[freedml]

With SageTV you need a box at each TV, but the resources (tuners, library, recording decisions) are pooled. So, with 3 tuners, you can watch live tv on all 3 TVs or record 3 shows at the same time.

You need to 'get over' the HD thing. You don't buy 'HD' extenders to match the TVs. You buy them because they will work better with the server regardless of the format of the video. The HD extender is $200. An MVP is $280, $80 now and $200 later when you figure out that it doesn't work well. The only good thing about my MVP mistake is that I found I like the MVP remote much better than the HD-200 remote.

You can rip DVDs to your library and then watch them on any TV, or use the DVD player in the server, but I have a DVD player at each TV and usually watch them locally.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by glen4cindy

That's just it. I don't know exactly what I am going to do.

I like the look of the SageTV menus. The look really similar to my Tivo menus and I think it would be easiest for my wife to get used to.

There just seem to be so many things available with the SageTv that I don't even know where to begin. I know I want 2 TV's minimum. Right now, I have 3 TV's all with dual tuners. I don't see that happening with Sage, but, what I don't have is a media library available at each TV.

Why wouldn't it happen, with analog cable you could quite easilly put 3, dual-tuner TV cards in your server and have the same 6 tuners you've got now.

What I record on my Tivo upstairs, I have to watch UPSTAIRS. When I want to save a show off to a DVD, I have to sit and do it REAL TIME. If I understand SageTv properly, both of those would be things of the past.

Yes they would, well the DVD "could" depending on how you set everything up. I'm not sure what you mean by "REAL TIME" though.

Does SageTv pass the closed captioning signal thru the HD Theater unit? Right now, I use the optical audio on my Tivo thru a TV Guardian and then to the surround unit. This removes foul language from TV shows and movies. I would like to keep this, especially for my "little ears".

It can display them now, but I've got no idea if it passes them or not.