Pre-purchase questions

[heddhunter]

I'm intrigued by the sound of this product. I have a large Linux server full of videos but I don't have a good way to access them in my living room. Plugging and unplugging my laptop to my TV is getting old real fast. I'm contemplating getting a Mac Mini and running Plex but that is a very pricy option compared to the SageTV and of course money is always tight.

Is there a manual for the device that I can look at?

My media server is running Ubuntu and serving up files with samba. No problem, right?

There are around 52000 files on it. Is there a practical limit to how much the SageTV can handle? The biggest folder has about 600 items in it. Is navigating it going to be a pain? Is there a search feature? What sort of metadata does it attach to each file? One thing that's great about Plex is that it scans all your media into a Library and you can view by title, genre, year, director, etc.

Any other things you think I may be interested to know... let me know, thanks!

[himay]

@heddhunter:

First off, allow me to qualify my lack of qualifications towards answering your questions: I'm not a Linux guy, I only speak Mac and Win. Also, my media collection is a bit smaller than yours, clocking in at just over 30,000 files (mostly mp3s--about 3,000 video files and the rest is music).

That said, here's a stab at answering your questions:

Is there a manual for the device that I can look at?

Yes, there is:

http://download.sage.tv/SageTV_HD200_Manual.pdf

My media server is running Ubuntu and serving up files with samba. No problem, right?

Yup, you should be fine. I'm running SMB shares on WinXP and can access all of my media files just fine (however, this was not the case when I tried the beta firmware, so I would definitely recommend using official release firmware updates only).

Is there a practical limit to how much the SageTV can handle?

I'm honestly not sure. I believe that somewhere on the device it is keeping some kind of local index, but I base that belief more on geek intuition than any proof. My best advice on this would be to do some reviewing of topics in the HD200 forum; if there's a ceiling, I promise someone in here has reached it. Also be assured that Sage is pretty aggressive about their firmware update/release schedule of all of their products, so if there were a limitation that needed to be overcome, there's a strong likelihood that they're on it (or have already gotten to it).

Is navigating it going to be a pain? Is there a search feature? What sort of metadata does it attach to each file?

On navigation: the navigation on the standalone mode is functional, and does include a search function. Whether it's a pain is of course a matter of taste. For one thing, the remote response on the HD200 is good, but not great; it always feels a half-second behind, lacking the immediacy of say, a cable set-top-box's remote response. As far as interface goes, definitely look around at some of the screenshots and see what you think. My opinion is that the HD200's standalone mode navigation is extremely good at performing functions, but neither intuitive nor all that pretty. That said: a well customized SageTV instance, on the other hand, can be made into an interface which puts FrontRow, Windows Media Center, Boxee and the rest of 'em to shame. And as a SageTV extender, the HD200 truly shines; navigating SageTV from it feels like I'm on my server itself.

As far as metadata goes, for my music, it seems to be reading ID3 tags, and for my video content, it doesn't display any metadata (besides filename, size, etc). I set up my metadata for my SageTV server (*.my and *.properties files), but from what I can tell, my HD200 doesn't read these files. Most of my content is organized by directory, which I would definitely recommend doing if you're planning on browsing content from the HD200.

To me, the bottom line is this: the HD200 is an extremely good value because it connects well to HDTVs, plays every format known to geek, performs well as a SageTV extender, and functions as a uPNP client. (That last functionality is key for me, as it allows me to stream Hulu content via a PlayOn Media Server.) It can feel pokey until you learn the fastest way through the navigation. To get the most out of it, though, (again, this is just my opinion), it really needs the complement of the SageTV server software. SageTV, even if you don't use it for the TV functionality, is nearly unrivaled as a media center in terms of interface and flexibility. Plex has a nice interface, but take five minutes to peruse the custom interfaces users have made with the "SageMC" customization, and you'll see what I mean.

Don't get me wrong: if you just purchase the HD200 only to browse and play from your network shares, you won't be disappointed. You'll scratch your head a few times at the interface, but continually marvel at how small and quiet the darn thing is. But if you get SageTV running on the HD200 alongside everything else, you'll be blown away, and you'll be in good company.

Hope this helps!

[Slack]

Originally Posted by heddhunter

There are around 52000 files on it. Is there a practical limit to how much the SageTV can handle?

That is going to be a problem.

[heddhunter]

Thanks for the feedback. I can probably work around the file limit, most of the 52000 files are music and I won't be using this device for music playback.

It's kind of irritating to me that it shines best with a SageTV server powering it but I guess that's to be expected. I already *have* a server, that's the whole point of the Linux box. To have to run another server on my Windows PC and have it proxy the Linux box contents just seems like a wasteful intermediate step. Not to mention - what if I want to use my PC to play games while my wife wants to watch a movie?

I found out there's a 30 day refund period with a small restocking fee so maybe I will give it a shot anyway.

[stanger89]

Sage has a Linux version, although it's "OEM" which basically just means no guaranteed official support.