Need guidance. First time user.

[Squintz]

I'm a little confused by all the different options with SageTV. I started looking into Sage last christmas and I had my family buy me the SageTV software. I never installed it because I did not have the hardware I needed to use it. I'm ready to start playing with it now and I need a little help.

1) The receipt I have for my purchase has two license keys in it. The first just says SageTV and the second says SageTV Media Extender. Looking at the list of available products online now I don't see the Media Extender listed. What am I overlooking here?

2) I have an HP computer which came with XP MCE. It's only has one tuner and to be honest I have never used and and don't know what it's capable of. Up until now I have been watching a mixture of Digital Cable from Comcast and Over the Air HD. I was hoping that I could buy one or two of the USB type tuners to use along with the card that came with the PC. Is this an okay way to go? What USB tuners are recommended?

3) I have a home theater (Projector, 2x4 Matrix, A/V Receiver, Sony 777, Wii, BlueRay, HD Tuner, 100" Screen). Since I have not been using SageTV I have been using CQC (www.charmedquark.com) and a Tablet PC to control everything. I'm a little confused about how I am going to integrate SageTV into my setup. I assume I want to get an SageTV HD Theater box but I'm not sure how I want to integrate that. I'm considering ditching the Sony 777 since we almost never use it. That would free up one of the Matrix slots. Can the HD Theater Box be controlled with TCP/IP or is it IR only? I know CQC has a driver for SageTV but I'm not sure what it can control.

4) I also purchased a Drobo with DroboShare with 2 x 2TB drives. So I essentially have about 2 terabytes of storage to start with over a gigabit network. Does this seem like enough for someone just starting out? I can always add about 4 TB more later but I'm just curious as to where I stand now. I have about 70 DVDs in my Sony 777. Most of them I don't really care about but I'm wondering how many can I rip to 2 TB. Is it worth trying to rip any of them. I don't really have an issue with manually sticking them in the BluRay.

Thanks if advance for any help

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by Squintz

1) The receipt I have for my purchase has two license keys in it. The first just says SageTV and the second says SageTV Media Extender. Looking at the list of available products online now I don't see the Media Extender listed. What am I overlooking here?

What exactly did you purchase? The SageTV license would be for the server software. The extender license if for a remote client -- either an extender or a Placeshifter client.

If you buy an HD200, its license is built-in, so you don't need an extender license for it. But, you can still use you extender license to use Placeshifter.

2) I have an HP computer which came with XP MCE. It's only has one tuner and to be honest I have never used and and don't know what it's capable of. Up until now I have been watching a mixture of Digital Cable from Comcast and Over the Air HD. I was hoping that I could buy one or two of the USB type tuners to use along with the card that came with the PC. Is this an okay way to go? What USB tuners are recommended?

The SiliconDust HDHomeRun (HDHR) tunes clear QAM or OTA digital broadcasts and connects via the network. To record encrypted channels from the cable box's component output in HD, you would use the Hauppauge HD-PVR. To record from the box only in SD via svideo, there are other tuners to use.

- Andy

[Squintz]

Here is what the confirmation e-mail says I purchased.

STVSPC         SageTV Media Center for Windows with Placeshifter License Combo

This was actually purchased for my by my father in-law.

[Opus4]

OK -- you have the combo w/a Placeshifter license. Extender and Placeshifter licenses are the same. Placeshifter can be used to access the full SageTV interface from a remote connection (away from home) or on your local network. BTW: there's a FAQ on the difference between it & SageTV Client.

- Andy