Sage or Media Center 2004?

[astroturf]

Has anybody used Media Center 2004? I have heard negatives about the first version, but Gateway has a HTPC that looks fairly nice with it. I have been leaning towards SageTV, does anybody have any experience with both?

[mlbdude]

MCE is nice if you don't mind paying for a pre-built machine with it. Otherwise do a feature comparison. If you don't need all the bells and whistles that Sage has MCE should cut it fine.

[stanger89]

Everybody seems pretty loyal to the one they use, and both have strong advocates so that should tell you something. I think MS could have had huge PC PVR market share if they would have released MCE alone (even if it were a gray-market release like the OEM copies of XP you see). As it stands, I'm kind of turned off to MCE since I prefer building my own PCs and will not buy one from any company.

[gplasky]

Plus there is a big advantage being able to use more than one tuner in your system. MCE does not allow this. And I too will not buy a new box just for the software.

Gerry

[laurenglenn]

Originally posted by gplasky
Plus there is a big advantage being able to use more than one tuner in your system. MCE does not allow this. And I too will not buy a new box just for the software.

Gerry

I agree, because I think by Micro$oft "approving" what is to be run on MCE shows me that Microsoft MCE is not nearly as hardware friendly as it should be. I've seen MCE in stores and it looks nice.

After looking at Tivo and Sage TV 2, I'd rather by a cheap used computer, PVR-350, and save the money.

The multiple tuners must be nice and when I get money, I may try it. Microsoft should have released MCE to the marketplace instead of keeping it OEM to keep their stranglehold on the PC market intact.

Lauren

[jmiddleton]

If Microsoft had released a retail version of MCE they would be buried in support calls from people trying to install it on inappropriate hardware. By distributing MCE through OEM channels, they can be reasonably sure the system will work as advertised when the end user takes it out of the box. I also think Microsoft views MCE as a consumer appliance to compete with TIVO rather than an enthusiast product to compete with SageTV, BeyondTV and MythTV. I had no problems with SageTV but I did have to install and configure several pieces of hardware and I had to install a few plug-ins for Sage - no big deal for someone who has been working with PC's since the days of CP/M but most people want an appliance they can plug in, turn on and use. The only way a HTPC is going to achieve that level of useability today is if an OEM does the systems integration before delivering it to the consumer.

[jphhughes]

jmiddleton provides a balanced view. I have both MCE and SageTV. Out of the box MCE does a very respectable job of just working. SageTV requires some tinkering. I suppose the reason I purchased SageTV is tha I am a hands on type of person. I want to control and mess with the product. MCE does not allow that.

P.S. I sure am having my fair share of messing with SageTV though.