Help a noob -- Sage or Win 7 Media Center?

[mitchedo]

Since I'm posting here, you can already see where my preference lies. I think cost-wise, it's a wash for me between SageTV vs Windows 7 - though Win 7 would be a bit less expensive initially. The difference really boils down to how well Sage's hardware extenders work and how much effort is involved to keep things all working.

I have two HDHomeruns to use as tuners for off-air antenna.

I'm looking at a mix of PC's and standalone televisions. I do have 2 XBox 360's, so they could be extenders for two.

How is the experience on the Sage HD Theater compared to XBox 360 on Win 7 Media center? How about the Sage Client vs Win 7 client?

I'm more technically astute than probably 80% of the general public. I cut my teeth trying to get DOS games to run back in the early 90's. However, I don't want to spend all my time keeping things working after initial setup. I don't mind a long initial setup.

I have a license for Windows 7 Pro (32 or 64) to build a server, or I could build it with XP. I need to build a server whichever route I choose.


To top it all off, all the Windows 7 media extenders seem to be extinct, so the biggest thing is the viewing experience and ease of use. Are the Sage HD Theaters as wonderful as they look? I really don't want a PC attached to each TV. An extender is most prefereable.

I like the idea of Sage's multi-CODEC compatibility. Win 7 seems really locked down in that regard. True?

I will want to watch shows on Hulu and the network Websites -- SyFy in particular. Will the HD Theater do that?

Any other considerations before I decide between Sage and Win 7?

[wayner]

Obviously everyone here is going to suggest Sage. I used to use WinMC - but the XP version before I switched to Sage. The HD-200s are wonderful - they give you the same experience as using a PC but are much cheaper, quieter and are hassle-free. I can't help you with the Hulu content but I believe it works with the Playon plugin.

There are other advantages to Sage. The files are stored in regular MPG so they are easy to edit, transfer to other PCs or burn to DVD. WinMC uses WTV files which can be converted to MPG but it is an extra step.

Sage also has lots of great add-ons - I am not sure how WinMC is in this space currently. This forum is also a great source of support.

[wrems]

Well, Sage’s extenders are awesome in my opinion. I’ve actually never run a PC client as a result. They are pretty much plug and play. If you’re looking for ease of setup extenders are absolutely the way to go. No messing with codecs, they operate on less than 10 watts of electricity, can natively playback nearly anything you through at it, are absolutely silent and allow you to have a modest server because all the heavy lifting is done on the HD200 itself. The exceptions are if you need internet browsing capability or DTS decoding and they’re not currently available right now...


You can get Hulu, Netflix and an array of other online content through the extenders via the use of PlayOn and a 3rd party plugin. The feed is subject to PlayOn transcoding so the quality is less than what you’d receive direct from your browser. It’s not bad, but it’s definitely not as good either. I’d say it’s watchable in most circumstances. I’d say if the online content is extremely important to you then I would opt for a PC client at that TV, the nice thing is you can mix extenders and PC clients on your network.

You mentioned the use of XP, and Win7 both good options but another option to help make matters more complex for you is WHS. A lot of guys are very happy to run WHS as their server and have it perform a bunch of other backup routines for their other computers. That’s one big advantage of Sage over MS, MS doesn't support WHS.

Regardless of the OS you choose the best configuration you can choose is relegating your server to be only a media server tucked away in a closet/basement. Where it can be your tuner farm and house your hard drives etc. Headless is a good option, you kind of want something you’re not going to mess with or need to mess with once it’s up and running. Remember it will be running 24/7 so hardware considerations/electricity consumption come into play.

Last but not least I think you’ll find exceptional welcome/help in this forum when/if you run into hiccups. This community is a pretty great benefit. I can’t speak for MS’ forums/community so I don’t know if it’s better, but I’d say this one is hard to beat. Ask well articulated questions and you’re going to get a variety of good responses.

[lpitman]

Gotta extend another vote for the HD200 extenders attached to SageTV Server running on Windows Home Server (WHS), they work great. I have two HD200's and use them to stream ripped Blu-Ray to two different televisions. I have yet to experiment with Hulu and PlayOn, but I understand it works well.

[mitchedo]

The HDHomeruns arrived today. I'll be playing with Win7 Media Center and the XBoxes while I wait for Sage to get the doggone extenders in stock. ...Sometime early September, they tell me.

Thanks for all the comments. The lack of Hulu and Netflix is a huge downer. A Netflix subscription was on my list of things to get now that I'm killing the satellite feed.

Maybe I'll decide Win 7 is okay by the time Sage gets more extenders...

...or maybe I'll send the HDHomeruns back and keep Dish. The wifey's not happy losing all the junk she watches. CSI 19 days a week. Blech!

[PLUCKYHD]

Don't forget there is no true client in wmc it is not integrated tv wise from one pc to the next. Also it records I. Priority wtv format. It can be transcoded but i can't stand that they do that.

If you go wm7 don't expect the extenders to do much outside of tv because codec support is beyond pitiful.

If you are using ota only to me it is a no brained to use sagetv.

Ps I used wmc for about 7 years because I didn't know what I was missing either the hd200 brought me over and I haven't looked back.

[SWKerr]

I play around with Media Center occasionally just to remind myself how much better SageTV is. My current SageTV server runs off of a HDHR with 2x HD-PVRs going to DirecTV receivers. That same machine also hosts a AverMedia OTA card and Microsoft Media Center.

The biggest problems with WMC is DRM and limited file support. I also hate the fact that no other PC can use\share the tuner cards. (not a big deal with multiple Xbx360s as extenders)

Xbox360 as an extender? It is really a game console that launches Media Center but although the GUI looks the same there are some things that will play on the PC that will not play on the XBOX. (Ripped DVDs etc) I also think the Xbox360 navigation is a little disjointed. MCE is launched in a separate process and when you close it you have to go back to the XBOX dashboard. Netflix is also a totally separate app as I expect Hulu will be. There is no graceful flow from the different content types. Playon will work on the Xbox360 as well but launching and navigating it is a less than a satisfying experience.

Overall SageTV supports almost all conthent types and integrates everything better into a centralized solution for all media content. I can't rally say that about MCE.

[mitchedo]

I wish to thank all who took the time to reply. I know this question must get asked a lot.

SageTV has made my decision easy. Since they have no extenders, I'll be running WMC7 with a pair of XBoxes for a while to see how I like it. After spending $850 on the server, I couldn't swing another ~$700 for Sage hardware and software right now anyway. I need 3 extenders and 3 client licenses in addition to the server software. ...gets a bit spendy.

If it works out, then I'll look into another XBox or two. They're cheap.

I'll keep an eyeball out for the HD Theater to come back in stock and watch the rumor mill for the new version. I HATE DRM, so there's a strong incentive for me to go the Sage route. ...though I need to do a lot more reading about DRM on Sage vs WMC7.

[wrems]

There is no DRM on Sage and no proprietary file formats.

[mitchedo]

After considering all the hassles with Windows 7 Media Center, I have just placed my order for SageTV and two HD300 extenders.

My server parts are on their way, and my wallet is beyond empty.

The biggest hassle with Windows 7 is the complete and utter lack of a whole home server. XBox is pretty cool, but for Netflix and their new Hulu support (coming in January), you have to have a Live account on each XBox. No thanks.

I imagine the new Sage extender won't work with Hulu. I pulled the trigger on the box before I read anything about it.

[wrems]

Originally Posted by mitchedo

I imagine the new Sage extender won't work with Hulu. I pulled the trigger on the box before I read anything about it.

Congrats on the purchase of your extenders. You can play Hulu with any extender for Sage. Head over to this thread for details:

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...24&postcount=1

This solution does require the use of PlayOn or TVersity to work. Not sure the consensus here but I'm pretty sure most are going with PlayOn...