We be SMOKIN'!

[mdmint]

Just about finished with new installation (all new hardware and installlations of Sagev2, didn't download in time to even try 1.4!) All that remains is adding PVRs 3&4 and two more 250G SATA HDs to the Server when they arrive from Freys in a couple days.

Installed the client today. After a couple hiccups it's rockin' and rollin' just as I'd hoped. Recorded a bunch of stuff on the Server the past couple days to have stuff to test beyond timeshift. Had some interesting video challenges with the ATI Radeon 9600 HD out to Toshiba 55" but got it all okie-dokie. And didn't install the IR driver BEFORE installing Client so of course had to deinstall reinstall to get remote to work. My bad.

The picture and sound quality is superb. Outputting sound digital direct off sysbrd into Denon 3801 driving all M&Ks. (ASUS A7N8X-E DLX, AMD XP 2400+, 512M, little 20G laptop HD to help keep 'er quiet, thanks for the idea Stranger I believe) Have single PVR 250 in Client for remote to work, haven't installed Recorder yet for adding to record tuner pool. I swear viewing the analog cable PVR recorded output via HDTV input is higher quality picture than viewing it direct!

Server is sweet too. I originally planned a single 750Gb Raid5 with OS on 6G and the rest separate partition for storage. That's the way it's running now. But since sysbrd has built in SATA Raid 1 support for two drives ordered two more WD 250Gb HDs due in next week. (two more fan cooled hotswap cages too of course) I'll mirror 'em and move the OS to a 10G partition leaving another 240Gb for overflow storage redoing the 750G Raid5 for single main storage partition. (gotta love Ghost ) Have the Server's dual hotswap power supplies on a 865W 1500VA APC BX1500 with expansion battery pack. Sold as "up to" 360min uptime. Of course, that would be for something like a Laptop! Even so under load Powerchute reports 133min runtime for the Server, so a good two hours no power record time.

Oh, hardwired gigabit connected. Didn't really need it for between the Server and Client but sure speeds up files transfers between Server and my main workstation! Since the new sysbrds for the Server and Client had Gb NIC built in what the heck. And won't mention how much I just spent on more interconnect cables! Plus Montser cable 8way RF splitter and CE LABS 6001 PROGRADE 1 GHZ BI-DIRECTIONAL RF AMPLIFIER with 0 to 20db gain at max 2db noise also on their way. Using a Monster 3way until they arrive. Couldn't hook up the the other PVRs yet even if they were here! (I refuse to use Radio Shack crap)

This is way tooooo cooool! And to think a friend almost had me convinced to go with a Direct TV dual tuner TIVO. No redundancy so data in extreme danger, huge fees etc. SageTV looking way better!!!

[tbpub2]

I don't know about Tivo, but ReplayTV has a superior Mpeg encoder: it produces better quality *and* smaller files (even accounting for tweaks).

For instance have a look at Star Trek: TNG lip synchronization when character is standing at the back of the bridge or walking in the far end of the hallway. If lips are "small," Hauppauge will remove all traces of the lips moving. (In foreground lips are "big" and they move). Replay does better job.

Also occasional slight audio drift or audio artifacts with Hauppauge. Hauppauge/Sage is nice and okay but it's still not the greatest encoder in the world.

It's just kinda adequate.

[Opus4]

Well... In that case, I'll have to admit that I am certainly adequately pleased.

I'm not too worried about whether I've got the best possible video quality that exists, but it sure is nice to have a system that does more than simply play back TV & I'll bet that is what mdmint was looking for too.

BTW, mdmint: Congrats on getting it all working. I think you said that, like me, you came from the world of multiple VCRs... SageTV is just _so_ much nicer than that. It was a real scramble to replace a failed HD last Dec... and prevent using those old tapes! Maybe I'll look into some of your redundancy in my next SageTV system.

Oh -- and you didn't have to reinstall the client for the IR support, if you meant the remote. All you needed was to update the remote's ini file after the IR software was installed. If you meant some other IR term... then never mind.

- Andy

[mdmint]

Remote wise while editing the IR ini file would have worked I didn't know what was needed! Rather than search the forum it only took a few minutes to deinstall reinstall the Client. This is my first SageTV installation after all so I don't know the tricks and shortcuts.

Yup, while maybe not the absolute pinacle of digital recording quality possible the 250 PVRs and SageTV beat the H^$& out of three VCRs (two of them dual well GoVideos). And especially since for TV recording time most was in LP 6hr on a 120 tape mode! Besides, I've always found the sound is even more important than the video. Way too many people are willing to spend multiple thousands on a high end HDTV big screen and then only a thousand or so total on their sound system. Heck, just my M&K dual push pull sub cost over a $G. DVD movies are awesome on a small screen with equal or better than most theater sound. If you can't feel the action it ain't there. Then add the big screen to complete the total experience...

This multiple tuner project of mine isn't for DVD movie pirating and/or archiving. Simply a super convenient and powerful way to record mutiple TV sources etc. If four 250s in the Server plus one in the Client don't end up being enough tuners I can simply add more USB 250s (no more slots). ReplayTV smaller files? So what. I'll "get by" with a terrabyte for quite some time me thinks, even recording at Standard DVD 3.5Mb per hr. And my storage is safer redundant RAID arrays, not so easily done with TIVO or ReplayTV or multiple tuners or redundant power supplies etc etc. TIVO and ReplayTV are computer wannabe's borrowing the technology but not utilitizing it's capabilities. Consumer and price driven not data safety or uptime driven. I spoke with both their companies tech supports before deciding neither were viable options for me. I've worked in the computer industry way too long to except any computer based solution that doesn't include at the minimum a simple backup solution and preferably also redundancy.

Now if I do decide to get into DVD archiving sure I'll just have to add another external RAID array for a few more terrabytes. Simply done, no biggy.

Yet in all things to each their own and your mileage may vary!

[mlbdude]

I actually get better encoding with my Hauppauge than I ever did with my Replay. Plus the encoding parameters are much more configurable. Replay could not even capture at these high bit-rates either which does use more HD space but it is worth it .

[mikejaner]

Yeah, with the hardware decoder I also get a better picture than my replay and tivo..

[fidget]

Originally posted by mikejaner
Yeah, with the hardware decoder I also get a better picture than my replay and tivo..

On anything but the highest quality, my TiVo had artifacting issues (i.e., halos around news casters, etc.) that I haven't seen with the PVR-350's hardware decoder (on any of the qualities that I have used). On the lowest quality, almost all TV programs were unwatchable .

[Deadbolt]

Originally posted by mdmint
...
This is way tooooo cooool! And to think a friend almost had me convinced to go with a Direct TV dual tuner TIVO. No redundancy so data in extreme danger, huge fees etc. SageTV looking way better!!!

I agree with all but "huge fees." With the rig you are building you could pay for TiVo for a million years!

These HTPCs start up cheap, but are so cool they tend to get expensive fast!

Deadbolt

[stanger89]

Originally posted by mdmint
Besides, I've always found the sound is even more important than the video. Way too many people are willing to spend multiple thousands on a high end HDTV big screen and then only a thousand or so total on their sound system. Heck, just my M&K dual push pull sub cost over a $G. DVD movies are awesome on a small screen with equal or better than most theater sound. If you can't feel the action it ain't there. Then add the big screen to complete the total experience...

I hear ya there! I've always had a hard time deciding which is more important, video or audio, but in the end I've just got to look what I do when watching a movie. We've got a 46" Mitsubishi with pretty-old stereo reciever/system, or my 36" "HD-ready" 4:3 TV and Yamaha RX/Klipsch Synergy/Velodyne setup and we always watch movies on the 36" even though it's nowhere near big enough.

Hey, congrats on the setup, glad you have it working. Yeah, you could have got a DirecTivo, but what fun would that have been

[mdmint]

Originally posted by Deadbolt
I agree with all but "huge fees." With the rig you are building you could pay for TiVo for a million years!

These HTPCs start up cheap, but are so cool they tend to get expensive fast!

Deadbolt

You ain't kidding there! But then, the "fees" for 4 or 5 TIVO or ReplayTV units is part of the $$$ "justification" for building this Server/Client setup. Of course, Debi doesn't know just how much this project cost! I'll admit I "may" have gone a wee bit overboard. Like $275 for the Servers dual hotswap power supply and $299 for the 2+ hour runtime UPS...

[krutaw]

Originally posted by Deadbolt
I agree with all but "huge fees." With the rig you are building you could pay for TiVo for a million years!

These HTPCs start up cheap, but are so cool they tend to get expensive fast!

Deadbolt

I disagree with the TiVo being cheaper. If you keep the machine to reasonable specs and prices, you can end up with a much better system than TiVo for an equal or lesser price.

Think about it in these terms:

Junk PC - $100 on ebay (can be gotten for less.. look for a vl400)
Junk PC - $100 on ebay (can be gotten for less.. look for a vl400)
PVR-350 - $180 on pricewatch
PVR-350 - $180 on pricewatch
160gb Drive - $70 on pricewatch
160gb Drive - $70 on pricewatch
SageTV - $80.00
SageTVClient - $30.00
SageRecoder - $20.00
Total - $830 w/ better video quality than a Tivo in both rooms

TiVo (140 hrs) - $349 at Best Buy
TiVo (140 hrs) - $349 at Best Buy
Subscription - $299 from TiVo
Subscription - $299 from TiVo
Total - $1296 w/ lower quality tv output than PVR-350

Now, I've spent nowhere near $830 on my system, and both the server and client kick TiVo's butt.

[Karen0302]

I'm just kind of curious here, but what happens if one of the Tivo units blows it mind? Can you transfer the "subscription" to a new unit or what?

Karen

[fidget]

Originally posted by Karen0302
I'm just kind of curious here, but what happens if one of the Tivo units blows it mind? Can you transfer the "subscription" to a new unit or what?

Karen

The subscription goes with the unit. You will either have to get the unit fixed or purchase a new one with new subscription.

[krutaw]

Originally posted by Karen0302
I'm just kind of curious here, but what happens if one of the Tivo units blows it mind? Can you transfer the "subscription" to a new unit or what?

Karen

Yet another selling point for the SageTV.

[Karen0302]

Not to drag up something from the '60s, but like wow, man!! With the "subscription" tied to the specific Tivo unit . . . well, I'm just glad I'm with Sage!!!

Karen

[Deadbolt]

Originally posted by krutaw
I disagree with the TiVo being cheaper. If you keep the machine to reasonable specs and prices, you can end up with a much better system than TiVo for an equal or lesser price.
...

I was refering to mdmint's system, not p3 700s with 128 MB of RAM. Don't forget to had money for new silent power supplies, fans, hd enclosures, etc. TiVos are pretty darn quiet.

I can't wait for MediaMVP client...then I'll be in heaven. $80 silent hardware decoding client.

[turak]

Originally posted by Deadbolt

I can't wait for MediaMVP client...then I'll be in heaven. $80 silent hardware decoding client.

The MVP doesn't seem tough enough to run Sage Client. I rarely use my MVP because it's menu navigation is painfully slow and it has trouble playing high quality mpg's

[mikejaner]

You should check it out on GBPVR. Sub has made a client which is fast and works really well.

[Deadbolt]

Menu navigation of the MVP is very server dependant.

[turak]

Originally posted by Deadbolt
Menu navigation of the MVP is very server dependant.

Server is an Athlon XP 2400+ with 1024mb of Corsair XMS DDR400 (PC3200) and Seagate Baracuda 7200 RPM drives. It should be able to handle the MVP.