Just in case- Alternatives to SageTV

[logsvp]

+1 for "Same here"

My system is stable with 7.1.9 - just need to see how this pans out before making any moves - let's hope it is a positive move by SageTV

[wayner]

Originally Posted by rickgillyon

Not sure why anyone would be thinking of moving away now, when the future of SageTV isn't clear at all. Best to wait and see what happens...

Because it is always prudent to plan for the future - it make sense to start examining alternatives asap.

[iolaus]

If you don't need Live TV, SickBeard + XMBC might be an option. If SageTV dies or stagnates that's probably the direction I'll be moving.

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by rickgillyon

Not sure why anyone would be thinking of moving away now, when the future of SageTV isn't clear at all. Best to wait and see what happens...

I'm not suggesting that people should immediately pack up their Sage gear and move to something else, but it seems wise to start looking at alternatives. While I've discussed some of the alternatives to Sage in the past on these forums, I never really seriously looked at the alternatives. That's going to change.

If Sage completely shuts down, I'm not going to stick with it for long. It's less about EPG data, and more about losing continued support. If I can't have some assurance that I'll be able to procure and use replacement parts for my existing components that might fail (e.g., extenders, tuners, etc.), I'm not going to stick with Sage for long. I don't want to run into a situation where an extender fails and I have to scramble for weeks trying to find a used extender on eBay, or trying to switch to a completely new system. If I'm going to have to switch at some point, I'd like to do so on my own time schedule, not one dictated by a failure.

That doesn't mean I'll immediately pack things up. I suspect I'll be using Sage for at least another 6 months, although its possible I'll decide to switch to something else before the new TV season starts if we find out the store is down for good and development on SageTV has completely stopped.

I've been thinking about buying a Boxee Box (or a Roku) for Netflix on a second TV I have. I was previously leaning towards a Roku, but I think the Boxee Box is more versatile as a media player. So, I think I'm going to order a Boxee Box sometime in the next week or so to play with it. If it seems to work well, that will probably encourage me to go with either a Moxi DVR or (gasp) even a Comcast Multi-room DVR, and split off media player functionality from DVR functionality. It's nice to have both in a single interface, but there doesn't appear to be an acceptable option outside of Sage for that.

[rickgillyon]

MOD: Not sure why you've merged in a UK-specific discussion here, it's really not appropriate...

Originally Posted by wayner

Because it is always prudent to plan for the future - it make sense to start examining alternatives asap.

Not really. Even if there's no further development, I can't see me itching to move on in the next year. The solution just works. So by time you're moving on, the options have changed. Just a waste of time doing it now IMO, wait and see.

[KarylFStein]

I've been sort of following DirectTVs "whole house server" for a bit, (previously known as the HMC30, now the HR34). It's supposed to be in tester's homes now with an Oct. release date. If it turns out to be close to what's been talked about, I might consider that plus some media playback device that can play back BluRay rips. But I have no plans to move away from my working SageTV setup any time soon, (and am
optimistic that I won't have to).

[logsvp]

Originally Posted by rickgillyon

MOD: Not sure why you've merged in a UK-specific discussion here, it's really not appropriate...

So I am not going mad I thought I recalled only having replied to a thread with two posts in it - I was worried I was having a "senior moment"

[wayner]

Originally Posted by rickgillyon

Not really. Even if there's no further development, I can't see me itching to move on in the next year. The solution just works. So by time you're moving on, the options have changed. Just a waste of time doing it now IMO, wait and see.

I'm not itching to move either but if the product starts dying out then it will make sense to move at some time. My system has six extenders - five HD-200s and one HD-300. If I decide to stay with Sage then perhaps I should be buying up extenders to ensure that I have some replacements if one or more of my current extenders dies for some reason.

[rickgillyon]

Originally Posted by wayner

I'm not itching to move either but if the product starts dying out then it will make sense to move at some time. My system has six extenders - five HD-200s and one HD-300. If I decide to stay with Sage then perhaps I should be buying up extenders to ensure that I have some replacements if one or more of my current extenders dies for some reason.

I'm still on Hauppauge MVPs. Slow as hell but they keep staggering on, and the thought of upgrading 6 of them was too much to bear...

[SHS]

You know what I forgot about Hauppauge MediaMVP HD that good Alternatives to SageTV Extender for other 3rdparty apps and MediaMVP HD source code can be downlaod.

[SHS]

Originally Posted by KarylFStein

I've been sort of following DirectTVs "whole house server" for a bit, (previously known as the HMC30, now the HR34). It's supposed to be in tester's homes now with an Oct. release date. If it turns out to be close to what's been talked about, I might consider that plus some media playback device that can play back BluRay rips. But I have no plans to move away from my working SageTV setup any time soon, (and am
optimistic that I won't have to).

DirectTVs "whole house server" thing is carp

[PiX64]

it swims?

[valnar]

Their product has been floundering for awhile.

[IVB]

Doesn't seem to be that many other fish in the ocean, either.

although perhaps we just need to cast a wider net.

[bastafidli]

Just a thought. Can you use the DNLA client built into most of new TVs for playback and then just use different recording scheduler? I have not used DNLA for a while so I don't know what is the current status of this type of technology.

[wayner]

Functionally you can use DLNA but it looks like crap, especially compared to Sage with fanart. You essentially gets lists of files and folders.

Compared that to a Wall View in Diamond.

[BobbyDing]

Like most here I'll will be chewing my nails and waiting to see what is announced, as I'm happy with my present setup. Hope it isn't too long till we hear something from the new Google employees. I am concerned though about loosing extenders to power surges, etc... In that case I'd be sunk (out of warranty), and be forced to go to WMC and Xbox's (the family won't be apt to wait patiently without TV).

In the mean time I suppose it might be prudent to download all the latest software's and firmwares just in case. I suppose I should also get a couple cheap USB sticks and use the Service Menu to back up the configurations.

Can anybody tell me if backing up the config via the Service Menu on the HD300 also backs up the latest firmware load? Or would the firmware have to be reloaded separately from the config (should the need arise)?

Bobby

[ChePazzo]

Personally, I'd love to see an announcement from Google explaining what their plans are for SageTV.

I plan to continue to use SageTV until the day it stops working (like maybe the channel guide data). I am, however, worried that in a few years, I will have to move on for one reason or another. By that time, I hope that most of those in this group will have converged on another system (perhaps the GoogleTV) and the community will continue to thrive.

My questions for Google if they just let SageTV rot:
How feasible is it that Google releases the final version of 7.1 and it happens to contain a kill switch?

One of the greatest new features in Sage7.0 was the full integration of the user customizations. Is this something that Google plans to explicitly shutdown?

My other worry:
Might Google abandon all Linux support and focus solely on Android and Windows?

[valnar]

Originally Posted by ChePazzo

My other worry:
Might Google abandon all Linux support and focus solely on Android and Windows?

I would be surprised if Windows was in their game plan at all. Something tells me that if Sage didn't have a Linux version, Google would not have been interested.

[wayner]

You can't ignore the OS that still commands over 90% of the market share (source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_s...rating_systems).

I would think that ChromeOS would be in Google's plans for SoogleTV as well.