Just in case- Alternatives to SageTV

[wayner]

Originally Posted by Skybolt

BTW - I never realized that the 360 supported the standard IR remote for MCE. You are 100% right - full DVR capability, as long as you have a remote. I had never tested the 360 with the remote, only the game controller which does not support the DVR 100%. Glad I said something, I never would have tried the MCE remote ...

Anyone with a universal remote like a Harmony can just set up one of their devices as MCE and the remote should work fine.

[Skybolt]

Originally Posted by wayner

Anyone with a universal remote like a Harmony can just set up one of their devices as MCE and the remote should work fine.

Yeah, I never realy knew that there was an IR port on the 360, I have been using Sage for so long, I never even thought of trying. My last MCE setup was 2004/5 when there was only the xbox which was an unacceptable extender then.

Your right the logitech stuff has MCE in thier device list now, pretty cool.

[wayner]

I noticed this as my HT setup has both an Xbox and an HTPC running MCE. I noticed that when I used the remote to start up WinMC that the Xbox360 turned on, or something similar.

[Skybolt]

Originally Posted by wayner

I noticed this as my HT setup has both an Xbox and an HTPC running MCE. I noticed that when I used the remote to start up WinMC that the Xbox360 turned on, or something similar.

Yes - the power button operates the 360 as well. Pretty cool actually. What nice is it actually shuts the 360 down, not sleep mode (if there were one).

[tsitalon1]

I've noticed a good amount of people selling Sagetv Licenses and so I have to ask....where is everyone migrating to now days..

Hopper? or something else?

[ckewinjones]

Originally Posted by tsitalon1

I've noticed a good amount of people selling Sagetv Licenses

People are selling licenses now because Google altered the SageTV license terms to allow it -- not because a lot of people are "jumping ship" all of a sudden. Chances are that many of the sellers have already moved on to something else. There may be some who now feel free to move on because they can recoup some of their investment by selling their licenses, but I don't think there are very many.

For myself, I'm just glad of having the opportunity to pick up another extender and some more client licenses.

[Skybolt]

Originally Posted by ckewinjones

People are selling licenses now because Google altered the SageTV license terms to allow it -- not because a lot of people are "jumping ship" all of a sudden. ...

I am not so sure that is totaly true. This is a product, which more then likely, will not be anything more then what it is today. The final rev was last summer. That means no more bug fixes or additional support for tunners and the like. True life may still be good today with Sage but who knows tomorrow. I percieve the MarketPlace as a negitive thing, possibly a sign of Googles intent of atotally new product which doesn't support our current hardware (Extenders). Just my opinion though.

I am hoping Google does the right thing with Sage, but if they don't I am ramping up on 7MC and waiting on the Echo, which means starting over again. Kind of funny though, I migrated from WMC to Sage ...

[davefred99]

Originally Posted by Skybolt

I am not so sure that is totaly true. This is a product, which more then likely, will not be anything more then what it is today. The final rev was last summer. That means no more bug fixes or additional support for tuners and the like. True life may still be good today with Sage but who knows tomorrow. I perceive the Market Place as a negitive thing, possibly a sign of Googles intent of a totally new product which doesn't support our current hardware (Extenders). Just my opinion though.

I am hoping Google does the right thing with Sage, but if they don't I am ramping up on 7MC and waiting on the Echo, which means starting over again. Kind of funny though, I migrated from WMC to Sage ...

I agree,
Opening up the Market Place to allow the sale was a nice gesture on there part but it also leads me to believe that this is the end of the line. As long as the current hardware remains compatible and the guide data is available in some way Sage will live on. However the useful life cycle is limited and many folks are moving on. Media Center is the most logical move for most with Ceton entering the picture and a possible better extender solution I believe it will be the next go to Home DVR HTPC product.

I personally am planning a new MCE build. My plan is to keep my aging Sage server in operation for now but build a new MCE Box and use it as a dual purpose setup. I am thinking of using MCE @ my main TV location but also loading a Sage Client on it for the times I want to view Sage content. I have an HD 100 that has been repaired that I will continue to use for my Bedroom TV but will either pick up an xBox 360 or wait for the Ceton extender hopefully this summer.

I look at this as sort of a slow migration or evolution to the inevitable end of life cycle of SageTV. Maybe Google will come out with something that changes my mind along the way but I feel I have to move forward so as not to be left behind.

[BobbyDing]

Hmmm. What part of Motorola did Google buy??? This certainly sounds Google-ish. All your media across all your devices.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/21/m...-dreamgallery/

[Naylia]

Google bough Motorola Mobility - cell phones and set top boxes. However, there have been a lot of rumours about them selling off the set top box business and possibly even the cell phone design and manufacturing part of the business and just keeping the patents. We won't really know anything until they execute and announce officially.

[wayner]

I doubt very much that they would be selling off the Cell phone part of the business. You never know about the STB side although I wonder if some of the things that Google is trying to do will annoy the cable companies.

One question to ask - why don't cable STBs have the media extender functionality that would play back files over your LAN plus handling streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, etc? It shouldn't be hard to add this and one of the two main makers of STB (SA/Cisco) also makes media extenders.

I would guess that the answer is that cable cos don't want this as they see it as a mortal threat to their business model.

[Naylia]

Oh...it's also none of your media across your devices....it's all of the media from your cable company across all your devices, and it has no apparent integration with other content sources, etc. This seems very targeted at cable co's locking you into their content and platform.

[Naylia]

With regards to selling off the cell phone business, it could be very bad for ANdroid if they started selling their own Google phone directly - it could dramatically impact support for the Android platform from all the other handset providers. You'd get a Google phone that always had newer better features first and that would quickly push Samsung, HTC, etc to look at other alternatives. The big win for Google was getting access to all of Motorola's vast patent library in the acquisition. It wasn't about them getting into the business of making handsets. They needed the patents to defend the Android ecosystem.

[Naylia]

Originally Posted by wayner

I would guess that the answer is that cable cos don't want this as they see it as a mortal threat to their business model.

Ding! We have a winner. Wouldn't want customers realizing they spend all their time on the cable box using the Netflix or Hulu app....

[wayner]

Originally Posted by Naylia

Oh...it's also none of your media across your devices....it's all of the media from your cable company across all your devices, and it has no apparent integration with other content sources, etc. This seems very targeted at cable co's locking you into their content and platform.

Which doesn't really fit into the way that Google views the world where they want to be able to search and aggregate everything.

It looks like I am not the only one that feels this way - here is a Tweet from Zatz earlier today:

Originally Posted by Dave Zatz

The cablecos don't trust Google. So the longer Goolge holds onto Motorola's set-top business, the less it'll be worth.

So instead of having you use a cable box for Netflix and having a simpler setup of your AV system the option is to drop cable completely and buy an (ATV|Roku|PCH|PS3|Xbox360).

[sumrtym]

Which is the reason to me SageTV has no replacement and I'm looking at a new server build. I for one will never be happy with another solution that a) doesn't let me record my shows and do whatever I want with them, and b) doesn't allow me to watch live TV as well.

So far, there's nothing out there. Unless XBMC manages to finally pull together live TV / DVR functionality, but that looks to be quite some time away.

[wayner]

If those are your only requirements then there are other solutions including MythTV and NextPVR. If you don't do Linux then MythTV is out of the equation and if you want extenders then neither of them work.

[Slugger]

Got to playing with some of the alternatives here and there over the last month or two and gotta say I'm disappointed, to say the least.

Got a box sitting here in the office with NextPVR and MediaPortal installed on it and neither of them blows me away. I'd say NextPVR is by far easier to setup and get going, but I got them both going and the experience wasn't ideal. As a matter of fact, I haven't powered the box back on to play with it in probably over three weeks now and am not really motivated to do so again in the near future. Of course, if my Sage env were to suddenly die then that would change things, but I don't anticipate that happening anytime soon <knock on wood>.

If I had to switch, I'd rather use MythTV (and happily used it for over a year before stumbling onto Sage and never looking back in '07), but Myth (and Linux in general) does not support my Colossus cards and so that makes Myth/Linux a non-option for me. If there was support, then Myth is hands down my "alternative" choice when that option becomes a necessity otherwise, in a pinch, I'd probably be going with NextPVR at this point.

[panteragstk]

When I tried mediaportal as a back end with xbmc up front I really like everything. I just don't know enough about xbmc to make it act like my sage system. There are way too many clicks to get places when in sage I have it set up to go where I want to with one click. I'm sure I could make that happen, but I'm not putting in the effort until I absolutely have to, which I don't.

[flavius]

I will take a very close look at the new Ceton devices once they arrive.