Stay or Bail ?

[jusjoken]

My plans are to stay. I am not really looking elsewhere as so many others are and if something great comes along this forum will certainly share it. One of the greatest strengths of SageTV is the community... the other (IMHO) is the ability for others to customize it and share those customizations.

I plan on not only continuing with being a SageTV user but plan to continue Plugin support and am even working on a new Plugin that I think will be a great hit with many that use the standard STV (more info on that one soon).

I continue to hope for something great from the SageTV team within Google... but regardless, I think we have years of enjoyment ahead of us as SageTV is so customizable and the forum support so strong.

k

[doncote0]

Well everything that I read about Google TV has given me reason to hope. The reviews pointed to many significant strengths and a few weaknesses (weak areas for Google that SageTV was stronger in). A few of the reviews that compared GoogleTV said that the PVR interface was largely absent but the device was quite good at finding shows that were already available through DVR systems and internet sights.

So if you add a PVR interface for all other shows, it would be quite the leader of the pack. Add a huge chunk of money for any testing that might be needed for anything at all (e.g. CableLabs) and this really could be the platform of the future.

Why did Google pick SageTV? Probably for the same reasons many of us did.

[MeInMaui]

I'm planning on sticking around. After all, we have a new baby Phoenix to look after.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by can3gxw

I am in Canada so things like Boxee and Roku are basically pointless because we are not allowed to see the "secret" shows that the US networks put out.

I am in Canada too, but Netflix, Hulu, ESPN3, etc wouldn't know it thanks to unblock-us.com.

[reggie14]

Like some others, I was planning on upgrading my server to an i5 system, and I would have bought an HDHR Prime if there was support for it in Sage. Now I'm certainly not doing either of those things.

I don't have any specific plans for bailing, but I'd rather not stick around that long. My HD200 has been crashing once a month or so (requiring a hard reset via unplugging it), while my HD300 has been much more reliable, causing me to be a little concerned about its life expectancy. I'm certainly not going to drop $400 on an HD300 on eBay, so if it goes down my only option is to bail and switch to something else.

I still don't know what I would switch to. I can't get satellite, and right now Comcast's DVRs suck quite a bit. Really, all I care about is getting a 3/4 tuner DVR, with around 2TB of recording space and extenders. That's pretty hard to get now- essentially the only option is Moxi, which probably won't last that much longer. I'm very interested in the TiVo Premiere Q and the Preview, but it will probably be a while before we see that. I'm looking for more of a client-server architecture than the peer-to-peer architecture of the current multi-room streaming TiVos (which is a new feature in the latest firmware update).

I'd also need some sort of media streamer for my ripped DVDs and blu-rays. The Boxee Box, in many ways, looks pretty good, except for the fact that it can't handle DVD folder rips. That's a deal killer for me. I don't understand why they haven't fixed that. The Dune streamers look interesting, although I'm not sure if the cheaper models can play back blu-ray rips. However, I'd prefer to get something that can play back online video, including Netflix and Hulu Plus.

[darcilicious]

I am in Canada so things like Boxee and Roku are basically pointless because we are not allowed to see the "secret" shows that the US networks put out.

For what it's worth, those of us in the US can't see most CBC content either but then, that's what VPN service is for

[BobPhoenix]

I'm staying put for a year maybe longer. Depends on what I find out there. When I decided on SageTV I had looked at WinMCE and BeyondTV but SageTV was by far the best for me.

Also I have a big investment in SageTV. 3xHD200s, 3 Dead HD100s, 4 Windows Servers - (3 upgrades from V5 to V6 and then V6 to V7 plus one new V7), 5 unused (until now) Clients, 4 Extender/Placeshifter licenses, 3 SageTV Recorder licenses. Wished I had gotten the 3xHD300s I was planing on as well as the Linux server as well.

[JmanGTA]

I prefer and use 6.6.x. Is there any reason why the EPG data would stop working? Doesn't it come from zap2it using some sort of sagetv global account?

[davephan]

I plan to keep using SageTV for quite awhile. I wish I would have bought client licenses as a 'backup' for the HD extenders. I might try installing the client on an extra computer to see if I can keep rolling it back every 21 days with an image. I would like to try a SageTV alternative on an identical computer that I'm not using now. I'm not sure which one is the most promising. If SageTV suddenly quits working, I would like to have an alternative. Watching TV live and sitting through commercials is just not a good option. Watching TV at the inlaws, putting up with all those miserable commercials is very painful and annoying.

If Google SageTV ever happens, it will probably have popup ads like Youtube has now. Those ads would be very annoying. It would be helpful for people planning to stay with SageTV or to bail to know something about Google SageTV. Do we have to wait a month, a year, five years, or maybe it will never happen. All we hear is silence and no comments. I think if we heard some news on a Google SageTV replacement it would be helpful. "Full speed ahead" doesn't really mean anything. It could be something you'd say on a yacht. I hope we will hear some news soon. Otherwise, we may just be withering on the vine...

Dave

[Localhorst]

Is it a coincidence that your DVBViewer posts happened about the same time that Google acquired SageTV and that you joined the SageTV forum?

as i mentioned in the first post of me, it is not a coincedence that i joined the sagetv board on the days after the google announcement. I was curious to see what exactly sagetv is and please i do not want begin a flame ware about pros and cons, why should i? I'm just a bit displeased about the subtone in some of the posts here. Why do you think a company from outside the states is unable to offer support for a standard which is used in USA and canada only? This hardly remembers myself to the days i worked in the states. One of the reasons why i left the company was that one of my older (native) engineer colleagues argued like this: "I don't believe in your calculations at all. Why should I, we did not lost the WW2".
This is not funny, especially since even my granddads where too young for the war. (okay this was probably way too off topic).

Concerning the 7 day epg, i said that you do not have to subscribe and pay anything for epg if you use the DVBViewer. I did not said that there is no way to import epg instead by using some importers.

I also did not wrote that the DVBViewer does no encryption. The DVBViewer supports all common interfaces on the market (which includes the cams supported by these devices). If you have a legal subscription for paytv plus such an adapter to decode it on the PC it will work with the DVBViewer. You might use the search engine here in the board, since there are tons of DVBViewer posts related to this topic.

Horst

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by JmanGTA

I prefer and use 6.6.x. Is there any reason why the EPG data would stop working? Doesn't it come from zap2it using some sort of sagetv global account?

I believe it goes through the SageTV servers first. And since they pay for the guide data when they stop paying the data will stop going to the SageTV servers and will then stop being transmitted to us. Just my belief but based on posts from people who know I think I am correct. Jeff has said it will continue for at least a year so have a long time before we need another method. Slugger said he has a proof of concept plugin done that will work in it's place when needed.

[Torkild]

Originally Posted by IVB

The only way I'm bailing is if the EPG stops working and there's no hack to get it in. I only need a combined GUI for TV, DVD, BR, home videos. Hulu/Netflix are nice-to-have but not needed. I'm fine client-wise, i have 2 TVs but 9 licenses ( 3 unused software licenses, 2 HD200, 2 unused HD100, 2 HD300 en-route). My kids are asking for their own TV, so that would give me triple redundancy.

Hell, I was cool with the stock GUI from V2->V6, no way any bell or whistle from another manufacturer is going to tempt me to muck with a stable system.

XMLTV service - nuff said - no hack needed.

[Torkild]

Originally Posted by MeInMaui

I'm planning on sticking around. After all, we have a new baby Phoenix to look after.

Thank you !

[SpecialK]

Originally Posted by Localhorst

as i mentioned in the first post of me, it is not a coincedence that i joined the sagetv board on the days after the google announcement. I was curious to see what exactly sagetv is and please i do not want begin a flame ware about pros and cons, why should i? I'm just a bit displeased about the subtone in some of the posts here. Why do you think a company from outside the states is unable to offer support for a standard which is used in USA and canada only? This hardly remembers myself to the days i worked in the states. One of the reasons why i left the company was that one of my older (native) engineer colleagues argued like this: "I don't believe in your calculations at all. Why should I, we did not lost the WW2".
This is not funny, especially since even my granddads where too young for the war. (okay this was probably way too off topic).

Concerning the 7 day epg, i said that you do not have to subscribe and pay anything for epg if you use the DVBViewer. I did not said that there is no way to import epg instead by using some importers.

I also did not wrote that the DVBViewer does no encryption. The DVBViewer supports all common interfaces on the market (which includes the cams supported by these devices). If you have a legal subscription for paytv plus such an adapter to decode it on the PC it will work with the DVBViewer. You might use the search engine here in the board, since there are tons of DVBViewer posts related to this topic.

Horst

My take on this is simple.
You joined these forums and started bashing a product that most of us use on these forums everyday, and have for years. Wether it contains open source, random codecs, written in both C++, java, and whatever else it may use to work I do not care. IT WORKS, and with their extenders it's one of the only complete PVR systems out there.
My guess, based on your location, is that you have a biased opinion or are even the developer of DVBViewer. With that said that's all well and good and I have no problems with that. I would love to find other capable products that give me all the features I have in my SageTV PVR, livetv, whole house DVR, extenders that just work and work really well, along with a plugin system that gives me Commskip, Netflix, and many other custom features.
So if you want to see more of DVBViewer being used/sold in the US get an extender, preferably get the HD200 and HD300 working along with current documentation of other popular, well used products like the Silicon Dust HDHR and the Hauppage HD-PVR.

[doncote0]

as i mentioned in the first post of me, it is not a coincedence that i joined the sagetv board on the days after the google announcement.

I did not see the thread "me" or any of the related posts. I do not research you or any of your activity from birth due to the fact that you posted anywhere in our forum.

I was curious to see what exactly sagetv is

You know what SageTV is. You have shown annoyance in several of your posts about why someone would even use SageTV. You have even made several poor attempts to explain why DVBViewer is a better option for doing the stuff SageTV does. So you obviously know exactly what SageTV is.

and please i do not want begin a flame ware about pros and cons, why should i?

Too late. If you didn't want to start a war (notice no "e" on that word), you would not have come into my living room and gone full auto with your MAC 10. If you wish it to stop, just leave and take your crapware with you. I do not need or want it. If I did, I could just go to the DVBViewer website to find out more. I am more than "a little displeased" that you are posting continuously about a competing product in this forum. Did you read the forum rules? How disrespectful of you.

I'm just a bit displeased about the subtone in some of the posts here.

So what? I am more than a little displeased that you continue to levy your incoherent techno-psychobable.

Why do you think a company from outside the states is unable to offer support for a standard which is used in USA and canada only?

You should ask them. I don't care why.

This hardly remembers myself to the days i worked in the states.

Ni twob wonga dooda magonnie magonga.

This could quite a bit remember yourself to the days, and you do not unknow it not even many bunches of nothing.

I take back what I said about your English not being bad.

One of the reasons why i left the company was that one of my older (native) engineer colleagues argued like this: "I don't believe in your calculations at all. Why should I, we did not lost the WW2".

Sounds like a personal problem to me, but I still do not care.

This is not funny, especially since even my granddads where too young for the war. (okay this was probably way too off topic).

War is not funny, but you are. That was way too off topic and it was also an unsuccessful attempt to deflect.

I also did not wrote that the DVBViewer does no encryption.

That quote was from the DVBViewer website. Take it up with them.

You might use the search engine here in the board, since there are tons of DVBViewer posts related to this topic.

YOU ARE IN THE WRONG FORUM! THIS IS THE SAGETV FORUM.

There are NOT tons of DVBViewer posts here in the board.

[DaiTengu]

For all your insistence on not caring, you sure seem to type a lot of :words: doncote0.


I've been looking into other options for awhile, I spent the last weekend with MythTV and ruled it out due to many factors such as my inability to get analog recording working via my HVR-2250. Also, I'd prefer a Windows setup, as I'll probably wind up switching back and forth between whatever I pick, and WMC for DRM content via my Ceton card (whenever I scrape up enough cash to buy one).

I played with nextPVR a bit again, but it just doesn't have all the features I use in SageTV.

MediaPortal is probably next on my list of things to play with, but it's instability worries me.

I _MAY_ look into DVBViewer, but I've had bad experiences in the past with European HTPC software.

Sage being bought out by Google is sort of the catalyst for me to move to something else. I keep running into issues with Sage on video playback that I just don't have with any other application on the same machine. For example, I just went to go watch something and the minute I hit "select" to chose the episode, sage locked up. It's something that has cropped up from time to time over the years, and is really rather embarrassing when you have friends over to watch something. I've spent countless hours trying to fix it between reading, researching and posting with no luck. Really I'm at the point now where I just want something that works. WMC doesn't have the feature-set I desire, and the systems that do either aren't stable, or are MythTV.

*sigh*

[Localhorst]

There are NOT tons of DVBViewer posts here in the board.

There is a search function, if you use it and type DVBViewer as search function it will return 127 results in 6 pages. This is in my eyes quite a lot for a software which is also used as DVR.
Sorry if you are pissed by the fact that your 80 bucks are gone in the wind, well not my problem.
And believe it or not, i'm not the author, but quite funny that you suggest that.
Just for the record:
http://www.google.com/trends?q=dvbvi...tv%2C+beyondtv

Lets stay with the relicts of your overprized software and be happy. I just pinpointed 2 possible alternativex (XBMC and DVBViewer).

I do not know any extender which does not support UPNP, this means they ALL work with software provides that standard.

I uhm better get out of here, before one of you dandys try to lynch me virtually...

[APillowOfClouds]

Sage/Google if you are listening, the OVERWHELMING theme in every "what should we do" thread on here is that all of us have tried all sorts of other software and Sage beats all of them hands down.* So maybe don't do away with it just yet. Just slap a Google doodle on it and ship 8.0. We'll buy it.

*=Except for maybe DVBViewer

[heffe2001]

I would bet 90% of the DVBViewer posts on here are for using it as a front end to decrypt Dishnet, with another piece of software in the middle to make Sage see it as a network tuner.

I would also say that just because a media player supports upnp, doesn't mean it's a replacement for the HDx00 series Sage Extenders either. Unless you've actually used a Sage extender on a Sage system, you're just not going to understand what functionality would be lost by going to a upnp-only player... No nice guides, menus, ability to schedule recordings, see the upcoming schedule, etc. You'll be able to see what you've set to record on the server, but not really control the system completely from the player's GUI...

That being said, I do actually own 1 DVBViewer license, I used to use it for FTA satellite reception, but at the time it was just too buggy getting it to work with some of the most common hardware available here in the states. It would possibly work better now, but I would loose way too much functionality trying to switch over to something like that... I also own 2 MyTheatre licenses, but those (like the dvbviewer license I have), are purchases that I'll most likely never use again.

Originally Posted by Localhorst

There is a search function, if you use it and type DVBViewer as search function it will return 127 results in 6 pages. This is in my eyes quite a lot for a software which is also used as DVR.
Sorry if you are pissed by the fact that your 80 bucks are gone in the wind, well not my problem.
And believe it or not, i'm not the author, but quite funny that you suggest that.
Just for the record:
http://www.google.com/trends?q=dvbvi...tv%2C+beyondtv

Lets stay with the relicts of your overprized software and be happy. I just pinpointed 2 possible alternativex (XBMC and DVBViewer).

I do not know any extender which does not support UPNP, this means they ALL work with software provides that standard.

I uhm better get out of here, before one of you dandys try to lynch me virtually...

[sandor]

Originally Posted by Localhorst

Just for the record:
http://www.google.com/trends?q=dvbvi...tv%2C+beyondtv

no north american countries listed in the top ten. hmm....

Sage on the other hand has US and Canada 1 and 2. Huh. And SageTV is a company based in the US, interesting...