Stay or Bail ?

[Tomahawk51]

Originally Posted by stanger89

It's not a matter of features or parity, there are no other extenders period. All of the other WMC extenders are long since discontinued.

Thanks, I was getting confused by seeing many options (e.g. Linksys DMA2x00). I didn't realize all these options have been discontinued (looks like 2009 for Linksys).

[Mailman74]

Originally Posted by panteragstk

As far as I know there is nothing like the sagetv extender. Nothing at all. Some have said gbpvr can use the mvp from hauppauge, but that is a pretty old device.

At this point we would have to build client pc's for every room or use xbmc on an atv2 (with no mpeg2 support so it isn't really a good extender).

Excuse my lack of knowledge. I have 2 client pc's that do fine. I was planning on getting atv2 with xbmc in the other 2 rooms. Will the atv2 be able to play back my recorded shows and movie library?

[jlmdxtv]

From what I've been reading, schedule guides can be found through other sources if/when the SageTV servers shut down a year from now.

But what about the 3rd party plugin depository? If my server needs to be rebuilt after the SageTV servers are off, are there any other ways of re-loading the plugins that I use now?

Can I download the plugins I use now and unpack them in the future if I need to install them again?

thanks, john

[wayner]

Originally Posted by panteragstk

I think that when our guide data stops (the only reason to leave sage IMHO) the mediaportal/xbmc setup will be the way to go. From what I can see XBMC offers pretty much everything that sage does with the exception of PVR functionality. They are working on it, and in a year or so I hope it will work well. I can't see myself ever going back to a STB for PVR use. Never.

I agree but I don't think we will ever have to worry about losing guide data as it should be pretty easy to replace. I worry more about hardware failures of my 6 extenders and no way to build more extenders/clients of any type without licenses.

[Slugger]

Originally Posted by jlmdxtv

From what I've been reading, schedule guides can be found through other sources if/when the SageTV servers shut down a year from now.

But what about the 3rd party plugin depository? If my server needs to be rebuilt after the SageTV servers are off, are there any other ways of re-loading the plugins that I use now?

Can I download the plugins I use now and unpack them in the future if I need to install them again?

thanks, john

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...2&postcount=17

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by wayner

I agree but I don't think we will ever have to worry about losing guide data as it should be pretty easy to replace. I worry more about hardware failures of my 6 extenders and no way to build more extenders/clients of any type without licenses.

Exactly. I have 3 HD200s but I have retired 2 of them to use as replacements if the 1 in use dies. I have PCs in Living room and Office where extenders were previously. I got my Living room client to playback stutter free on everything I've tried so far - just like with the extenders. So I'm good for a while.

[SWKerr]

Originally Posted by Mailman74

Excuse my lack of knowledge. I have 2 client pc's that do fine. I was planning on getting atv2 with xbmc in the other 2 rooms. Will the atv2 be able to play back my recorded shows and movie library?

I have not bought an AppleTV2 so I can not say for sure but in my reading on the XBMC integration there appears to be an issue with MPEG2 playback. It is not an issue with the ATV2 hardware itself but with the implementation. Apparently Apple does not sell HD MPEG2 files so did not feel they needed to support them. It is possible the XBMC team will develop a solution in the future but for now only the h.264 recordings playback well. For most people this would not be an acceptable solution but depending you your setup you might be Ok.

MediaPortal with the XBMC front end does play live TV from the Guide but mine has been less than stable. Recorded TV has worked ok. You can pull up the guide a setup a recording but you do not have access to all the important favorites type options. They are headed in the right direction but they are just not ready for prime time. I did read awhile back that some hardware makers were considering a XBMC extender but not much has come of that to date.

I would probably go out and buy an AppleTV2 just to play with at $99 but the fact that you can't plugin a USB device for playback is a killer for me. If I could use it as a mobile extender it might be useful regardless but right now it is just to limited even with XBMC.

[SWKerr]

Originally Posted by Mailman74

I bought some cheap refurbed pcs and put new gpu in them to use as client pc's. I installed windows media center 7 of them and starting to play with wmc. I fairly new to the htpc set up and had sagetv for about 4 months. So far it seems with my set up I can do mostly everything we did with sagetv. We only watch ota and movie collection on server.

WMC does not play well with multiple HTPC setups. WMC does not really share recorded shows with other PCs. You need an extender if you really want to watch recorded TV on more than on set. You can technically watch them in the videos section but you loose all the metadata. WMC really only works well with the Xbox360 and one HTPC.

What really bothers me about WMC is I can play some things back on the HTPC that will not work on the Xbox360. Also it seems to take forever to boot the Xbox360 and start up Media Center. Tons of menu items to click and much waiting.

The other big knock on the Xbox360 is noise. This one is BS though. The original 360s sounded like a jet taking off but even the ones the made just before the slim came out were very quiet. They really only get audible during some gaming.

Netflix integration is flawless.

[mephista]

I'm bailing, this sucks, google obviously has different plans.

[simonen]

Originally Posted by mephista

I'm bailing, this sucks, google obviously has different plans.

Unfortunately, I am likely doing the same. I will keep my HD200 and HD300 as stand alone media players and go with a whole home dvr system from cable or satellite, and pick up a slingbox for placeshifting.

[equalize]

I'll stay until SageTv stops working (i.e. EPG or anything else) and then bail. That maybe much sooner rather than later. I'm not the slightest bit interested in Google TV.
It was a nice ride while it lasted. Too bad SageTv was killed right when it was peaking. I was really hoping to get more use out of version 7 after recently paying for the upgrade.

[graywolf]

I'll stay as long as I keep it working and the extenders I have hold out.

Will re-evaluate at a later date, if something better comes along.

Prefer solid performance over eye-candy.

WAF currently prefers the V6 UI, have to work on that some. Learn some Studio. So that can have V7 and the features I like of it (plug-in manager) and keep the WAF high (less eye candy, less button hits for what she does/uses).

[bunch92]

My system is working fine, so I will stick to it for a long time .... in fact, I just bought my first HD300 for $100 on ebay today to complete my setup.

[a_puty]

I was planning to stick around also. On a whim I decided to install and try out Media Portal. Figured I could test in parallel with Sage and could revert easily without overly annoying my wife. I had tried Media Portal a couple years ago and found the TV functionality in particular unusable. I have been incredibly surprised this time around. I had my Server/Client setup up and running in about 2-3 hours. The TV component has been excellent (despite a somehwat convoluted channel setup). I have been using the StreamedMP skin which is amazing. Without taking away anything from all of the amazing developers and their work which I have very gratefully enjoyed over the past few months, I am amazed at the polish I have found in MediaPortal. I'm going to move all of my functionality over to MP and if things keep working as they have been I think I've found my solution. Watched a movie last night with my wife and she was just amazed at the quality of the interface. And she typically doesn't care at all. Anyhow, a big thanks to everyone. All the best.

Incidentally, for a client solution I bought a Zotac Mini-PC. Which for the lowest model barebones is on par costwise with an HD300. Add 2GB RAM and a hard disk (and OS) and its definitely more expensive but infinitely more flexible. Anyhow, it has been working really well for me.

[panteragstk]

I think I'll just make some mini client pc's and be done with it. Extenders are nice, but I want a warranty with mine and I wouldn't think they are transferable if I were to get one off ebay. Granted hell would freeze over before I paid $300 for one. That doesn't make sense at all.

[graywolf]

Originally Posted by bunch92

My system is working fine, so I will stick to it for a long time .... in fact, I just bought my first HD300 for $100 on ebay today to complete my setup.

Guess the europe ebay prices are a lot cheaper. either that or more folks are bailing in europe than north america

[graywolf]

Originally Posted by panteragstk

I think I'll just make some mini client pc's and be done with it. Extenders are nice, but I want a warranty with mine and I wouldn't think they are transferable if I were to get one off ebay. Granted hell would freeze over before I paid $300 for one. That doesn't make sense at all.

I'd be fine going that route myself, except get into the Client License issue.
Had contemplated getting some in the past to play around with but was happy with the extenders and never figured I'd use clients.

Oh well.

With all the silence from Saogle and the ire/frustration dieing on the forums (probably the reason for the silence), I don't see a solution for getting licenses to run client machines.

[bunch92]

Originally Posted by graywolf

Guess the europe ebay prices are a lot cheaper. either that or more folks are bailing in europe than north america

Got it from ebay US ... listed without the word "HD300" in it

Item 370523389008 , a bargain

[uberpixel]

Originally Posted by bunch92

Got it from ebay US ... listed without the word "HD300" in it

Item 370523389008 , a bargain

[slowpoke]

I was using Mediaportal for about a month with streamedmp skin - really liked it but ran into a system freezing issue - about once or twice a week... back to sage for now. Sage really does work very well... I'm hoping the google buy-out actually will add to what Sage offers - I'm optimistic about the buyout. Having said that, I will keep playing with mediaportal as a backup. Maybe when this version of mp comes out of beta it will be rock solid. (Love all of the plugins for MP - really missing grooveshark and tv series with sagetv)

Originally Posted by a_puty

I was planning to stick around also. On a whim I decided to install and try out Media Portal. Figured I could test in parallel with Sage and could revert easily without overly annoying my wife. I had tried Media Portal a couple years ago and found the TV functionality in particular unusable. I have been incredibly surprised this time around. I had my Server/Client setup up and running in about 2-3 hours. The TV component has been excellent (despite a somehwat convoluted channel setup). I have been using the StreamedMP skin which is amazing. Without taking away anything from all of the amazing developers and their work which I have very gratefully enjoyed over the past few months, I am amazed at the polish I have found in MediaPortal. I'm going to move all of my functionality over to MP and if things keep working as they have been I think I've found my solution. Watched a movie last night with my wife and she was just amazed at the quality of the interface. And she typically doesn't care at all. Anyhow, a big thanks to everyone. All the best. Guess I'm off to ebay now (I have an HD300 with wifi, a couple of client licenses (are these resellable?), if anyone is interested)

Incidentally, for a client solution I bought a Zotac Mini-PC. Which for the lowest model barebones is on par costwise with an HD300. Add 2GB RAM and a hard disk (and OS) and its definitely more expensive but infinitely more flexible. Anyhow, it has been working really well for me.