Some questions about SageTV and its hardware

[aaearon]

Ive recently become interested in HTPC software for Windows. I tried out Beyond TV and went out to try SageTV until I saw I needed a hardware encoder, which I don't have. I have a WinTV-GO. I noticed on the site that they sell SageTV with hardware. I saw the Rosyln card which I understand to be a special SageTV item not to be found anywhere else. What card is the Roselyn comparable to? The PVR 250 or 350? If I decide I find other software that I like better than SageTv, can I use the Roselyn card with other software or with just SageTV?

Would the Roselyn card be the best for what I want to have? I already have digital cable with a cable box, so I will be using one of the infared devices to change the channel.

My setup is below:
AMD 2500
512MB PC3200 DDR
200GB Seagate 7200RPM
iDEQ 200n nForce2 Chipset
WinTV-GO (I had it laying around.)
X10 "Lola" Remote

Thanks in advance!

[mlbdude]

The Rosyln card is the new style. It is the same as the 250BTV sold with BTV. Overall it performs the same however it is not compatible with every application out there.

If you can afford it I would go with a retail or MCE version since those work universally and not just with Sage, BTV, and a couple of others. Otherwise, it should be a great card.

[aaearon]

Cool thanks.

Also, do you know if there is a site that compares the retail version and the MCE version?

Edit: I found a comparison between the two on HTPCNews. Here is the link if anyone else is interested:
http://www.htpcnews.com/main.php?id=pvrmcereview4

[mlbdude]

Here is a good guide.

http://htpcnews.com/main.php?id=pvr_card_id_guide

Conexant Blackbird is the same as the Roslyn.

[stanger89]

The Roslyn is Haupauge's version of the Conexant "Blackbird" reference design. Here's a post of mine at the AVS Forum with links to a couple other "Blackbird" cards.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...97#post3865397
The Blackbird cards are functionally equivalent to the PVR 250, but being a slightly different implimentation and therefore have a couple interesting features. I know Sage supports Blackbirds, and Snapstream appears to be selling Blackbirds as well so it should work with either.

The Blackbird cards currently represent the best value at the moment IMO. Full HW encoding for the price of some standard TV cards. I mentioned a couple interesting features; When the first Blackbird cards made it into customer's hands (before they were supported by Sage) it was reported that they worked with dScaler as standard TV cards which indicates that just about any TV/PVR app should be able use them, although Sage is the only one I know for sure supports the HW encoding capabilities (though I suspect BTV does as well).

If I were you, I'd just buy one of the Sage/Roslyn bundles, you won't be disappointed.

[kny3twalker]

also MCE uses only the hardware encoder only

[justme]

Just don't forget that the Roslyn does not have an InfrarRed port or remote. So if you go that way you might want to get a bundle with a remote to control SageTV. Without additional hardware you would only be able to control Sage by keyboard. However since you are looking to use your setup with digital cable box, and mentioned using/needing an IR to device to change channels. I'd go with the USB-UIRT since it can both send and recieve IR. This would allow Sage to use the USB-UIRT to control your digital box. You would still need to have a spare remote(or device on a universal) to then control Sage with thru the USB-UIRT's reciever.

I personally don't like the remotes that come with the retail PVR250/350 so I don't consider this an issue especially if you are going to get a IR device. Personally I'd say, use the saving on the Roslyn to get the USB-UIRT and use whatever remote you want. We use both a Tivo remote and an MX500 to control SageTV.

Backing up what stanger89 said... As for the Roslyn's working with other software. I don't personally have a Roslyn, but I do have a Avermedia M150(Blackbird) card. I took the leap way back before Sage ever supported the card. Most generic TV softare out ther does support it as a BT88 device(no hardware encoding). To my knowledge only SageTV,BTV and MCE actually use the HW encoder part of the card.

EDIT:I don't know if this is an issue for you or not but... So far no one has verified that the Hauppauge Roslyn card can imbed CC like the Retail 250/350 cards can. Hauppauge uses some special format to support it in the Mpeg2 stream. There is no official support for CC in SageTV. However there are workaround(mpg2srt) if the card imbeds the CC data. Rumor has it the next version of BTV will officially support CC for the retail PVR250/350.

[aaearon]

Thanks for the info guys. Its really useful. I think I will go ahead and purchase a Sage/Roslyn bundle since that sounds like it will be the best bang for my buck.

Another question, I read the review on HTPCNews on SageTV 2.0. I noticed on the first page that while at the EPG and at the main menu, LiveTV is playing in the background. Thats pretty awesome, and Im wondering if any of you have experienced lag when navigating through the EPG or main menu with LiveTV in the background. Reason I ask this is because, before I installed Windows I got MythTV up and running and it had a similar feature where livetv is playing in the background of the EPG. I experienced notable lag when navigating the EPG. Could that have been because my card is a software decoder or something else?

Edit: Just so I don't screw up when ordering, the Blackbird card in the bundles is actually the Roslyn card that we've been discussing, correct?

[kny3twalker]

no generally you will get skips in playback before lag in the menus
I hardly ever get lag in menus
and it only skips in playback if I am being hard on it

[aaearon]

I was browsing the FAQ and noticed the part where it says that it is always recording to the harddrive. This machine will be in the living room so the TV will more than likely will be on ALL the time. If I understand correctly, that means it will record everything that we watch. So If we have the TV on for 8 hours that day, it will record all 8 hours that it was on and it will be on the hard drive? Cant the hard drive fill up pretty quickly in a situation such as that?

[stanger89]

I don't know if you're referring to the "Official" FAQ, or the one in the SageTV SW forum, you might want to check it out, especially this post:
http://forums.sage.tv/forums/showthr...0155#post40155

Sage will use as much space as you give it. It's best to give it it's own partition to use. Sage takes care of managing space, it will delete files when it needs room, and "LiveTV" files are the first to go.

[Opus4]

Originally posted by aaearon
I was browsing the FAQ and noticed the part where it says that it is always recording to the harddrive. ... Cant the hard drive fill up pretty quickly ... ?

Check this FAQ entry regarding disk space usage & delting of files. Essentially: yes, it will record everything you watch. BUT, it may not keep all those files around, depending on how SageTV is configured. BUT, even if it does keep everything, it will delete older/watched/etc files to make room for new recordings. So, it shouldn't actually run out of disk space unless you configure SageTV to use something like 200GB on a drive with only 120GB actually available for SageTV recordings.

- Andy

Edit: heh... I typed a tad bit too slow, but at least we both referenced the same FAQ!