Boxee, roku, or something comepletely different?

[ericscottf]

Hi all

Getting my first HD tv shortly.
I've got a perfectly nice sage setup (see sig), and this will add one more tv to the mix.
Aside from paying ebay prices for another hd200/300, i'm wondering if i should get a boxee or roku or something similar instead.
Pros: netflix/hulu/whatever the streamer of the day is
cons: no real sage integration(?), have to go to another tv/pc to add/change recordings, comskip files might not work, reading less formats, etc.

What's the general consensus on this situation these days?
Is there any other box that can instruct sage on recording? Can get sage meta data? Can work with comskip files?

Anything else i should be considering/looking into?
My only requirements are: totally silent, decent enough remote, WAF..

thanks!

[PiX64]

Here is an option for you:

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57842

[ericscottf]

Is this software, or does someone already make a box+remote+etc that implements it?

[panteragstk]

You can use the software on a roku box or make a mini pc with plex loaded or whatever you want. It is very flexible software.

[Dargason]

If you get a "SmartTV" you can run Plex directly on it... I think Samsung and LG have sets that can run Plex, though I've never actually seen it.

http://elan.plexapp.com/2010/09/02/p...of-television/
http://forums.plexapp.com/index.php/...ung-smart-hub/
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...KTlByeWc#gid=0

Plex doesn't have any 'knobs' for configuring or setting up sage, favorites, recording, etc, but it's a nice front end. It's a semi-commercialized software fork of XBMC. One of the nice added features is that it does a good job of serving and streaming your media over the internet to a variety of devices, including phones, tablets, etc.

[PiX64]

Originally Posted by Dargason

If you get a "SmartTV" you can run Plex directly on it... I think Samsung and LG have sets that can run Plex, though I've never actually seen it.

http://elan.plexapp.com/2010/09/02/p...of-television/
http://forums.plexapp.com/index.php/...msung-devices/

While this is true, I have heard/read that it leaves MUCH to be desired. If you are looking for a small form factor silent cheap front end go with roku or atv2 (jailbroken) or build a silent front end mini pc as panteragstk mentioned above

[ericscottf]

I'm an engineer, and I do love tinkering with things, but building a small PC and getting it to work well with media and be silent and have a remote and all is just a frustrating waste of time for me.
I'd rather buy an off the shelf thing, tinker once, and be done with it. That's why i liked the hd200s so much.

I guess i'll get a roku and see how annoying it is.

thanks

[Dargason]

Originally Posted by PiX64

While this is true, I have heard/read that it leaves MUCH to be desired. If you are looking for a small form factor silent cheap front end go with roku or atv2 (jailbroken) or build a silent front end mini pc as panteragstk mentioned above

I don't doubt that this is true, as it's sort of a new feature. However, Samsung makes some nice TV sets, and if you haven't decided on one anyway... you could try it and get the roku later if you don't like it. And maybe the Plex folks will work the kinks out in the meantime.

Personally, I'd probably get a roku for the portability and other reasons, but having it built into the set would be nice too once they get the bugs worked out.

[ericscottf]

I don't want anything built into the set, i don't care for that kind of stuff (upgradeability, non portability, etc)

just one box, quiet, integrated remote, talks to windows shares on my wired network for pulling video, etc.

[darcilicious]

Originally Posted by ericscottf

I guess i'll get a roku and see how annoying it is.

thanks

I've done this and it's not half-bad... given Roku's general UI constraints.

Now depending on your recordings, you will probably want to make sure to install the Plex Media Server on a pretty hefty device; offhand, I can't recall which video files have to be transcoded on the fly for the Roku as a Plex client but I'm guessing it would many/most...

[ericscottf]

...I was thinking i'd just use the roku as-is. Is that not an okay idea? Interact with sage for recording/etc from other rooms?

[darcilicious]

The Roku is not a local file media streamer out of the box... but there is a USB interface (for external drives?). See http://www.roku.com/roku-products#3 and then click the link near the bottom "specs".

[PiX64]

Originally Posted by ericscottf

...I was thinking i'd just use the roku as-is. Is that not an okay idea? Interact with sage for recording/etc from other rooms?

Plex is a standalone server software that we built integrations for which pull your sage recorded tv, sage recorded movies, and Metadata from BMT into Plex for cataloging and playback from any device.

In order to use it you will need to install the server and then the scanners and agent we developed.

Plex does on the fly transcoding of content it knows about so that the content can be played back on devices which are restricted in formats they can play. i.e. the roku2 or atv2 or iOs, etc.

Take a look at the thread i posted above. There is a google code site for our project and a very nice wiki put together by Darci.

[ericscottf]

so.... boxee?
How's that do with sage?

[darcilicious]

Boxee playback is fine (great actually) but if you want more than the browse to the folders/files on the network functionality, it too will take some work. If you just want file browsing and then video playback, you might want to look at the WD Live TV line of streamers as they would be cheaper.

There's a SageTV app for Boxee but it's very much an "alpha" and isn't being actively developed currently. I haven't used it much lately myself but get your Box from a retailer with a good return policy, try it and see if it works well enough.

The long and short of it is: there is no "good" replacement for a SageTV extender without some effort on your part.

[ericscottf]

I think that clunky sage viewing might be acceptable if i at least got netflix/whatever out of the deal.
Does boxee pull any metadata? Can i see show descriptions or dates, or at least what the most recent recording is, so i know what's probably unwatched?

How about the comskip files? Does it parse those?

[darcilicious]

Your questions seem at cross-purposes with your statement regarding "clunky sage viewing".

Boxee will identify video files based on either their file name (tv shows need season and episode numbers which SageTV does now) or on locally supplied NFO files. Unfortunately, NFO files will NOT work with tv shows as-is because of the folder/file structure required to support NFO files with tv show files but works GREAT with recorded movies. There is some work being done trying to work around it but the solution hasn't been perfected.

Assuming Boxee does identify your files (however that happens), then yes, you get show descriptions and dates and the video files will show up in the Movies and TV Shows screens.

If you're just browsing over the network to the files, then no, you don't get any metadata, just the file name. You can sort folders by date (chronological/reverse or A-Z/reverse).

I believe Boxee will use .edl files but it will totally skip the commercial, not allow you to adjust (not exactly familiar with comskip stuff so you might want to search the forums on edl and boxee ).

[darcilicious]

Here's the thread on the work-around I alluded to http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57983

It will make browsing SageTV files nicer but you won't get any metadata this way on Boxee without doing a manual identify (versus its automated scanning/identifying process).

[MattHelm]

My input. Get either the Boxee Box, or the WD TV LIVE for playback. The Boxee is a Linux PC modified (so is very flexible) and has a Sage interface, The WD TV LIVE has played EVERYTHING I thrown at it. (still not the Best GUI, though)

I would only get the Roku for internet TV stuff. You'll need a powerful server to transcode everything it doesn't work with!

[darcilicious]

The Boxee is a Linux PC modified (so is very flexible)

Uhm, I'm not sure how to take that statement. The Boxee Box is Linux CE and is very locked down. I'm not sure what Matt means by "very flexible" without some context for that statement.

(I say this as a long time Boxee software user and Boxee Box owner). I stand by my recommendation to get one, try it out, and be prepared to return it if it's not your cup of tea.