Who will still be using SageTV in five years?

[briankeys]

Asking because my Dish contract is up in April and I find myself at a fork in the road. Do I throw a pair of Colossus cards in my Sage server and keep it going, or do I give up on it and go with a Dish or DirecTV whole house solution?

I have no personal experience of the latter but from what I read, it seems like they still have their limitations and I could do without the monthly DVR service fee.

On the flip side I'm still loving SageTV after what must be ten years. I know I can keep it running especially as long as the forum stays around, but what about the guide data? I think that's the only part that really worries me.

Soooo,

1. Will the forums be around for a while in one form or another?
2. Any thoughts on the sustainability of the guide data for a few years?
3. I'm I asking for trouble replacing my HVR1600s with Colossuses?

Any input would be appreciated. I should mention that my internet service is over satellite with a download quota so the whole online video experience is not an option for me.

Thanks!

[Dargason]

A colossus is $150. I have no idea what a whole house DVR fee costs, but maybe $20 per month? More?

So if a colossus delays the DVR fee even for only 8 months, you're money ahead. I'm pretty sure the forums and probably even the guide will still be around that long.

Just my two cents.

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by briankeys

Asking because my Dish contract is up in April and I find myself at a fork in the road. Do I throw a pair of Colossus cards in my Sage server and keep it going, or do I give up on it and go with a Dish or DirecTV whole house solution?

Not an option for me I have 40TB of recordings now that isn't possible with a whole house solution.

I have no personal experience of the latter but from what I read, it seems like they still have their limitations and I could do without the monthly DVR service fee.

Not sure they can play media off a computer but if they can't that would be a limitation. Don't want two boxes to do playback myself.

On the flip side I'm still loving SageTV after what must be ten years. I know I can keep it running especially as long as the forum stays around, but what about the guide data? I think that's the only part that really worries me.

Soooo,

1. Will the forums be around for a while in one form or another?

There was a SJQ script to download all the plugins available for SageTV V7 so those are safe - if you run it periodically anyway.

2. Any thoughts on the sustainability of the guide data for a few years?

Slugger has a EPG plugin that works with SchedulesDirect to get data. But Narflex has posted that the EPG will not be shutting down anytime soon anyway.

3. I'm I asking for trouble replacing my HVR1600s with Colossuses?

I've had better luck with version 1 HD-PVR myself but I know others have Colossi so it might work for you too. My Colossus is recording from HDMI but I don't believe Component/SPDIF would have the same problems I have.

Any input would be appreciated. I should mention that my internet service is over satellite with a download quota so the whole online video experience is not an option for me.

Thanks!

[mistergq]

I talked to a DirectTV sales guy at Sams Club the other day. He is boosting genie...the ease, and the amount of space. He told me 800 hours. Not sure if they were putting a 3 or 4 TB drive in it, or if he was just wrong. But I have over 800 hours of content right now and 3/4 full, and can expand if I want too. I also have DVD/Blurays as well, with pictures as a screen saver. The pictures are huge. He tried to close the deal and just did not understand my reluctance.

On the one hand, I get to relieve the need to worry about what is the next thing to stop working (which does not happen often, but something screws up every once and awhile). On the other hand, I have to give up something that I have to give up SageTV.

There were plenty of other issues. How much would my internet go up when I remove the bundle. I also wish the directtv boxes were wireless or used ethernet to connect. I don't have coax in every room and don't want them running the cable outside the house.

I don't know what to do. I wish we had clear answer from Google/Sage about whether there will be a public release. I wish there was a clear answer on this.

Right now I am holding out. If I switch to directtv, it will be in the summer to get the NFL package for free or at a discount. I may just renew the 2 year contract on FIOS and punt this decision for 2 years.

[SteveD]

I am currently running the genie with three clients. Its a good dvr solution, but it has no ability to playback ripped /or a very limited capibility for ripped content. No placeshifting, but the ability to stream content from Directv servers. My unit has a 1 tb drive and is 58% full since November.

Using plex on unraid for ripped content for playback on roku boxes
Windows mediacenter for family room ripped content and netflix
Unraid for storage 10TB
Sagetv for placeshifting 2TB

Sagetv still has its uses.

[tvmaster2]

I'll be using Sage until they pry the remote from my old, arthritic hands....

[briankeys]

I was leaning towards sticking it out with SageTV and even more so now, thank you. I know I can keep the software and hardware going for some time to come and I get the impression the forum isn't going anywhere soon. If anything does happen to the guide data, I'm sure a plan B will evolve pretty quickly.

Besides, I just discovered the SageTV Phoenix Android app and I'm going to donate right away, Something new to play with!

Main thing though is my wife and kids like SageTV and they know their way around it. I'd have to move in with the dogs if I tried to change it before it was completely broken.

Thanks!

[doc]

My box is sat at home faithfully recording away. During the week I watch the recordings on a Roku box with Plex but when home I'm back to Sage again.

I think it'll be sat there for quite a few more years.

[rnadeau]

Quote: "If anything does happen to the guide data, I'm sure a plan B will evolve pretty quickly."

Plan B is already in place and I am using it. It is the Schedules Direct plugin. An account with SD is $25.00 a year and it works just as well as the sage guide data.

[tvmaster2]

there's really only one concern.....operating system software updates. I guess just turn off updates and it should run forever?

[Thomas Wischgol]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

there's really only one concern.....operating system software updates. I guess just turn off updates and it should run forever?

That is usually one of the first thing I do: I have updates disabled on my server and all clients. Since I do not surf the web on those to anything overly suspicious I am not to worried about it being out of date. Besides breaking something through an update, I do not really like the constant forced reboots either that these updates may cause.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by Thomas Wischgol

That is usually one of the first thing I do: I have updates disabled on my server and all clients. Since I do not surf the web on those to anything overly suspicious I am not to worried about it being out of date. Besides breaking something through an update, I do not really like the constant forced reboots either that these updates may cause.

I am just the opposite I keep my operating Systems (Windows 8) and Java versions all up to date. The day that SageTV doesn't work under any update is when I say CYA.

[stanger89]

Personally, I hope I'm not running SageTV 7.1.9 in 5 years. It would be really sad if nobody can come up with something equal/better in 5 years.

I say SageTV 7.1.9 because I leave open the slim possibility of running some future version of SageTV (ala Google Fiber or something).

[Brent]

I'll be using Sage until summer of this year when I hope to get Google Fiber TV installed. I will keep the SageTV server running after that to wind down a ton of recordings. Not going to give SageTV up until I'm confident the new Sage (Google Fiber TV) isn't overly crippled by Google.

[Taddeusz]

I'm with Stanger. I hope I'm not using SageTV as it stands now in 5 years. I certainly don't plan on quitting HTPC's. I'll just have to see what the future brings. I would rather have a simpler setup that doesn't require a cable box and HDPVR. But I also don't want to lose one of my family's favorite features, commercial skipping, due to DRM.

Having to wait for an unknown future stinks. But such is life. Just have to wait and see.

[SHS]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Personally, I hope I'm not running SageTV 7.1.9 in 5 years. It would be really sad if nobody can come up with something equal/better in 5 years.

I say SageTV 7.1.9 because I leave open the slim possibility of running some future version of SageTV (ala Google Fiber or something).

Let see it 2 years and counting and nobody even come close to it

[jchiso]

I will be. Hopefully (primarily) via Linux servers, since my biggest pitfalls seem to be Windows-related ...

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by SHS

Let see it 2 years and counting and nobody even come close to it

nobody's come close to it in ten years, from anything I've tried. while it's nice the creators sold-out and made some $$$, it just sucks that development is dead. I guess this is what happened to the car engine that ran on water....

[IVB]

Respectfully, in 5-10 years bandwidth will be less of an issue, and the concept of recording & locally storing shows will be unneeded as streaming on-demand from the cloud will be widespread. In 2000, very few people bought music online, everyone used napster. By 2010, nobody thought twice about buying iTunes. By 2018, the # of people paying $80/month for 500 channels of crap will be in the minority.

[Slugger]

Originally Posted by IVB

Respectfully, in 5-10 years bandwidth will be less of an issue, and the concept of recording & locally storing shows will be unneeded as streaming on-demand from the cloud will be widespread.

In theory, yes, in practice, well, I'm not so sure. The bandwidth might be available, but will the tv/movie industry play nice? My biggest issue with streaming is that I can't be sure the episodes of my shows are going to be available online (via legit means) when I'm ready to watch them. This is the problem.

So let's take The Simpsons (just one example of many on my Sage system). I see in Sage I've got 14 episodes for this season -- the entire season. I haven't watched any of them yet, probably won't until the summer. With Sage, no problem, they sit there waiting until I'm ready. And if I wanted to stream these episodes? Well I'd head over to the Fox web site and what do I see? Well I see the attached screen. Only 5 episodes available, one of which is locked for another week before I could stream it. Where are the other 9 episodes of the season? Lost forever as far I'm concerned. Never mind the fact that I'm Canadian and couldn't even watch the streams if I wanted to because Fox has decided that only Americans can stream their content. Thanks, but no thanks. Local, DRM free video storage is the only way for me until the tv networks figure this out.

In 2000, very few people bought music online, everyone used napster. By 2010, nobody thought twice about buying iTunes. By 2018, the # of people paying $80/month for 500 channels of crap will be in the minority.

And the big difference? You buy a song on iTunes and download it to your device, available for use whenever you want to listen to it. Streaming content is only available at the whim of the provider. When they decide you can't watch it anymore, you're out of luck. Such a model will never take over from a local storage approach (whether that be Sage, some other HTPC, or the sat/cable PVR sol'n), imho.