alternatives to Sage to consider

[PiX64]

Originally Posted by clayfree

This weekend I unplugged my last two HD100 boxes for the last time About 2 years ago I started using XBMC quite a bit for the streaming capabilities. With Sage I was using PlayOn and the experience was lacking. I've watched as the family has grown more dependent on the XBMC(ATV2's). I still kept the Sage up and running for live TV and recordings but scaled it back to a server and client 2 boxes. With the limited future of the ATV2's I decided I needed to finally make a move so that's what I've done over the past week.

My new setup is the same server hardware(htpc Win7) running NextPVR. NextPvr was really simple to set up and configure the epg data(I also tried MediaPortal and it worked well also). I've heard great things about many other backends but tried the Windows options first before moving to linux. I have 3-Clients that are Pivos Xios DS with the Linux XBMC builds. They run the NextPVR addon. Live and recorded TV is quick and smooth and the xbmc interface is plenty quick. In the newer Linux builds user data is stored on a micro sd card so a client can be cloned easily. NextPVR does not have the same full feature set as SageTV but I am so happy to be down to one system. The clients meet my $100 requirement and they all function with my existing Harmony remotes. I have not set up XBMC with Mysql yet but that will probably happen soon ( I've gone back and forth on the pros & cons of a server). I finally have one system that is a networked DVR, great media center with metadata support, multiple streaming options, wide range of skins and affordable clients. I also feel like this software will have unlimited hardware in the future. Very soon we should see support for dual core and even quad core boxes and they just seen to get smaller and cheaper.

So what do you do for streaming? last time i tried some of the plugins for streaming from Netflix, Amazon, and the like It was lackluster to say the least... MUCH like sage is.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by clayfree

This weekend I unplugged my last two HD100 boxes for the last time About 2 years ago I started using XBMC quite a bit for the streaming capabilities. With Sage I was using PlayOn and the experience was lacking. I've watched as the family has grown more dependent on the XBMC(ATV2's). I still kept the Sage up and running for live TV and recordings but scaled it back to a server and client 2 boxes. With the limited future of the ATV2's I decided I needed to finally make a move so that's what I've done over the past week.

My new setup is the same server hardware(htpc Win7) running NextPVR. NextPvr was really simple to set up and configure the epg data(I also tried MediaPortal and it worked well also). I've heard great things about many other backends but tried the Windows options first before moving to linux. I have 3-Clients that are Pivos Xios DS with the Linux XBMC builds. They run the NextPVR addon. Live and recorded TV is quick and smooth and the xbmc interface is plenty quick. In the newer Linux builds user data is stored on a micro sd card so a client can be cloned easily. NextPVR does not have the same full feature set as SageTV but I am so happy to be down to one system. The clients meet my $100 requirement and they all function with my existing Harmony remotes. I have not set up XBMC with Mysql yet but that will probably happen soon ( I've gone back and forth on the pros & cons of a server). I finally have one system that is a networked DVR, great media center with metadata support, multiple streaming options, wide range of skins and affordable clients. I also feel like this software will have unlimited hardware in the future. Very soon we should see support for dual core and even quad core boxes and they just seen to get smaller and cheaper.

NextPVR is more limited than SageTV as a PVR so why would I switch?... NextPvr cannot record copy protected content neither can Sage. So what benefit is that over Sage? Scheduling recordings is much more limited in NextPvr than Sagetv. Try setting up a recording with an Actor limited to only horror movies and so on...... There is no better PVR out there than SageTV the only one that has an advantage is WMC only because it can record protected content and that is the only advantage.

The way I see it there is not an alternative to SageTV PVR but there are alternatives to the SagetvClient.

[clayfree]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

NextPVR is more limited than SageTV as a PVR so why would I switch?... NextPvr cannot record copy protected content neither can Sage. So what benefit is that over Sage? Scheduling recordings is much more limited in NextPvr than Sagetv. Try setting up a recording with an Actor limited to only horror movies and so on...... There is no better PVR out there than SageTV the only one that has an advantage is WMC only because it can record protected content and that is the only advantage.

The way I see it there is not an alternative to SageTV PVR but there are alternatives to the SagetvClient.

You got me there - I've never had the need to set up recordings of a specific actor in specific genre. I'll try Jack black in a western and see what NextPvr comes up with.

[emveepee]

Originally Posted by nyplayer

Scheduling recordings is much more limited in NextPvr than Sagetv. Try setting up a recording with an Actor limited to only horror movies and so on......

It's possible to code this using NextPVR and the SD Utilities but it is pretty esoteric and there certainly has been no demand for it.

Martin

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by stanger89

I probably wouldn't care much for XBMC other than I really like OpenELEC. Just drop some binaries on a flash drive and go, doesn't get much better than that. If only they'd bring in native resolution switching.

OpenELEC is pretty awesome. I wonder why the resolution switching isn't in there? XBMC and Plex both have it.

[stanger89]

They have refresh rate switching, but not resolution switching. Though there was this PR, but I fear it might have died.
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=64139&page=11

[KJake]

Not sure if this is a good place for this, but I saw this posted today and thought of Sage.

http://www.fanlesstech.com/2013/07/u...x-desktop.html

[mikejaner]

Originally Posted by KJake

Not sure if this is a good place for this, but I saw this posted today and thought of Sage.

http://www.fanlesstech.com/2013/07/u...x-desktop.html

Unfortunately, neither SageTV, nor the Clients can run on this. Plus the starting price of $99 for the single core version, means it will get expensive for what it does with quad cores. My opinion at least

[mikejaner]

Originally Posted by Wayneb

I was just going to post a link to that Utilite box, it should work great for XBMC.

The price for a quad core version should still be less than a used HD300 and you can buy lots of them if they work well.

I looked into this yesterday when I read about that box. You can get quad core Android sticks now for under $70, which appear to perform pretty well with XBMC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChfsdmJVpzI

[QueOnda]

I briefly played around with both Plex and XBMC. It appears XBMC is more fluid then Plex. XBMC uses the milkdrop when playing music, which I couldn't find in Plex.

Some here have said the the XBMC doesn't have the centralized server, this is true (for now). In XBMC Gotham (version 13), they are going to share databases using UPnP for watched and resume shows and sharing databases.

What I need is a set top box like for anything like the HD300. While there is Pi (cannot handle top skins or milk drop), Ouya (under development), other sticks (sure there are other limitations), you need to build your own computer or buy one which could cost up to $400-600 and most have a fan in it.

I know there is a plex scanner mentioned in this thread and someone was supposed to get his brother to try to work on a full fledged plugin for XBMC but don't think that took off. There is currently one which doesn't fully control content off of Sagetv.

I could be wrong with some of my statement above, I'm still playing and doing more research.

[QueOnda]

I found a link from about a year ago that compares HTPC: http://www.avforums.com/forums/home-...omparison.html

Here is a wiki link which compares PVR: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compari...tware_packages

There was a linux HTPC distro (not mythtv) which was pretty cool but can't find it. They even had a company making a set top box for them but nothing ever came of it (i think). BUt I can't remember the linux distro, I thought it was a ubuntu based.

EDIT: This is it: http://www.linuxmce.org/

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by QueOnda

What I need is a set top box like for anything like the HD300. While there is Pi (cannot handle top skins or milk drop), Ouya (under development), other sticks (sure there are other limitations), you need to build your own computer or buy one which could cost up to $400-600 and most have a fan in it.

There's these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16856102004

A tad bit more than an HD300 was, OpenELEC is free and really easy to install.

[stanger89]

Just from a playing around perspective, I quite like OpenElec. Now I went a bit crazy and I'm running it on an i7 3770s with 16GB of ram .

The problem I have with it, and PCs in general is the lack of native output for video. Nothing on a PC can compare to my Lumagen for processing video.

There is this which seems promising:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=64139

I tried to build OE with this patch applied. I think it worked (I didn't notice any errors) but it doesn't seem to actually work. I suppose I might need to read through the thread a bit more to see if I missed something.

Of course as I read, it sounds like interlaced output in XBMC is a problem.

[Skybolt]

Originally Posted by Wayneb

I am going to try either a Zotac box or Intel NUC and run Openelec off a thumb drive, I have a Raspberry Pi, a Pivos Xios DS and a Gbox midnight MX2. ...

I have a Zotac, the one with DVD and looks like a DVD player (Sort of). I run OE off of an SD card inserted in the back of the device and it act's like an embedded device, no moving parts. Much like the Gbox after XBMC is loaded, but better playback.

[stanger89]

XBMC on a "hardware" platform that offers native output switching would be pretty sweet.

[Skybolt]

Originally Posted by Wayneb

Thanks, I also saw someone recommend the Zotac ID80 somewhere, the little Android boxes get glowing reviews from people who just stream stuff off the internet, my experience with the ones I have tried is that none of them can meet my needs yet. The reason I liked that Utilite box is that it ran Linux as an option and that should make it more likely to work well with XBMC.

I read a couple of years ago that Sigma Designs was going to build hardware to run XBMC, I haven't seen a word about it since then.

This is the box I have except with DVD not BD. The bios in this box lets you boot from SD card. This works real well with OpenElec. The next gen nVidia graphics are real smooth. The whole thing "Just Works" after the 30 min setup of OpenElec to SD card to Zotac.

This was one of OpenElecs recomended platforms ~8 months ago. Theres a whole seperate build just for the nVidia ION graphics.

[drewg]

If you're willing to use Zotac's & Intel NUC BOXxxxx as "extenders", it might be worth taking another look at MythTV. I ran it for ~4 years (then ran screaming from it when the HD100 came out).

Myth does roughly what SageTV does: Central TV server ("Mythbackend") talking to clients ("Mythfrontend"). Guide data, commercial skipping, imported media with metadata scraping, automatic resolution / refresh rate switching based on media, time-stretched fast/slow playback, customizable ffwd/rewind etc. From 5000 feet, it looks great.

But.. the last time I used it for real (5+ years ago now), the gui was shameful, there was no wire protocol (all clients shared the sql database), so the entire network had to be updated in lockstep, and playback tended to be buggy. A lot of this has probably improved, but I don't intend to find out until my HD300 kicks the bucket!

Drew

[amac]

Every year I look at alternatives but nothing come close to SageTV for me, especially the PVR for my HD OTA antenna recordings.

I also use the Plex plug-in to view Sage recordings on other clients thru Plex's DLNA client. Of course with Plex I get the added benefit of other channels of interest so between the two our family needs are well served.

[maceie]

Came across this earlier today.
Some chap is developing an app for Samsung SmartTVs to connect to a NextPVR server.

It's very early days and he only has 2 TV's confirmed as working, but this is looking like a pretty good solution IMO.
No need for an extender at all (although you would probably have to buy a new TV, but we do like our shiny gadgets don't we?)

Follow link for video of it in action
http://forums.gbpvr.com/showthread.p...rt-tvs-blurays)

Anyone have any thoughts on this? Any downsides I'm not seeing?
(except the cost of new tv's)

[stanger89]

Isn't NextPVR still limited to just TV?