What is my advantage of still using SageTV?

[Walrus78]

I've been a loyal sage user for a number of years. I haven't been active on the forums, but after trying many free products and spending 6 months configuring them and getting nowhere, on the exact same hardware using SageTV, i was able to get it all set up in an evening and have it be nearly flawless. Back in 2004, SageTV was awesome to me. I had regular Analog Cable, no premiums, no digital channels, and I was really proud of my setup. I could set up recordings from home, the quality was pretty decent, and I could take the files and burn them onto DVD if I felt like it. Also, I could play the file back on my computer which didn't even have a tuner in it. Take that Tivo for its then $13/month subscription.

Now it is 2007. I've got an HDTV, and Digital Cable Service with HD channels. I want to continue using SageTV for something, but when my cable company offered my a PVR for less than I was paying for analog cable, I didn't want to turn it down for free.

Now, I will say SageTV has been more stable that my Time Warner PVR box, but I can't do digital channels(other than Clear QAM if I feel like buying HDHomeRun), and I can't really get the full quality of the High Definition channels on my SageTV box unless I decide to do OTA. My Time Warner Box is basically costing me $7/month. Plus I can add an external hard drive to it and increase the space on it dramatically. It can record all of my shows on all channels and do it in High Definition.

What have I lost? I can't schedule a recording from work. I can't watch live and recorded shows on another TV or computer. I would like those features, but I might have to take a hiatus from Sage until I can receive high definition channels and record them, and play them back on another TV. I don't see this happening until CableCard is supported on an open market tuner and that tuner is supported in SageTV. I'm just afraid that ETA date is never.

For me to continue using sage I need to be able to record these other channels and watch everything (well the channels that are) in high definition. Am I missing something? Is my setup just wrong or something? Can I accomplish what I am trying to do in a simple, not overly expensive sort of way?

I want to strike down the CableCard standard for what it is doing to Home Brew PVRs.