Newbie help

[tahoebob]

Hi,
I'm a newbie & have been researching the PVR thing. Delighted to find that Sage is apparently the answer I've been looking for. Please forgive the length, but I need some guidance and haven't quite found what I needed in the forums.

My current TV/VCR setup. I have multiple TV's and 6 VCR's (that I'm looking to replace). Do most of my TV viewing on one TV from VCR's that I've recorded on the various VCR's. I have cable TV with 2 set top boxes for the premium channels. I often record 2 or even 3 programs simultaneously, while at the same time watching a previously recorded VCR.

My current computer setup: I have cable internet through a firewall and hub to a wired network of 4 computers: Main, Backup, TV input (using TV as a large monitor), and Laptop.

Plans: Option 1: Replace the "TV Input" PC with a new one, WinXP, 512 M memory, 2 X 120 GB drives, DVD-RW, etc and 3 Hauppage 250's
Option 2: Replace both the "TV input" and Backup PCs with a similiar PC to Option 1 except 2 tuner cards and 1 hard drive each.

Questions:
1. With Option 2, it appears that I will need Sage TV and Sage TV Client on the "TV Input" (or Server) PC and Sage TV Client and SageRecorder on the Backup. Is this correct?

2. With this setup, will I be able to view (on the primary TV that is connected to the Server) a program that has been recorded on the Backup, while simultaneously recording 1 or 2 other programs on the Server?

3. You sell Sage TV bundled with the Hauppage 250 tuner card. If I need 3 or 4 cards, can I buy the additional cards from you? In some of the forum posts I noted that it is apparently desireable to have the same version. This way I would be able to ensure that.

4. What is the range of the Actisys IR-200L?

Thanks for your help.

[dkardatzke]

Answers:

1. With Option 2 you would only need one copy of SageTV and then one copy of the SageTV Client. If you didn't install both tuner cards on the PC where SageTV is installed you would also need one copy of SageRecorder to support Network Encoding.

2. Yes because you can specify any mapped drive (or local drive) across a network for storage and access

3. Yes, I can give you a quote on a custom order by e-mailing me at orders@freytechnologies.com. They would all be the same version because they will all be shipped together directly from Hauppauge.

4. I don't have the answer to this one, someone else??

Dan