Hauppauge MVP Compatibility

[rcrang]

Is the new version of Sage still compatible with the Hauppauge MVP? I don't have HD yet (foolishly bought a high end, tube Sony just before HD came out) so I really don't have a need for the HD200.

[davephan]

The HD-200 is vastly superior to the MVP, even with a SD TV. The audio is drastically better and the video is better. The MVP is very slow with the newer versions of SageTV. The HD-200 is also much more stable than the MVP units. Any recordings that are not recorded in mpeg2 will need to be transcoded by your computer on-the-fly into mpeg2. If your computer does not have enough processing power, the video and audio will stutter. The only problem with the HD-200 is that the product has been unavailable for several months.

Dave

[rcrang]

Thanks for your reply Dave. Not being able to get the HD200 is a rather big problem here. Any idea when they would be available again?

I guess I can interpret your reply as saying that the MVP will work, is that correct? I use Sage 6.6 and have a very fast computer. I've never noticed any slowness or stuttering and my picture and sound quality are very good - and I'm picky. I just asked my question because I noticed that there are firmware upgrades mentioned for the HD200 but nothing mentioned for the MVP with Version 7. Assuming the MVP will still work, I guess an additional question would be: Will some features of Version 7 be unavailable using the MVP as opposed to the HD200?

As an aside, when you say the recordings have to be converted to mpg on-the-fly, are you saying that this is the only format the MVP will play? In other words, any avi files, for example, need to be transcoded to be played by the MVP? And the HD200 doesn't have to do this?

[tmiranda]

The MVP still works although the menu is sometimes a little laggy. It's really not that bad in the latest beta's, I find it very usable.

The MVP ONLY plays mpeg2. Anything that is not mpeg2 will get transcoded before being sent to the MVP.

[Tiki]

I have not tried v7 with the MVP, but there are a lot of posts on these forums about it. From what I have read, it sounds like they have to disable most of the animations (eye candy) to allow it to run on the MVP. You should still be able to do everything, but the menu transitions and such won't look as nice as they would with a full-blown client or newer extender.

Also, I wouldn't be surprised if some plugins written by 3rd party developers don't work well on an MVP.

[Fuzzy]

The MVP still functions just fine... you can also still use the SageTV3 STV if you like, as it will be a bit more responsive (a lot fewer large images to load), even if you are running sagetv 7 (you'd still get the improved back-end functionality of v7). In fact, the MVP does something the HD200 can't... that that's playback downmixed DTS (because sage is forced to transcode, so it transcodes the audio as well).

[vhm9ks]

I use the MBDiamond Theme with sage v7 on my mvp. It looks nice and gets rid of some of the lag. Not as much eye candy as the standard v7 theme, but I can live with that

[matt91]

I wonder if you'll be able to get a used HD100 or 200 in the next few weeks for cheap on ebay once the 300 start shipping.

I have two MVPs too, and while they work, the 100 is much, much, better. Certainly worth $40 or $50.

[davephan]

Since the HD-300 will be available in a couple of weeks, that is probably your best choice for quality and future proofing your system. Eventually, you'll probably be upgrading to a HD TV.

If you want a really low cost solution, and can accept lower quality, a used MVP might be the best choice for you. I think there will be more MVPs on E-bay soon.

Dave

[ThePaladinTech]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

The MVP still functions just fine... you can also still use the SageTV3 STV if you like, as it will be a bit more responsive (a lot fewer large images to load), even if you are running sagetv 7 (you'd still get the improved back-end functionality of v7). In fact, the MVP does something the HD200 can't... that that's playback downmixed DTS (because sage is forced to transcode, so it transcodes the audio as well).

I am curious about this. my experience with MVP and 7x has been it is too slow for me... so if i were to upgrade my second sage server to 7x I could just use the 6x look and it would be as fast as it ever was? or no? and would I need to load STVi's or would the mvps using 6x menus accept the 7x stvi's (that I would install via the server)? I'm thinking no on that last question - but then how do I add stvi's for the 6x menu? the old way or will that cause nightmares... conflicts with the 7x items?

[Fuzzy]

You can continue to use the SageTV3 STV on the MVPs. it will be as 'fast' as it ever was, and as difficult to import plugins for. You would basically lose all the v7 UI improvemetns (including the plugins).

there are some v7 themes that make MVP usage much quicker, MBDiamond for one. (this is mostly quicker because it doesn't use a different background for each menu options)

[Brent]

I'm thinking of giving away my old MediaMVP (SD) - it still works with the old UI's but I barely use it. There is little reason to hold onto it these days with so many better options - especially the HD300

[rcrang]

Thanks everyone. I'll definitely be upgrading to the HD300 when Sage7 is released.

[Tiki]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

You can continue to use the SageTV3 STV on the MVPs. it will be as 'fast' as it ever was, and as difficult to import plugins for. You would basically lose all the v7 UI improvemetns (including the plugins).

Although the old SageTV3.STV file (default UI from version 6 days) is still included with and works with Sage Version 7, there have been some slight changes. I've just started experimenting with it and from what I see the Weather Report Suite import will no longer work with it. I started to look at the code in Studio and from what I can tell some of the code just won't import for some reason and I haven't figured out why yet.

All of the other old STVi imports that I have tried (including dynamic menus) still seem to work.

I believe I also saw some posts indicating that SageMC didn't work correctly with Sage7 at first, but I'm pretty sure that it has already been updated to make it work.

I just point this out as fair warning that while you can for the most part still use the old interface under Sage7 if you want to, there may be some bumps if you depend on certain add-ons. And, as Fuzzy already pointed out, you won't get the benefits of being able to use the new plugin system if you go this route.