The best of two worlds...?

[White94Cobra]

Well I finally gave up getting my Fusion 5 Lite card working in the Sage 3 beta, so I thought I'd share my solution to recording HDTV.

I "changed" my main WinXP box into a Windows MCE 2005 box with the Fusion card installed. I was able to tune to and record all local digital channels. I then installed a utility that allowed me to share the Recorded TV directory on my main box with my Sage box (which was already running the MCE 2005 edition of Windows). I then removed both tuners on one of the Hauppauge PVR500's as sources in Sage, and set them up under MCE (on the Sage box). I assigned one button on my remote to start Sage, and another to start the MCE app.

I am now using both Sage Beta 3 and Windows MCE 2005 on the same box using only one remote. The Sage service is using a PVR-USB2 for DirecTV and a Hauppauge PVR500 for two cable feeds. The MCE service is using another Hauppauge PVR500 for two cable feeds, plus I can watch anything recorded via the Fusion5 on my main box via MCE on the Sage box. I have verified that I can simultaneously record one HDTV feed and two cable feeds via MCE and one DirecTV feed and two cable feeds via Sage.

As an added bonus, I added my SageTV recording directories to the Video's section of MCE, and can watch anything recorded via Sage through MCE.

A bit complex, but until I can get Sage to work with the Fusion card, or MCE supports multiple guide lineups (DirecTV, cable, and OTA digital), it works. Plus I really like the slick MCE interface (the Sage MCE STV is nice, but doesn't quite do it).

[mikejaner]

You dont get the show descriptions in SageTV from the stuff you record in MCE, right?

[White94Cobra]

Right... just the show title and episode name. If I want to watch a Sage-recorded show I just hit a button on my remote and it closes MCE and loads Sage. It does take about 10 seconds to switch between the two.

I forgot to mention in the first post, but recordings made via MCE seem to look much better than those made with Sage. It's probably just the color calibration on the tuner, but with out-of-the-box settings, MCE looks much better.

[briands]

Since you have cable program guides (I assume the whole guide) on both Sage and MCE, how do you keep your progrm schedules synced? What keeps the same thing from being recorded on both? How are conflicts resolved among both? Do you use IR? Does viewing a file in MCE somehow mark the file as watched so it will not be recorded again?

Since your problem is with Sage and the Fusion card recording, I would suggest using it and only it with MCE and including its recording folder as an import for Sage.

[White94Cobra]

I actually just tried it to see if it would work at first. But the more I use MCE the more I like it. Now I'm basically watching one show in Sage, then one in MCE to see which one I'll use as my primary. I may end up only having the USB2 tuner with DirecTV setup in Sage and everything else under MCE, or I may just go back to just having the HDTV tuner setup in MCE and everything else in Sage... I'm just not sure yet.

[mayamaniac]

If you don't need the extra stuffs that SageTV offers, such as standard editable mpeg2 recording format, more than 2 tuners (not counting HD), webserver plugin, Client software or MVP client support, comskip, customizable interface, etc.. then MCE is defintely the way to go. I haven't tried HD in the SageTV 3.0 beta, but being in beta, I'm sure it doesn't work as well as HD in MCE. Plus MCE has better picture and music interface, not to mention FM tuner, Spotlight, and nice support of WMP.

[White94Cobra]

Originally Posted by mayamaniac

If you don't need the extra stuffs that SageTV offers, such as standard editable mpeg2 recording format, more than 2 tuners (not counting HD), webserver plugin, Client software or MVP client support, comskip, customizable interface, etc.. then MCE is defintely the way to go. I haven't tried HD in the SageTV 3.0 beta, but being in beta, I'm sure it doesn't work as well as HD in MCE. Plus MCE has better picture and music interface, not to mention FM tuner, Spotlight, and nice support of WMP.

That's what I used to think too, but...

Editable Mpeg2 recording format - it's very easy/fast to edit or convert the dvr-ms files now. There's even an app that routinely looks for new files in a directory and can automatically convert them to MPEG or WMV, and rip out the commercials (it supports ShowAnalyzer). Plus, since the show info is stored in the dvr-ms file, you can copy or share it with another MCE PC and have all of the show info.

More than 2 tuners - with an easy hack, you can run 4+ SD tuners in MCE. With rollup 2 it supports 2 HD and 2 SD tuners out of the box.

Webserver pluging - there are applications that allow you to remotely access your MCE box to search, view the guide, and schedule recordings.

MVP support - Got an XBox? Instant client.

I still like Sage, and find that I am using it much more than MCE during my testing period. But MCE isn't as limited as I once thought. Plus, it's nice to finally have smooth ff/rw on my Media PC

[mlbdude]

MCE also has Comskip and ShowAnalyzer support. Auto-recompression to wmv works very well too. MSN has a great web guide you can use to setup recordings on your MCE box as well. No UI customization or software client though. However, extenders are much better for MCE.

With 2 digital tuners and two analog I am currently maxed .

[White94Cobra]

Originally Posted by mlbdude

MCE also has Comskip and ShowAnalyzer support. Auto-recompression to wmv works very well too. MSN has a great web guide you can use to setup recordings on your MCE box as well. No UI customization or software client though. However, extenders are much better for MCE.

With 2 digital tuners and two analog I am currently maxed .

Are you still using MCE? Which app are you using for your auto-recompression? The one that I'm currently using seems to crash on some files.

[mlbdude]

Originally Posted by White94Cobra

Are you still using MCE? Which app are you using for your auto-recompression? The one that I'm currently using seems to crash on some files.

I have mostly converted over to MCE. First it was just the wife, now we both like it. I still have Sage on my dev box though. More tinkering means it is fun at times.

I no longer recompress to wmv. I use DVRMSToolbox to convert to mpg then autogtk to batch convert to xvid. This is only for shows I really want to keep.

[White94Cobra]

I'm using DVRMSToolbox as well with ShowAnalyzer, but it appears to be crashing on some files. I'm guessing it may not like processing HD files.

[mlbdude]

I have not tried HD files yet. ShowAnalyzer does not work with HD files yet either. I uploaded one to Jere for him and he seems to know what the problem is.

[mayamaniac]

Originally Posted by White94Cobra

Editable Mpeg2 recording format - it's very easy/fast to edit or convert the dvr-ms files now. There's even an app that routinely looks for new files in a directory and can automatically convert them to MPEG or WMV, and rip out the commercials (it supports ShowAnalyzer). Plus, since the show info is stored in the dvr-ms file, you can copy or share it with another MCE PC and have all of the show info.

I realize that you can convert the dvr files, but its an extra step you have to do, thats why I said standard mpeg2 support in SageTV. And, as mlbdude menitioned also, that there's comskip and SA support now, is it in the UI controllable like SageTV, meaning generating time codes that the UI displays in the timeline, or does it only cut out commercials during the conversion process only?

More than 2 tuners - with an easy hack, you can run 4+ SD tuners in MCE. With rollup 2 it supports 2 HD and 2 SD tuners out of the box.

Webserver pluging - there are applications that allow you to remotely access your MCE box to search, view the guide, and schedule recordings.

Thats cool, didn't know you can hack it for extra tuners, nor realize there's a web remote access. kudos for MCE.

MVP support - Got an XBox? Instant client.

Maybe regular media extenders are ok, but if I have to get up and press the power button on the Xbox, then forget it.

I still like Sage, and find that I am using it much more than MCE during my testing period. But MCE isn't as limited as I once thought. Plus, it's nice to finally have smooth ff/rw on my Media PC

As for now, I still think SageTV is a better product, not to mention more affordable. But once Vista ships with the new MCE (2006/2007?), SageTV will probably be 3.5 or 4.0, and BeyondTV will be 4.0 or 4.5, then I'll re-evaluate what each offers again, and figure whether to stick with SageTV or switch.

[mlbdude]

Commercial skip in MCE is pretty non visual. You don't see anything in the timebar, but it pretty much works just like it does in Sage. It can auto-skip for you or you can use the remote to jump through the commercials as if they were chapters.

More than 2 analog tuners is supported by the recording engine just not by the setup UI.

PVR wise there are not too many features Sage does that MCE cannot. Network capabilities are much stronger in Sage, but HTPC duties are better in MCE. Both are great products and deserve a place in anyones home. If you are just some guy on his couch, Sage is the way to go (it was for me). Once the family comes into play MCE really shines.