Just found SageTV! Wow!

[jbarr]

Hello!

I'm new to this forum, but not new to DVR's. I was a long-time ReplayTV user, and recently have moved to a Moxi DVR from Charter Cable. I started with a ReplayTV 2020, and now have two upgraded 20xx's and one 5040 box. I spent a LONG time on the AVSForum dealing with offloading 5040 shows to a PC and burning them to DVD. It was tedious, but it worked and it worked well. Eventually, we moved to a Moxi dual tuner HD DVR from Charter Cable, and I have to say that the Moxi DVR is a very stunning device. The problem is that the monthly bill is also stunning. It costs us an additional $17.98 per month ($14.98 for the "DVR Service fee" plus $3.00 for a "digital access fee") just for the "privilege" of using a Moxi DVR that I do not own. And my brother-in-law has two Moxi boxes, so that number is doubled for him--and that's before any other programming package costs. So, I figure that over the course of a couple years, we could very easily recoupe the extra costs of creating a DIY DVR that we own.

Anyway, I just recently stumbled upon SageTV, and oh my! All I can say is..."Wow!" Last night, I purchased a Haupauge WinTV-PVR-150, and I'm demoing the SageTV 15 day trial. So far, I am very, very impressed. The user interface is very slick, and fairly intuitive. I do have some issues with some of the menu layouts, but it's personal preference, and after finding the Dynamic Menu mod, it looks like it may be a non-issue. The other thing that really impresses me is the extendability and customization that you can do due to its open-ended architecture. The SageTV planners and developers should REALLY be commended for that. Most of the add-ons that I've played with are very cool, and extend or improve functionality greatly. It's also very cool seeing how some of the add-ons have worked their way into the latest release.

I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for the likes of ReplayTV to come out with true Media Center capability, and though many of us thought that the 5xxx series could move in that direction, it simply never happened. SageTV looks like it just may complete the gap.

So, should I decide that SageTV is the way for us to go (and so far, it looks that way) my goal will be to build an HTPC that has two inputs (2 Haupauge capture cards) each connected to digital cable boxes. I'll likely put this in our living room. Then we'll get a Media Extender to bring the content into our bedroom. And should it prove successful (ie: passes "the wife test") then I'll likely build one for my brother-in-law.

The prospect of having a "true" house-wide media center system is very compelling. I can't wait to get my hands dirty with this!

[MeInMaui]

Welcome!

The community here is a great resource if you run into any difficulties.

Aloha,
Mike

[korben_dallas]

Originally Posted by jbarr

my goal will be to build an HTPC that has two inputs (2 Haupauge capture cards) each connected to digital cable boxes.

You should throw in an OTA HDTV capture card too, if OTA HD is available in your area.

Welcome to the forum.

PS: I *strongly* suggest the Nvidia PureVideo (MPEG-2 / DVD) decoder, even if you don't have Nvidia video card.

[teknubic]

Welcome
Although I didn't come to SageTV from the same place, I did come for the same reason as you. It keeps looking like the better choice every day.
PS: love the new sig, Mike.

[geogecko]

Welcome, jbarr.

When you get a moment, and feel like you want a few more options to go along with standard SageTV, pay the SageMC 16x9 and Flachbar's "updated" SageMC a visit, if you haven't already...

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10715
&
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17979

You might even be more converted to SageTV.

Jason.

Oh, yeah, Mike, now the avitar makes since...

[rnadeau]

I'm glad Sage seems to work for you but for my setup, I have had problems that the devolepers have acknowleged, but have yet been rectified. I wanted to move to Sage, but because this bug is critical for my setup, I have not yet moved over. I have been using another product that has always worked flawless for me and more importantly for my wife(its her favorite toy!). Its just that sage has alot more custimizability and that turned me on, but again the bug stops me from moving.

[blade]

Originally Posted by rnadeau

I'm glad Sage seems to work for you but for my setup, I have had problems that the devolepers have acknowleged, but have yet been rectified. I wanted to move to Sage, but because this bug is critical for my setup, I have not yet moved over. I have been using another product that has always worked flawless for me and more importantly for my wife(its her favorite toy!). Its just that sage has alot more custimizability and that turned me on, but again the bug stops me from moving.

What bug is it?

[mayamaniac]

Originally Posted by rnadeau

I'm glad Sage seems to work for you but for my setup, I have had problems that the devolepers have acknowleged, but have yet been rectified. ... sage has alot more custimizability and that turned me on, but again the bug stops me from moving.

just curious, what problem is it exactly? SageTV tech support can't solve everything, sometime the user-to-user forum can provide the solution.

[rnadeau]

The problem is with my online DVDs. I like knowing how long a movie is, but tech support acknowledged that the time not displaying is a bug in the program. I have tried other STV,s, but none do what I want all the time. I did get one to display runtime, but it didn't show it on all and I didn't care for the format of the rest of the info, and then I couldn't get covers to display on most.

[geogecko]

Sounds like a bad case for needing a dose of SageMC.

...although I don't think SageMC displays the runtime of a DVD, but I bet it could be added easily enough.

[jbarr]

Thank you for the replies!

I just placed an order with NewEgg.com for all the required components to build an HTPC from scratch. It will have some nice bells & whistles, but it will be built to be focused on being a dedicated two-tuner (or more later) PVR using two Haupauge WinTV-PVR-150 cards and SageTV ultimately connected to two DCT-2000 cable boxes. I'm really excited about it because of its speed. My current "test" setup of a SageTV Trial version is on an old 1.6GHz box, and it is quite sluggish at times. Things like scrolling the Channel Guide is very slow and tedious at best. But I do admit that other than that, SageTV works very well on such a box. When I first tested SageTV on a 3.2GHz PC, things were very quick and snappy, so I'm confident that my new box will perform very well. I'll let you know how it works out....

I also want to say that this forum is FULL of excellent information. I've spent LOTS of time pouring through the posts, and I have gleaned TONS of excellent information. My overall impression of SageTV is this: It's a very, very capable application that offers an excellent set of features. It seems to be very stable, and I love the fact that its capabilities are very extendible. BUT I don't think that SageTV is necessarily for the novice. Setting it up successfully seems to be hit-or-miss depending on your hardware (though my first install went without a hitch.) That said, if you are willing to dig a bit and spend the time to understand how SageTV works, it's a truely excellent application.

Now, I just hope that it successfully passes "the wife test"!