LOVE IT!!

[showson1]

Ok, first of all.. I used to be a big-time tweaker. Messing with Linux and all sorts of different hardware, spending hours messing with stuff.

As I've gotten older (and now a father) I've lost most of my interest in that and just want stuff to work now.. don't want to spend hours messing with it.. so I was kind of skeptical about the MVPs with SageTV.

---

First.. I ordered the MVP from PC Alchemy, paid for 3 day ground shipping and it was at my door the NEXT DAY!. I ordered it Wednesday about noon, it was on my porch when I got home from work on Thursday.

I got the wired one, even though I want to use it wireless, because I heard of problems with the wireless ones.

I put the Mac address in my router filter, hooked up my wireless bridge, hooked the cables to the TV.
I powered it on, waited about 2-3 minutes while it found my Sage machine and... boom.. the menu screen.
Tried Live TV, it worked.
Tried recorded shows with the commercial skip, worked
Tried music, worked
Tried Pictures, worked
Tried Video, worked.. even some divx and MP4 videos, just transcoded on the fly immediately.
Tried DVD ripped to hard drive, worked with menus and everything.

Everything just worked I didn't have to configure ONE SINGLE THING.

I was using my Xbox360 as an extender for MCE, but using the MVP with Sage is WAY faster than using the Xbox as the extender!

Talk about beautiful!
I may have to order another one for the bedroom!

Just my two cents.

[oddjob]

Originally Posted by showson1

Ok, first of all.. I used to be a big-time tweaker. Messing with Linux and all sorts of different hardware, spending hours messing with stuff.

As I've gotten older (and now a father) I've lost most of my interest in that and just want stuff to work now.. don't want to spend hours messing with it.. so I was kind of skeptical about the MVPs with SageTV.

---

First.. I ordered the MVP from PC Alchemy, paid for 3 day ground shipping and it was at my door the NEXT DAY!. I ordered it Wednesday about noon, it was on my porch when I got home from work on Thursday.

I got the wired one, even though I want to use it wireless, because I heard of problems with the wireless ones.

I put the Mac address in my router filter, hooked up my wireless bridge, hooked the cables to the TV.
I powered it on, waited about 2-3 minutes while it found my Sage machine and... boom.. the menu screen.
Tried Live TV, it worked.
Tried recorded shows with the commercial skip, worked
Tried music, worked
Tried Pictures, worked
Tried Video, worked.. even some divx and MP4 videos, just transcoded on the fly immediately.
Tried DVD ripped to hard drive, worked with menus and everything.

Everything just worked I didn't have to configure ONE SINGLE THING.

I was using my Xbox360 as an extender for MCE, but using the MVP with Sage is WAY faster than using the Xbox as the extender!

Talk about beautiful!
I may have to order another one for the bedroom!

Just my two cents.

I second it!

I just wanted to mention, that you might want to wait on purchasing a second extender. Sagetv is planning on releasing a new HDExtender product in the Second Quarter.

[showson1]

Originally Posted by oddjob

I just wanted to mention, that you might want to wait on purchasing a second extender. Sagetv is planning on releasing a new HDExtender product in the Second Quarter.

Cool, thanks for the info!
We just have an old school SD TV. Will the HD extenders work on an SD TV?

If so I'll get one of the HD extenders in case I get an HD TV in the near future..

[AngelofDeth]

I agree with you about the MVPs and Sage but the HD extenders will work with SDTVs. But if you don't play a lot of material that needs to be transcoded to the MVP, the HD extender probably won't gain you much, but if you are planning on getting HDTV anytime soon, it might still be a good idea to wait for HD extender.

[bcjenkins]

Originally Posted by AngelofDeth

I agree with you about the MVPs and Sage but the HD extenders will work with SDTVs. But if you don't play a lot of material that needs to be transcoded to the MVP, the HD extender probably won't gain you much, but if you are planning on getting HDTV anytime soon, it might still be a good idea to wait for HD extender.

I am thinking of getting HD extenders to replace my MVPs just for the transcoding. I await the day I can have the movies in avi for size without worrying about killing the server

[naln]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

I await the day I can have the movies in avi for size without worrying about killing the server

Second that!!

I am sort of partial to using the Xbox-XBMC when I want to watch some .avi files...just to ease the load on my sage server....

[FidgetyRat]

I love my MVP. The #1 thing that I love the most is the complete silence and low power consumption.

I have a client box in my bedroom at the moment that is like a jet engine. Unfortunately I can't afford a second TV (or extender) at the moment, so the old CRT monitor was put to the task. Man I could sure use the extender.


My second fav. part is never having to worry about sage or system updates. No external remote software or config. I like you used to tweak constantly but just don't have the time anymore. I don't mind tweaking the server, but all the clients is overkill.

I just PRAY they never charge more for client licenses. If that happens its bye bye sage sadly..

I hate being poor.

Only thing I horribly miss is the web radio plugin functionality. I live in a lead box and can't get OTA radio