Overwhelmed - no "system" design information

[bigbeam]

So I 've spent quite a bit of time reading the forums, browsing the web trying to collect enough information how how to set this beast up. I'm surprised that the main sage web page doesn't include some various "system" setup schematics with overviews and pros/cons.

I have 3 tv's (2 bedrooms and a media room) , 3 laptops and a media server computer and lets just say its taken quite a bit of browsing to get a basic vision of how I would set my system up.

If anyone from Sage is reading this, I think your web page could definately use a more detailed overview of some recommended setups (I can see the trees but not the forest!).

For example, I would like to run Sage on my closet PC that I have all my content on and use extenders on each tv. What are the pros and cons of doing this? Is it better to have a PC on my main home theatre display? Do I get all of the base SageTV software features on an extender?

Remotes are another whole separate issue. I need basic remote for my HT components and as I want to record HD content off my cable (Hauppauge HD-PVR). Its not clear to me how I integrate the remote aspects of this box with the rest of my system, keeping in mind that in my HT, I want to use only one remote control.

Could probably use a "Recommended System Setup" page somewhere...

[Apap]

It can be confusing to start with.

Shadeblue made a pretty awesome diagram of a comprehensive Sagetv setup.

You should also check out Brent Evans' Ultimate Guide to Sagetv.

[Polypro]

You need one computer to be the server. This will have all your tuners and all your storage. This will also transcode, if needed. This can also be a Windows Home Server box for added functionality. This would be the "Closet PC".

At each TV you can have either a Client PC or an Extender. The advantage of the Extender is almost Plug and Play simplicity. The advantage of the PC is...it's a PC (you can do any other computer related task: web, email, gaming) and you can play physical DVD media without a separate DVD player. (To get around that, you could put all content on the server first).

For simple media watching, you can substitute PlaceShifter for a Client.

Use Cat5e.

P

[pjpjpjpj]

While it would be nice if there was a "recommended setup" thread, it would probably be just as large and confusing because there are so many options for setups.

For your setup, you seem to have the best (simplest) idea - and the server PC (closet) does not need to be very beefy if you are using the HD Extenders (I don't know if the SD "Media MVP" is still even available). The only thing you would need "beef" for would be if you installed commercial-skipping software/plug-ins ("Comskip"), or if you planned on doing other computing on that server while running Sage and doing other stuff. You will, of course, need adequate HDD space, especially if you are planning on recording much HD content, or if you start ripping your DVD/BRD collection onto your server.

The one thing you did not mention is how many programs you want to be able to record at once (keeping in mind that any Extender watching "live" TV at any one time counts as a program). You will need that many tuners... and if you want them all to be digital-cable-capable, you will also need that many HD-PVRs. Also realize that if you could get by with only one digital (HD?) cable stream recording at any one time, you could also mix in an analog cable tuner (just plug the coax right into the card), or perhaps mix in cable QAM (free local unencrypted channels hidden in your cable) or even OTA (antenna), which is often HD these days... and therefore you would not need a bunch of HD-PVRs, and could buy some (potentially) cheaper tuner gadgets and mix them in. Seems like many people have found that they really only need one tuner to get the HD/premium cable content, and can record any simultaneous shows in SD from analog cable or HD OTA (i.e., often a cable show you record regularly is not offered in HD, so why not record that on a less expensive and possibly less fussy analog card). Sage can figure out which tuners to prioritize to record which shows (in case you are wondering).

As for remotes, if you are using Extenders, they come with the only remotes that you need. The tuner cards or HD-PVR(s) will be at your server and will be controlled by some sort of IR flasher, such as USB-UIRT (or possibly a serial connection, depending on your cable box).

As mentioned above, you likely only need CAT5e and 100 Mbps for your network, though if you had HD streaming to all three TVs and a couple of laptops (with client license or placeshifter) simultaneously, you might have issues due to bottlenecking in the cable between your server and your router/switch/hub (don't know if there are enough people in your house for this to be an issue though). Chances are, you won't ever need more, but if you have 1000 Mbps as an option, might as well use it.

[tchapin]

This is information that Sage should have on their site. It's things like this, that are relatively easily explainable, that keep people away from making purchases.

Telling people what products they might need to buy is important! That way they buy only what they need and feel better about their purchases. This was pretty good actually!

You need one computer to be the server. This will have all your tuners and all your storage. This will also transcode, if needed. This can also be a Windows Home Server box for added functionality. This would be the "Closet PC".

At each TV you can have either a Client PC or an Extender. The advantage of the Extender is almost Plug and Play simplicity. The advantage of the PC is...it's a PC (you can do any other computer related task: web, email, gaming) and you can play physical DVD media without a separate DVD player. (To get around that, you could put all content on the server first).

For simple media watching, you can substitute PlaceShifter for a Client.

However, if I were Sage, I'd create a little web wizard that asks the user some questions and helps them figure out a recommended setup. Here's a quickie list of the questions I'd ask and give more information about:

Displays
--------------
- How many TVs do you have?
- From how many of them do you want to watch TV, videos, view photos, or listen to music?
- Do you have a computer in any of the rooms with the TVs?
- If so, would you be willing to hook them up to the TV? (This might require the purchase of additional equipment.)
- Do you pay for HD TV? (for recommending a HD tuner or not)
- Do you currently use VCRs or a DVR (any kind) to record TV shows and movies?
- (If yes to the above) How often do you watch live TV? (instead of a prerecorded program)
- Do you watch sports often?
- How many shows do you watch regularly?
- How many people watch TV at the same time at different TVs in the house?
- (If yes to the above) Are they generally watching liveTV? (to get at tuner recommendations)

Network
---------------
- Do you have a home network?
- If so, is it wired or wireless?
- If wired, do you also have wireless?
- If wired, is there a network jack in each room where you have a TV?

Sage Media Center
--------------------
- Do you know if your computer has a large hard drive?
- Does it have a large hard drive?
- If not, would you be willing to buy one? <give info about tuners and recording hours vs hd space)

Results
-------------
We recommend you buy:
- 1 copy of SageTV MediaCenter at $80
- 3 HD Theaters at $200 each for a total of $600
- 1 HD tuner
- 1 300GB hard drive


I'm sure there are some more questions that would be important to add.

Todd

[bigbeam]

Exactly!
The average person visiting the site has the attention span of a nat - you literally got a couple of minutes to make your sale... not many people are going to spend 3 or 4 hours sifting through thousands of forum threads to collect some info that is readily available.