Preparing for HD - some basic questions

[swad]

I hope this is the right forum for this question - it is as much about the HD200 as anything.

I first installed Sage 4.? in early 2004, before the days of media extenders, HD support - or even running a separate server and client.
It has been running 24x7 on the same computer since then, reliable and solid. Upgraded to Sage 6 earlier this year.

Now it's time to replace the TV so I'm looking at adding a cable HD source (Shaw Canada).
Obviously my hardware is a bit dated so I expect to spend some money on it.

My current setup is:
A single computer, running Sage as a service plus the client interface.
MB: D865PERL
Processor: P4 2.8GHz
Memory: 1Gb
Video: Radeon 9600pro (AGP 8x)
2 x PVR-250 tuners
USB-UIRT for digital cable box
Sage 6.6

I know I'll need an HD box from the cable company and HD-PVR to decode its HD signal.
I assume I'll be able to split my cable input and keep my existing input to the PVR-250's for non-HD recording.
But I seem to have two or three options for upgrading to handle HD playback:

Option A)
Upgrade existing PC with new video card and more memory and disk.
Around $250. Maybe too much to spend on older technology. Anyway, would the processor handle HD playback?

Option B)
Start over with a new HTPC,
Such as MB with on-board Radeon HD3200 video (eg KA780GM2) and one of the new Phenom low-voltage processors.
Around $800 Canadian.

Option C)
Then I started reading about the HD200. I have no need of distributed viewing
(small townhouse, the cable, computer and single TV are all adjacent)
But if HD playback is handled so well by the HD200 perhaps I could keep my
existing PC just as a Sage server (with a disk upgrade).
Around $350 Canadian.

I'd appreciate any thoughts on this.

[reggie14]

I'd go with an HD200. I got an MVP many years ago despite the fact that the server continued to sit happily next to my TV. I upgraded that to an HD100 as soon as they came out, and still left the server next to my TV. Now I have an HD200 (which I got when my HD100 died), and my server continues to sit next to my TV (I'm in an apartment, so there really isn't a better place for it).

Originally, my dedicated Sage box had a GeForce4 Ti4200. I used s-video out to my TV. Despite all kinds of tweaking, the MVP offered much better video quality. Even now, my new server and its ATI HD4670 card hooked up using HDMI doesn't compare well to the quality with my HD200.

Even if you weren't getting an HD-PVR I'd tell you to get an HD200. But, since you are, I think its an even better idea. H.264 playback, and playback of H.264 files from the HD-PVR, on a PC still isn't quite as reliable as mpeg2 playback.

But, if you decide you want to stick with a PC-based client, I think you should build a new server. In my opinion, it doesn't make a lot of sense to throw money at a P4/AGP board. But, your current machine should work fine as a server, as long as you don't want to do commercial skipping on (nearly) live TV. I think the only good reason to go with a PC-based client is if playback of online streaming video is important to you.

[SWKerr]

That seems like a really nice HTPC even in Canidian dollars.

You could upgrade the PC with a new video card that would take the load off the cpu. You could make the old PC work with correct setup and video card. Again, seems like a pricy estimate.

The extender with WHS on the old PC would be a great solution for the money assuming you are not heavy into online content.

[Fuzzy]

I'd vote for just buying an HD200, and whatever disk upgrades you end up needing to suit your recording habits. The only thing the HD200 will lack, as opposed to a full pc client, would be full bluray support, and online videos. You could also just keep your exact same sage install running, and just view it from the extender.

[thomaszoo]

I too would vote for the HD200 solution. I started with a much earlier version of Sage and went through a variety of motherboards and video cards. I never did get smooth HD playback. I had an MVP that, while limited in abilities, was super easy to set up and maintain. When the HD100 came out I bought one. It has almost as easy but way more powerful and versatile. No more video card upgrades, video decoder hassles, etc. I now have 2 HD100s, one next to my Sage server for my main TV and the other for a remote TV. My server is based on the Intel Atom and is very low powered. It can pretty much keep up with detecting commercials from my HD Homerun (up to 2 at a time since it is dual core), but is really slow on the HD PVR recordings. If I am in a hurry on the HD PVR recordings I use my main PC across the network to detect commercials. I also use my main PC as a Playon server since the Atom is not good at real time transcoding. It is a very stable setup that I am very happy with.

[swad]

Thanks for the advice everyone. The more I see the more of a no-brainer it becomes.

HD200 is better (excepting a couple of features that don't matter much to me) AND cheaper. Just took me a little while to make the lateral mind-shift and accept a black box solution.