"Getting feet wet..." Q's

[duckhunter]

Hello,

We have a HDTV in our living room with a cable DVR. Most of our TV watching occurs in this room. Nice setup, easy to use, works well but a bit pricey....

I'm interested in trying SageTV on my computer and saving the occasional program to the hard drive. Computer specs:

p4 2.4 Ghz, 768 MB RDRAM, 120 GB HD, ATI 9800 pro VC, XP pro
4 available USB ports for expansion HD space

Which bundle do you recommend to get started?
(I'm leaning toward the Plextor ConvertX PX-TV100U)

Will I need a remote to access the digital channels (300's and 400's)?

I'm a dairy scientist, not a computer guru... Will this operate pretty much as a plug and play device?

Thanks!

Rick

[Opus4]

I would consider one of the Hauppauge cards for SDTV recording; they seem to work best for most people. If you want to record in HD, then you should check out the digital cards for OTA or see if your cable box can be used with the firewire recording plugin in the hardware forum section.

If you connect a tuner to your cable box, then you will need to have some way for SageTV to tell it to change channels. Often, this is done with something like the USB-UIRT, but if your box can be controlled via a serail cable or firewire, the channel changes would most likely have fewer misses. (I don't know how often IR channel changes miss, though.)

- Andy

[jptaz]

In terms of Channel Change misses as long the ir blaster in position correctly they should never be an issue. I have missed maybe 2 recordings in 2+ years because of misses and both times it was because I knocked the ir blaster over and it did not hit. I have 4 Digital Boxes and I record over 40 hours a week and have not had but the 2 missed channel changes with both the USB-UIRT and the Actisys IR 200L. I would recommend the USB-UIRT over the Actisys IR 200L as it is much stronger and does not require a COM port.

John

P.S. Yes I know it is pathetic that I record as much TV as many people work in a week...what is worse is I actually watch way too much of that

[jbuszkie]

Originally Posted by duckhunter

Hello,
I'm a dairy scientist, not a computer guru... Will this operate pretty much as a plug and play device?

Not to scare you... but plug and play... not so much...
but... you don't have to be a guru either. It won't be as easy as it was setting up your DVR. But it's not super complicated either! The people on this forum are very patient and very helpful. If you enjoy tinkering with your computer or are interested to learn a little more than go for it. You might have some fun!

Now if it was regular cable.. then it's pretty close to plug and play... but since you want to control a cable box then it will be a little more difficult...

Have fun!

Jim

[mayamaniac]

Reading threads from this forum will get you started on what SageTV is all about. But you have be a computer guru to benefit from all the features of SageTV. I like SageTV and think its a great product and it has evolved tremendously over the years, but its still very difficult to setup on your own, especially if you don't have better than average computer experience. My suggestion is to get a Tivo box or DVR from your cable/Satellite company if you are not ready to become a computer guru. SageTV is still for computer hobbyists, not for average joes. I would even suggest a preconfigured WinXP MCE box before SageTV.

But if you are willing to learn or want a new hobby, then go for it, give SageTV a spin, its pretty cool to discover all the things it can do as you learn.