Sage vs. Snapstream Comparison?

Sethbo · #1 03-13-2004, 03:58 PM

I'm sure this has been covered somewhere, but I haven't seen it in the posts...

Can anybody provide a good comparison between Frey's SageTV and Snapstream's Beyond TV? I'm looking at investing in a PVR soon, and I wanted to see if anybody could provide their personal experience regarding reliability, features, quality and ease of use.

Also, any advice for choosing between the PVR-250 and PVR350?

Thanks

pawn · #2 03-13-2004, 04:08 PM

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=321916

brad98 · #3 03-13-2004, 04:19 PM

as for 250 vs 350...

the only advantage to the 350 is the tv-out. all that is output though is programs that are made to use the 350 tv-out. in other words, your windows desktop will not appear on your tv screen if you have the 350 hooked up. if your box is only going to be used for sage and you don't have a video card with video-out then the 350 is right for you.

the advantage of the 250 is its cheaper. if you are going to be viewing tv on your monitor or if your video card has a video-out then the 250 is right for you.

there's also an issue of mixing 350's and 250's in a multiple tuner set up. so if you plan to have multiple tuners it'd probably be best to use a 250 and get a video card with a video-out or some type of vga-to-composite converter. i've seen it mentioned though that this problem is being addressed in future 2.x releases.

phenixdragon · #4 03-14-2004, 07:31 AM

I have played Snap Stream for a day and if you want to be able to have more control over your settings Sage is the only way to go. Snap is nice with features being already there but Sage will have them all soon enough. Along with quality Sage is far better. I think Snap is working on having better quality but it still lacks giving you the ability to control everything.

Also the screen shots for Snap look better then it does when you are using it. I thought it was pretty looking at the screen shots but when I installed it the program wasn't as pretty.

mlbdude · #5 03-14-2004, 07:59 AM

BTV is a good product. If you don't need all the advanced stuff Sage offers then you may be able to consider using it. UI wise it is not as pretty as Sage 2.0 but it will be personal preference on which you prefer.

Once they come out with a stable 3.5 version it will be a much more complete product.

ckron · #6 03-14-2004, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sethbo
I'm sure this has been covered somewhere, but I haven't seen it in the posts...

Can anybody provide a good comparison between Frey's SageTV and Snapstream's Beyond TV? I'm looking at investing in a PVR soon, and I wanted to see if anybody could provide their personal experience regarding reliability, features, quality and ease of use.

Also, any advice for choosing between the PVR-250 and PVR350?

Thanks

There are many variables involved in choosing the right equipment for your PVR. These are some of the questions I had to answer before I could make a decision:

1- How much money do I want to spend?

2- Will I be able to dedicated a PC or will I be using it for other things?

3- Am I going to be building from scratch or do I have some of the components already?

4- Will I be watching only on the computer?

5- Do I want to have a monitor hooked up to the PC or only the TV?

6- What is my video source? (ie analog cable, digital cable, satelite, HDTV)

7- Will I want to view the recordings in multiple places?

8- How important is OSD on the TV?

9- What quality output do I want on the TV?

more to come later. I need to cook the chicken on the grill now.

Deadbolt · #7 03-14-2004, 07:08 PM

It would be nice if Sage2.0 offered sound in the UI...really nice in BTV...really makes it feel like a better UI (move the remote...satisfying 'bong'...etc).

Deadbolt

fidget · #8 03-14-2004, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Deadbolt
It would be nice if Sage2.0 offered sound in the UI...really nice in BTV...really makes it feel like a better UI (move the remote...satisfying 'bong'...etc).

Deadbolt

Yuck

That "feature" lasted about 10 seconds with my TiVo.

Fluffdaddy · #9 03-14-2004, 09:12 PM

Yuck indeed.
I hated the Tivo sound effects. I'm a RePlayTv and Sage man now.

Deadbolt · #10 03-14-2004, 10:47 PM

I think it makes the UI feel more 3D myself. It would be nice if it were an option.

Deadbolt

DFranch · #11 03-14-2004, 11:30 PM

I woul dnot mind dound effects. I don't mind the ones on my TiVo, hoerver the snapstream sound effects suck. that woosh sound bugged me.

pheitman · #12 03-15-2004, 08:04 AM

Sound was one of the things I was thinking of trying to add with Studio if/when Studio is released. I really like the audible feedback from my TiVo that the command was recognized.

Cayars · #13 03-15-2004, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DFranch
I woul dnot mind dound effects. I don't mind the ones on my TiVo, hoerver the snapstream sound effects suck. that woosh sound bugged me.

Could just overwrite the sound effect on disk with you own like I did. The default was a little much for me too. For those people who don't like the sound effects, just turn them off.

falchulk · #14 03-15-2004, 11:39 AM

FOr sound, set beep=1 in the top part of irremote.ini. You will then have audible feebback when you hit a remote button.

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