Newbie ready to buy everything with questions

[lisabeachlivin]

Hi,

I am ready to take the Sage plunge. I am a total newbie so be easy please. I want a whole house set-up and I am not sure what to buy. I do not know what will work best in my situation. I want the latest that Sage has avail. I have copied a list of questions that I found in another post that should give a good idea of what I am trying to do. Any suggestions on what to buy will be greatly appreciated .

Displays
--------------
- How many TVs do you have? 3 HDTV's I would like to view in 1080i or 1080p

- From how many of them do you want to watch TV, videos, view photos, or listen to music? All

- Do you have a computer in any of the rooms with the TVs? no I have 3 laptops. I really don't want to hook them up to the tv. Does Sage make a box that does not require a computer?

- If so, would you be willing to hook them up to the TV? (This might require the purchase of additional equipment.) I am willing to buy another computer just for Sage if ness.

- Do you pay for HD TV? (for recommending a HD tuner or not) Right now I have directv (1 with dvr and 2 without). I am ready to ditch for a while and just have OTA, but I don't know if I will make it, so I would like my set-up to be capable of OTA, Directv, Dish Network or cable.

- Do you currently use VCRs or a DVR (any kind) to record TV shows and movies? Yes Directv DVR. With the Sage set-up I would like DVR capabilities on all 3 tv's.

- (If yes to the above) How often do you watch live TV? (instead of a prerecorded program) If I can set-up 3 dvr's with Sage then it will be rarely if not it will change to frequently.

- Do you watch sports often? The hubby does

- How many shows do you watch regularly? approx. 5

- 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) 3 people all watch at same time. Maybe 1-2 watching live tv. Again, if I can set-up 3 dvr's with Sage it will be 1 watching live at the most.

Network
---------------
- Do you have a home network? I have not set-up anything yet so I am ready for advice. Not many providers where I am located. I will prob. go with Pure broadband from CenturyTel up to 8 Mbps. I had planned on buying my own wireless router and cable modem but I am not sure the best set-up for Sage.
- If so, is it wired or wireless? Would prefer wireless if possible but don't mind wired either.

Sage Media Center
--------------------
- Do you know if your computer has a large hard drive? Here is the system info. from my Sony laptop:
OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Manufacturer Sony Corporation
System Model VGN-FS980
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 6 Model 13 Stepping 8 GenuineIntel ~1729 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Phoenix Technologies LTD R0040J2, 3/8/2006
SMBIOS Version 2.34
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Total Physical Memory 1,024.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 126.55 MB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB
Page File Space 2.38 GB


- Does it have a large hard drive?
- If not, would you be willing to buy one? Yes <give info about tuners and recording hours vs hd space) I currenly record tons of hd programs and will need a lot of storage with my Sage set-up. My current DVR is always filled to capacity.

Can you get HULU, netflix, Amazon VOD on Sage? If so I want it on all the tv's.

I hope I have covered everything if not let me know what else you need.

Thanks in advance

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by lisabeachlivin

Displays
--------------
- How many TVs do you have? 3 HDTV's I would like to view in 1080i or 1080p

- From how many of them do you want to watch TV, videos, view photos, or listen to music? All

- Do you have a computer in any of the rooms with the TVs? no I have 3 laptops. I really don't want to hook them up to the tv. Does Sage make a box that does not require a computer?

You need a computer house the storage, run the SageTV "backend" recording engine, manage the tuners, schedules, etc. But the SageTV STP-HD200 HD Extender can be used at each TV for playback, they work great.

- If so, would you be willing to hook them up to the TV? (This might require the purchase of additional equipment.) I am willing to buy another computer just for Sage if ness.

If you don't have a desktop, I'd definitely recommend some sort of "server" (can be just a PC) that you connect your tuners and extenders to.

- Do you pay for HD TV? (for recommending a HD tuner or not) Right now I have directv (1 with dvr and 2 without). I am ready to ditch for a while and just have OTA, but I don't know if I will make it, so I would like my set-up to be capable of OTA, Directv, Dish Network or cable.

- Do you currently use VCRs or a DVR (any kind) to record TV shows and movies? Yes Directv DVR. With the Sage set-up I would like DVR capabilities on all 3 tv's.

- (If yes to the above) How often do you watch live TV? (instead of a prerecorded program) If I can set-up 3 dvr's with Sage then it will be rarely if not it will change to frequently.

- Do you watch sports often? The hubby does

- How many shows do you watch regularly? approx. 5

I think that's more of a how many do you watch simultaneously, or to put it another way, how many shows do you record+view at a time right now. With a DVR, I'm guessing 2-3 tops.

- 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) 3 people all watch at same time. Maybe 1-2 watching live tv. Again, if I can set-up 3 dvr's with Sage it will be 1 watching live at the most.

Really the question comes down to how many channels do you need tuned at a given time, that means Recordings+Live. It's sounding like 3 or so is about right.

Network
---------------
- Do you have a home network? I have not set-up anything yet so I am ready for advice. Not many providers where I am located. I will prob. go with Pure broadband from CenturyTel up to 8 Mbps. I had planned on buying my own wireless router and cable modem but I am not sure the best set-up for Sage.
- If so, is it wired or wireless? Would prefer wireless if possible but don't mind wired either.

Go wired, and Gigabit if at all possible, it will save you headaches.

Sage Media Center
--------------------
- Do you know if your computer has a large hard drive? Here is the system info. from my Sony laptop:
OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Manufacturer Sony Corporation
System Model VGN-FS980
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 6 Model 13 Stepping 8 GenuineIntel ~1729 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Phoenix Technologies LTD R0040J2, 3/8/2006
SMBIOS Version 2.34
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Total Physical Memory 1,024.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 126.55 MB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB
Page File Space 2.38 GB


- Does it have a large hard drive?
- If not, would you be willing to buy one? Yes <give info about tuners and recording hours vs hd space) I currenly record tons of hd programs and will need a lot of storage with my Sage set-up. My current DVR is always filled to capacity.

Can you get HULU, netflix, Amazon VOD on Sage? If so I want it on all the tv's.

It's kind of tricky on extenders. It's been coverd a few times though, a search should find something.

Going from the top, I'd definitely recommend some sort of "server" PC. Or think of it as a "DVR" PC, it will hold your tuners, connect to your STBs (if applicable) and all the extenders/clients will connect back to it.

I'd probably go with 1 HDHR, which will give you two OTA stations, and 2 HD PVRs (plus HD STBs, or if you don't care about HD over satellite you can use regular tuners) and a USB-UIRT (well actually Paterson adapters for DirecTV). That will allow you to record/watch up to 4 channels at a time.

Then for your TVs, stick an HD200 at each one.

[PLUCKYHD]

I wouldn't recomend running that large of a sage system from a laptop first

Second I would use the sage hd200's for extenders. I would use the hdhomerun x2 to get you 4 live feeds of OTA.

[pjpjpjpj]

I agree with plucky.

Get an HD200 Extender for each TV. Start with (2) HDHomeruns ("HDHRs") (www.silicondust.com), which will give you four OTA tuners... that way you can have three people watching "live" (each instance of "live" watching is still using a tuner), plus one spare tuner recording something else. You can add HD-PVRs (if you need to get DirecTV back) later. HDHRs are super-easy to set up, and you don't have any issues with IR blasters to change channels and such. Have you confirmed that you get decent antenna reception?

If you will only use the extenders and you do not intend on watching HD television on your server ever - i.e., it will be in the basement or in a closet or something - you can have a really simple server PC. The basic requirements are under "Hardware encoding" (third bullet) here: http://www.sagetv.com/requirements.html?sageSub=tv
But I would recommend at least 1 Gb of RAM (not 256Mb per recommendation!). I am in this boat - note my specs in my sig. Note that there is a customization you can add to allow commercial skipping, and this requires a little more PC "beef" - so if you really like the idea of being able to totally skip commercials (without having to touch a button), you will want a better server PC anyway.

As for hard drive space, if you are buying a new desktop PC to use as your server, get one with a large internal drive or two. You can always add external USB drives as well (they're getting cheaper daily). Search around this forum, in the "hardware" section... many people recommend multiple smaller drives (say, 500 Gb) rather than one large (say, 2 Tb) drive. Plus, you lose less if one crashes! Note that you will need to partition them (per Sage instructions), and since this means re-formatting, you might want to make sure that you have a separate drive in your new PC that holds the OS and everything else, if you don't want to reinstall all of that!

While you do not need a Gb network, it will avoid any future issues if you get one anyway. You would run into bandwidth issues on a 10/100 if you have all four tuners running and several TVs watching all at once, all HD. So get a Gb router/switch and use cables rather than going wireless. It will just save hassles.

And then you just need the Sage software (which you can buy bundled with one of your extenders and save a little $).

As for the hulu, netflix, etc., they are not officially supported (hulu is apparently coming soon?), but there are some customizations and "hacks" that allow some usage. Check the "customizations" forum here for info on those.

One other hardware note: if you have an old-school phone modem in your server, you can take advantage of a cool customization ("plug-in") that allows caller ID pop-ups on your screen...

[lisabeachlivin]

I think I have the list now:
desktop pc at least 1GB RAM hardwired
3 - HD 200
2 - HD homerun
2 - HD PVR's
1 - USB-UIRT
GB router switch

Is that right? Will this set-up work with OTA, satellite and cable?
To answer the questions I saw:
I do have 3 tv's in use all watching different things at the same time - recorded and live mixed.
I have checked my reception with an indoor antenna it is ok picture wise just very few channels (of course) that's why I am not sure I will make it lol. If I could use HULU and Netflix it would definately make it a lot easier. If I can't take OTA I am definately downgrading. I may get dish network with the HD bundle only (no dish dvr) will use Sage for that. Another option would be to get the basic cable pkg again using Sage as my DVR for the 3 tv's.

Thanks for all the help. When I purchase all of this stuff I know this forum and the Sage users will become very familiar to me.

[freedml]

For advice on which OTA channels you should receive, check www.antennaweb.org.

I would start with the server and the HD200s and one tuner, and then expand to more tuners once that's all working well.

Wait on the Comskipping until all is working well and then don't use ComskipMonitor. I've heard that Dirmon2 works better but haven't tried it myself. People seem to be split on whether Comskip or ShowAnalyzer is better.

[pjpjpjpj]

Originally Posted by freedml

For advice on which OTA channels you should receive, check www.antennaweb.org.

Actually, www.tvfool.com is more reliable and detailed...

Originally Posted by freedml

I would start with the server and the HD200s and one tuner, and then expand to more tuners once that's all working well.

If you are using HDHRs, you can get two right away (giving you four OTA tuners). If you plug in both to your network and install their software, the first scan will find four tuners and you'll be set. No reason to be scared of having more than one as a start.

The HD-PVRs have issues - just look at the "hardware support" forum here, and see how many topics have to do with them - I would definitely start with just the HDHRs, get it running, and then, if you need the DirecTV, jump into the HD-PVR pool. From that respect, you can buy the HD-PVRs now, or later. But if you try to start with them right off the bat, you may run into issues and start thinking SageTV is not worth it, when really it's just issues with that one device.

Originally Posted by freedml

Wait on the Comskipping until all is working well...[snip]

I agree - for same reasons as above. Get it working in the simplest manner first, get a feel for how it works and what you are doing, and then expand. Especially since you are willing to be OTA-only for at least a while.

[Clift]

Another few things to consider:
With the HDHomreun devices, it may be possible to get the local channels in HD from your cable company without subscribing to an HD package or a cable package at all. A lot of people get the ClearQAM (the signal that carries the local channels in digital format) through their cable lines when they have high speed internet with the cable company. That might resolve a LOT of the OTA reception problems you could run into. The only downside is that the cable companies compress the HD signal more for bandwidth reasons so the quality of the HD isn't as good. But I think it's pretty good for what it is and haven't had any quality problems with it. Just something to think about.

I saw you mention 1 GB RAM for your SageTV server... I would implore you to consider 2, maybe 3 GB. Witht he price of memory these days it's really the way to go. It will allow your SageTV server room to breathe when serving 3 TVs, while simultaneously recording multiple streams.

Plan on springing for large amounts of storage. The nice thing with a SageTV setup is that you can WAAAYYYYYYY more than your Cable TV or Satellite DVR. You may, for example decide you want to keep a whole season of a particular show or archive your entire DVD Collection

[71_Cuda]

A quick comment...

If you're set on going with the HD-PVRs for cable/satellite, you'll probably only need 1 HDHomerun. With 2 HDHomeruns and 2 HD-PVRs, you'll be able to record/watch live 6 different things at once, which may be overkill for you. If you're going to try OTA only (or Clear QAM as Clift suggested) first and need more than 2 tuners, then you'll need the 2 HDHomeruns.