V7 UI Impressions

[paulbeers]

Originally Posted by falltime

Come on we are SEVEN versions in and I still cant customize the right-click - The mouse is THE MOST IMPORTANT interface on most HTPCs and the right click should be a powerful tool, instead it is relegated to "Video Menu Options" = probably the LEAST adjusted settings imaginable, why dedicate the (usually) very important right-click arrow to it???
.

You lost me at mouse clicks.....

No a Remote is the most important interface on an HTPC otherwise you are using an HTPC as a computer and not a home theater device...

[jsonnabend]

Originally Posted by falltime

Last Example - Browse Photos - the whole interface is unusable - 1st it makes these huge tiles but puts the folder names in a tiny little corner (of course cutting off 90% of the folder name and giving me the Win 3.1 version of .....) then it pops the thumbnails out at you as the mouse hovers over each folder or picture...sounds great - but there is nowhere to "rest" the mouse and so the whole UI just starts popping thumbnails at you so fast you cant figure out what the hell is going on. Where is the option to kill the popping thumbnails?? (and frankly since I can make the thumbnails fairly big why do they even need to pop at all)

The pop-up thumbnail is awful, I agree. Symptomatic of one overarching problem with the new UI: a lot of UI sugar without sufficient regard to usability (the nonsensical background images that show through everywhere coupled with incredibly subtle shading to show selected item being another example).

Generally, though, I like the new UI's paradigm.

- Jeff

[jptheripper]

I love the new interface. But then again, "mouse" is a dirty word in the HTPC world.

With a remote at 10ft, the interface just works. very intuitive.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by falltime

Here are a couple of examples:
What is with the menus popping all over the place. I hover over TV (for example) and I get the TV submenu - fine but first of all you have to "hover" in a very specific way and then god forbid I move the mouse in the wrong direction...Boom menu closes and another one (Music for example opens) and then I got to go all the way back and this happens over and over again INSANE! How about a simple option - open submenus ONLY with a click and back out with a right click....which brings me to

Want to go back in the menu tree ?? - of course you do, this is probably one of the most used aspects (your watching something - I want to go back to a menu) - Cant Right Click - which would be simple , you have to oh so correctly hit that very small arrow Icon on the upper right (at least there used to be a nice big SAGETV Icon to quickly get you back to Main menu) - ridiculous, GOING BACK IS A MAJOR FUNCTION WHY ARE YOU HIDING IT

Come on we are SEVEN versions in and I still cant customize the right-click - The mouse is THE MOST IMPORTANT interface on most HTPCs and the right click should be a powerful tool, instead it is relegated to "Video Menu Options" = probably the LEAST adjusted settings imaginable, why dedicate the (usually) very important right-click arrow to it???

Using a Mouse with a TV is your first mistake. The remote control is "THE MOST IMPORTANT" interface for an HTPC. I'd wager most here don't even keep a mouse and keyboard nearby their HTPC, let alone actually connected and used. The only reason i keep one in either of my PC based viewing locations is to brng up the netflix web page, and I'm in the process of elimiating that requirement as well.

[Brent]

A mouse? Really?

There used to be a plugin for those that used SageTV with a mouse but I think that was in version 6. Not sure if it works with V7 or not.

PS: How exactly do you use SageTV? Is this on a laptop or something?

[SprDtyF350]

Sitting at your desk watching with Sage Client I will agree that the interface with a mouse is hard to navigate. So, I don't use the mouse. I can rip around in Sage 7 just as fast as Sage 6 by using the keyboard. The little arrow at the top for back, just hit the home key. Sage on my big TV using either a client PC or a HD100, HD200, don't have a 300... yet... works great, with a remote...

So.. Use a keyboard, not a mouse. Enter, arrow keys, and the home key. FAST!!

I have been using Sage since version 1.4 and it never fails to amaze me how much my family and I count on Sage. I cannot imagine using anything else and when the server needs a cleaning or breaks.. which isn't often, we freak out. Sage just works, and watching tv the old fashioned way is hard. Never thought I would see a PC based program that just worked.

You don't have to use the new interface. The old one still works the same. I use it with one of my MVP's just because the MVP is old, and slow.

What else is out there that can compare? It will never be everything for everyone but it works pretty darn good for us.

[paulbeers]

Originally Posted by SprDtyF350

Sitting at your desk watching with Sage Client I will agree that the interface with a mouse is hard to navigate. So, I don't use the mouse. I can rip around in Sage 7 just as fast as Sage 6 by using the keyboard. The little arrow at the top for back, just hit the home key. Sage on my big TV using either a client PC or a HD100, HD200, don't have a 300... yet... works great, with a remote...

So.. Use a keyboard, not a mouse. Enter, arrow keys, and the home key. FAST!!
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That is a very good point, on the rare occasion that I use my laptop as a placeshifter client, I solely use the arrow keys and enter.

[Brent]

Originally Posted by paulbeers

That is a very good point, on the rare occasion that I use my laptop as a placeshifter client, I solely use the arrow keys and enter.

When I use placeshifter on my laptop I also use the keyboard. I have this list of keyboard shortcuts on my laptop for reference.

For the record, I can see a use for a plugin that makes it easier to navigate SageTV with a mouse AND touchscreen. MeInMaui created the V6 plugins that did that.

[falltime]

I dont get the hate on a mouse...it actually results in "less clicks"and has proven way more intuitive for the wife and 6yr old..if there is a menu thats three rows down..what is quicker point and click or hit [down] [down] [down] and then enter? Same thing on entering text with the Sage (or any other screen based keyboard)

But hey if you guys all love remotes - great but it doesnt work as well for me

[mayamaniac]

Originally Posted by falltime

I dont get the hate on a mouse...it actually results in "less clicks"and has proven way more intuitive for the wife and 6yr old..if there is a menu thats three rows down..what is quicker point and click or hit [down] [down] [down] and then enter? Same thing on entering text with the Sage (or any other screen based keyboard)

But hey if you guys all love remotes - great but it doesnt work as well for me

What is quicker, click on the SageTV window to bring up the UI buttons, drag the cursor to the FF or RW buttons, and then click the mouse button OR just press the FF or RW buttons on the remote?

There's no hate on the mouse, it's just that the SageTV UI wasn't designed for the mouse. It was designed for the remote control so navigating with the mouse isn't intuitive at all.

I'm fine with navigating with the remote, but when using the Placeshifter, I navigate with the mouse, and it's a little bit of a pain.

For you, either live with the mouse or try a remote for your HTPC.

[samgreco]

The reason, I think, that Sage, or any other PC based DVR or HTPC app generally goes for remotes, is that everything else hooked up to it, usually, is controlled by a remote. My receiver, TV and other attached gear is ONLY controllable via remote. So using a mouse in addition to my remote doesn't make much sense.

It's not that I/we hate mice.

[Fuzzy]

Mice are just more suited to a desk situation... now, if you watch tv at a desk, sure, the mouse would be ideal, but sitting across the room on a couch with your feet up, the remote is just far more ideal.

[Taddeusz]

Even sitting at a desk I find it more useful to use the keyboard to navigate. The interface just lends itself well to navigating like with a remote.

[Opus4]

I use a mouse all the time when I'm developing and haven't noticed any problems. The Forward & Back buttons navigate Forward & Back in SageTV, just like in a browser. And there is a logo on just about every menu that can be clicked on to go to the Main Menu; it was just moved to the bottom right corner.

- Andy

[panteragstk]

I have a remote with a mouse built in. Gyration makes a great air mouse/remote combo. Best of both worlds. I rarely use the mouse in sage (just in TVE) but it is nice to have.

[PeteCress]

Originally Posted by Brent

...they can simply import those UI's in V7 instead of downgrading.

Is it as simple as tweaking the props file?

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by PeteCress

Is it as simple as tweaking the props file?

It's actually much easier - Detailed Setup -> Advanced -> Select UI File (STV) or something like that. Then choose C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\STVs\SageTV3\SageTV3.stv

[dead_ferrets]

I hated the old UI. For me and my family Sage MC was what kept the product in our house.

Now, my 6 year-old, 8 year-old, wife, and myself all love the new Sage 7 UI. Is there room for improvement, sure, but it would be tweaks from our perspective. With regards to the mouse, we moved from an HTPC setup to a setup based on multi-room extenders so we love the remote based optimization of the Sage 7.

[TwistedMelon]

Originally Posted by falltime

The mouse is THE MOST IMPORTANT interface on most HTPCs

Umm, I don't use the new UI, but I'm not going to discuss the interface here. I will say however that the above comment is completely out to lunch. The Mouse is of no importance in an HTPC. In fact, if you need to use a mouse, if a UI looks like it can be used with a mouse, if concepts and paradigms in the UI align themselves at all with mouse input or mouse conventions, then the product and design are a complete failure.

If you're using a mouse with your HTPC, then you have a janky setup. If I was Donald Trump, you'd be fired.

[PeteCress]

Originally Posted by dead_ferrets

I hated the old UI. For me and my family Sage MC was what kept the product in our house.

Now, my 6 year-old, 8 year-old, wife, and myself all love the new Sage 7 UI. Is there room for improvement, sure, but it would be tweaks from our perspective. With regards to the mouse, we moved from an HTPC setup to a setup based on multi-room extenders so we love the remote based optimization of the Sage 7.

Besides remote-based optimization, could you mention a couple of the differences that make them prefer the 7 UI?