Seeking guidance for new SageTV system

[schorne]

I ended my DirecTivo system due to high cost. I am seeking to replace it with a SageTV system. I have scoured the SageTV pages and the forum and haven't found all the answers I need.

I want to build a 3 room system connected by 100Mb Ethernet. One computer (server) will have multiple pvr-xxx cards in it. The other two computers may have a pvr-350 in them.

Question: Some posts suggest the pvr-350 s-video out isn't stable enough. Is this true?

I want to end up with six total pvr cards to mimic the six Directivo tuners I am losing.

Question: Can I put a PVR-350 in each computer to provide the s-video out and have the encoder connected to the server via the network?

Question: Is the output of an ATI 96xx card using component adapter significantly better than a pvr-350 s-video out?

The approach I am hoping will work is putting a pvr-350 in each computer for the s-video out. Then put three additional pvr-250s in one of the computers that also has oodles of disk space as the server.

Does anyone have a system like this? Will it probably work and work well and be stable?

My Tvs:
1 LCD projector with s-video, component, and VGA inputs.
1 36" CRT TV with s-video and VGA inputs
1 27" CRT TV with s-video input

[stanger89]

Originally posted by schorne
I ended my DirecTivo system due to high cost. I am seeking to replace it with a SageTV system. I have scoured the SageTV pages and the forum and haven't found all the answers I need.

I want to build a 3 room system connected by 100Mb Ethernet. One computer (server) will have multiple pvr-xxx cards in it. The other two computers may have a pvr-350 in them.

Question: Some posts suggest the pvr-350 s-video out isn't stable enough. Is this true?

It's more the use of the OSD on the 350's TV out, but yes, depending on your config and your luck it may not be stable.

I want to end up with six total pvr cards to mimic the six Directivo tuners I am losing.

Question: Can I put a PVR-350 in each computer to provide the s-video out and have the encoder connected to the server via the network?

Yes, you'd need 1 copy SageClient per client and 1 copy SageRecorder per machine other than server with a tuner.

Question: Is the output of an ATI 96xx card using component adapter significantly better than a pvr-350 s-video out?

Yes!

The approach I am hoping will work is putting a pvr-350 in each computer for the s-video out. Then put three additional pvr-250s in one of the computers that also has oodles of disk space as the server.

Does anyone have a system like this? Will it probably work and work well and be stable?

I'm not sure anyone has a system like that any more, the record here is 8 tuners in one system, but 4 seems like the most common number for the "big" setups. And yes it can work very well and be very stable.

My Tvs:
1 LCD projector with s-video, component, and VGA inputs.
1 36" CRT TV with s-video and VGA inputs
1 27" CRT TV with s-video input

My advice to you it to only use S-Video if you have to, and only use a 350 if S-Video is your only option and it's on your primary display where PQ is of upmost importance.

From the TVs you list I'm going to assume the PJ and 36" are probably your primary displays, the ones where PQ is most important, and the 27 is probably used for more casual viewing. Well first, since your PJ and 36 have VGA in you don't want to use S-video on either, and probably don't need the ATI component adapter (definitely not on the PJ). My advice would be to start with SageTV, a couple copies of SageClient, and say 4 250s to get you started. I'd be surprised if you really need 6 tuners.

Just curious, what's your 36? Mine's a RCA MM36110 that I drive with VGA from my Sage box.

[carlgar]

Originally posted by schorne
I want to end up with six total pvr cards to mimic the six Directivo tuners I am losing.

I think you might want to expand upon how you expect the programs to be viewed. SageTV is really only designed to be used for group use as opposed to different people viewing at different times. Once a program has been viewed it is marked as watched and may be deleted. There are ways to override this but training people to do that may be a different story. I think for an exact mimic you would want to use multiple copies of SageTV instead of the client model.

[schorne]

Stanger89, that is the same RCA I have. If VGA is the best output for that, I will use it.

Client/Server vs. standalone presents some tradeoffs. It would be advantageous for the wife to be able to move from tv to tv and still see her programs. It also saves space. Wife and I both like the Law and Order series. We have generally had two sets of them recorded, one on each of two DirecTivos. Client/Server mode frees up space with that situation. Trouble is, since wife usually watches them much sooner than I (I still have April and May's L&O episodes waiting to be watched) she MIGHT erase them.

This marking them as watched business is a concern. With DTivo I record them to stay until deleted. Then I delete them after watching, or sometimes I watch and leave it there for someone else to watch. Doesn't sound like sage works the same way.

Thanks for input.

[carlgar]

Originally posted by schorne
This marking them as watched business is a concern. With DTivo I record them to stay until deleted. Then I delete them after watching, or sometimes I watch and leave it there for someone else to watch. Doesn't sound like sage works the same way.

You have a few options to handle that. If you always have disk space available then SageTV will not have to delete anything.
You can reset the watched flag after viewing a program which will prevent SageTV from deleteing it as long as there are watched shows that can be deleted. You can also move a show to the TV library which can only be deleted by a manual delete.

[Opus4]

One other -- just mark it as a manual recording by highlighting the recording and use the "Record" command. Manual recordings won't be automatically deleted either, watched or not.

- Andy

[stanger89]

Originally posted by schorne
Stanger89, that is the same RCA I have. If VGA is the best output for that, I will use it.

Oh yeah, VGA is way better on that set than S-Video. I posted a few pictures a while ago in another thread that might interest you:
http://forums.sage.tv/forums/showthr...1808#post41808

This marking them as watched business is a concern. With DTivo I record them to stay until deleted. Then I delete them after watching, or sometimes I watch and leave it there for someone else to watch. Doesn't sound like sage works the same way.

Thanks for input.

There is another option that I haven't seen mentioned yet, you can turn of Auto Delete for your favorites (probably manuals to) so Sage won't auto delete them even if they are watched. The down side is that you have to remember to delete them.