BeyondTV vs SageTV

[Snoopy]

I've been a SageTV user for a long time now and have not tried BeyondTV since it was in it's infancy. The reason I liked SageTV so well at the time is because it seemed at like development of the product was more shared with the users than BeyondTV and my thinking was that since the development of it was shared (though not entirely open-source or anything), it would move quicker. However, I noticed you guys have twice as many posts for your biggest forum topic, than does SageTV today so I thought perhaps it was time to check it out.

SageTV is now at v6.1 with Flachbar's customizations. Can anyone that has some real experience with SageTV shed some light on what the pros/cons are of BeyondTV in relationship to it?

[Mistergq]

I am interested in this as well, although I doubt I would change.

[Maxark]

Add me to the list.
Just learned that (despite what is stated on the retail box) BeyondTV will NOT support/work with an ATSC tuner card (HD) and Windows 2000 Pro.

Just read your box.

If this is untrue, what else is mis-stated?

I Sage can do the job with Windows 2000, they just got a new customer.

If not, Microsoft Vista did!

[cfaslave]

Originally Posted by Maxark

Add me to the list.
Just learned that (despite what is stated on the retail box) BeyondTV will NOT support/work with an ATSC tuner card (HD) and Windows 2000 Pro.

Just read your box.

If this is untrue, what else is mis-stated?

I Sage can do the job with Windows 2000, they just got a new customer.

If not, Microsoft Vista did!

I just read my box and it says mimimum requirements "Windows XP Service Pack 2"
Looks pretty clear that you need XP to me

[sswingle]

When I got my trial of BTV I also installed Sage. Just from a user interface aspect alone, I liked BTV right from the start and didnt really get into sage.

[dequire]

Ok Ok not trying to open up a can of worms here (or flames). Just wondering if anyone has checked out Sage recently? The way I see it, without BM integration into BTV, why not try it out?

My reasons:

• They have linux and apple front-ends, and now have a linux back-end (Although I would probably try out MythTV again if I was going to look at the Linux back-end as a possibility, or LinuxMCE after another release or two).
• They have a real media extender via the customized Hauppage MPV.
• They now support Windows Media Server .
• It has parental controls! (I've been asking for this for years).

I know that BTV has been the leader for a while now. However it is intriging that they seem to have caught up, and in many ways may have passed passed, BTV. What holds them back, IMHO, is the apparent lack atm of a robust plug-in commumunity and some of the cooler plugins.

I would appreciate any feedback from someone who's tried it our recently. The linux front ends and parental controls would be my main reason for trying it out.

[jshabad00]

Originally Posted by dequire

Ok Ok not trying to open up a can of worms here (or flames). Just wondering if anyone has checked out Sage recently?
...
They have linux and apple front-ends, and now have a linux back-end (Although I would probably try out MythTV again if I was going to look at the Linux back-end as a possibility, or LinuxMCE after another release or two).I know that BTV has been the leader for a while now. However it is intriging

I would appreciate any feedback from someone who's tried it our recently. The linux front ends and parental controls would be my main reason for trying it out.

I believe they make you buy a license for both Windows and Linux, even if it is installed on one machine. Also, there is no trial version for Linux.

SageTV has come A LONG WAY since I last tried it a few years back. I am pretty impressed with 6.1. Although there is no built-in support for the Firefly remote, if you have one.

MythTV is a huge pain to set up... after many attempts of setting it up under openSUSE, I finally got it kinda working with kubuntu... one huge annoyance you'll immediately find is that you cannot dynamically change window size (important if you use it on your desktop computer). Firefly remote works (I think, I'd need to reboot to say for sure).

[nrf]

this thread seems to be wandering. If people feel like trying out different options, I'd like to recommend MythDora 4.0 (see www.g-ding.tv for more details). The whole install/setup has gotten pretty good and (for the right types of cards) clear QAM is supported, more so than btv's token support for it with hdhomerun.

[Grasshopper]

I use both Sage and BTV extensively. As expected both products have pros and cons. Both products do "the basics" really well. Here is my take on the important (to me) differences:

Advantage BTV:
- Ease of setup
- Easy to move recordings between directories and drives
- Built in commercial detection and skipping
- Built in DVD burning support
- Nicer looking user interface
- Native web interface
- Better handling of converting to WMV or DivX

Advantage Sage:
- Very customizable
- HDHomeRun is easy to setup
- Fantastic extender (MVP) support (HD extender support is rumored)
- Better handling of recording directories
- Has a Linux version and a Mac version
- Has loads of community supported extras and add ons
- Integrated Music and Photos
- Support for YouTube and Google Video
- Can be run as a service
- Has "intelligent recording"
- Has a "placeshifter" which allows you to watch your shows remotely over the internet

There are probably many more pros and cons depending on what hardware you are using and what your needs are. Both products are miles ahead of MCE (which I have really only played around with since it came with Vista.)

Edit: Added a few things...

Tom

[bialio]

I've been running the Demo code for both Sage and Beyond TV - I'm just getting into the HTPC game so my perspective is "fresh" - I don't have any previous experience with either.

So far I like Sage better. It's faster on my test platform, and it has a VERY slick interface for setting up your channels. I've got the HDHomeRun tuner and Sage and it play very nicely together. However, the ability to change the channel mapping that shows up in the Guide is the most compelling reason for me. I like being able to set it up so that ClearQAM channel 110-2 shows up in the EPG as channel 5. Makes everything easier.

Monetarily speaking, Sage is a little more $$$, but it does have built in the "Beyond Media" functionality. Sage Client and BTV Link are both $30, so that aspect is the same.

BTV does have a more polished feel at times - and the web admin is very nice also. Also having a remote that is supported without any hassle is a nice touch.

[sportera]

Originally Posted by Grasshopper

I use both Sage and BTV extensively. As expected both products have pros and cons. Both products do "the basics" really well.
Tom

I have been a SageTV user for over a year now after converting from MCE that I used for 2 years. I like SageTV but as the original post stated, Beyond looks like they have grown since I first looked at them a year ago.

My question: Can Sage and BTV coexist on the same HTPC without having to modify either or make changes to Windows XP environment?

I've just downloaded the trial and am itching to test drive for a couple of months.

Sam

[geoffstewart]

If by "coexist" you mean they can both be installed, but not running at the same time, then yes.

Now this is over a year ago, but I was investigating SageTV and had both installed. But, clearly, only one can be running at a time because they both think they have complete control over the tuners.

Geoff

[Bigbird999]

I run Sage and BTVLink on my "all purpose" computer (dual displays). I use this box to watch TV while I work on other stuff. So I can use Sage to watch Live TV via the tuner or recorded shows from any folder on my LAN (including BTV recordings and/or my NASLite server). Or I can use Link to watch Live TV via the tuner on my HTPC (BTV server) or recorded show from any defined BTV folder. BTV on my HTPC will also play the Sage recordings.

I can run both Sage and Link at the same time watching either live TV from each tuner or recorded shows. This is great for watching 2 NFL games at once. The only issue is that I have to start BTVLink first, because it fights over one of the resources with Sage. I also managed to get comskip working with Sage and configured it tooutput both BTV and Sage comskip files. This means that Smartskip is available when BTV or BTVLink is used to play Sage recordings. Hope this helps.

BB

[jharterman]

I'm new to HTPC and have played around with both. I initially chose BTV but have had continual stuttering problems with HD content. I've tried various fixes and none have worked. The same recording played in VLC has no stutters.

With Sage, I don't get stutters, but the recording quality for HD is not nearly as good at BTV. I like the integration and interface, though.

Both are now very easy to set up with HDHomerun.

So... My advice is to try both, weigh pros and cons of each, and choose what works best for your system. Many people have no problems with BTV and HD, but there does not seem to be a clear reason why it works for some and not for others. If BTV figures out the HD problems and includes integration, then it would be the better product.

[queonda]

Originally Posted by jharterman

With Sage, I don't get stutters, but the recording quality for HD is not nearly as good at BTV. I like the integration and interface, though.

This isn't right. Normally HD is streamed to the Hard drive (NO ENCODING). You may just be talking about HD playback, not recording.