Have you upgraded to Beyond TV 4?

[Steve-o]

I'm curious: have you upgraded to Beyond TV 4? If so, was it worth it? Why or why not? If you haven't, why not?

My answer: I have not upgraded.

Beyond TV 4 offers a lot of exciting new features, and I think the upgrade price is reasonable. But my system is almost totally stable on 3.5.7, and I believe the occasional problems I do have are due to a balky tuner card--not the fault of the software. So, why mess with a good thing?

I'm very happy that HDTV is now supported in version 4, but I'm not ready to invest in the hardware upgrades that would be required to use that feature. If the ability to encode AC-3 audio had been included, that might have swayed me--I like to burn DVDs, and I'm not a fan of LPCM.

[mikem]

I haven't bothered to upgrade either. I had a fully stable 3.7 system running on a test box, and without being able to add digital DVB tuners then the upgrade for me isn't worth it.

I will be upgrading if DVB support is ever added to BTV, without it then isn't an option for me, and am reduced to having to use an alternative with an inferior interface to get access to all channels rather then just the standard 5 in the UK on analogue.

[optikhog]

I have. It is way worth it for me as the stability issues I saw in 3.x on my newer rig went away. Also, my wife LOVES the category customized EPG views.

[Deckard]

I have upgraded 2 x BTV boxes. No HDTV in my part of the world. The driving factor for me was being able to record the current buffer - neat 'must have' feature

[Rich A]

The addition of digital OTA capability and the fact I no longer have to pay for multiple link stations was a big plus for me.

[that_kid]

I've updated, I didn't use BTV 3 much because of the stability issues I was having plus the charge for multiple tuners so I went the Sage route. Now i'm back re-evaluating BTV and things are much much better now but i'm stilll on the fence between the two. I've been with BTV since the very first version so I'm trying to say loyal and so far it seems like BTV will be the choice for me. The biggest thing is setting up a system at my parents house and so far BTV has passed with flying colors, I just wish for a few more features which from what I've been reading are coming. All in all version 4 is really nice and i'm glad I upgraded to it.

[Fonceur]

I have upgraded, though until they fix the stuttering in the playback I prefer watching the recordings with Zoom Player...

[deipert]

My BTV 3.7 with the MVP skin works so well that I am afraid to touch a thing. My current system is so important to me that I don't want any interuption in service. The price I paid for my setup was worth every penny and more.

What I might have to to for BTV 4 is to try it on another PC with two additional TV cards. Even if I get it to work, I still may not want to get rid of my older BTV 3 system. I would be willing to pay full price for BTV 4 and keep what I have on BTV 3. I know that Snapstream disables BTV 3 aftet the upgrade to 4. I don't want that to happen. The guides are based on e-mail address? Does anyone know how I would be able to use both systems on a non trial basis?

[optikhog]

You would need a separate system to run both. Obviously, you would need a separate license as well. During setup, you would need to supply a new email address for your new machine and log in as each if you use snapstream.net.

Obviously, each person has their own comfort level, but I can HIGHLY recommend simply jumping to version 4 on your existing rig. I have seen no problems at all with either of my machines - one of which was a rock-solid unit running 3.7.

[Griz]

I'm not upgrading until the lip sync issues are addressed.

[segadc]

I thought I posted here...maybe it was another thread...

Yeah I upgraded and it is just as stable as the last version!

[RoadRunnr1469]

I am running 4 it is great, but I never ran another version. I did try sage, and didn't like it at all. I did have sync issues and flashing screen at first, then I upgraded my video drivers and all sync issues went away.
Thanks for a great product! I love it!!

[SprDtyF350]

If someone can tell me that 4.0 will now let me use multiple storage locations (Multiple hard drives, network storage, etc.) without having BTV show a folder for each of them I would likely switch back. I just want to tell BTV all the places it can use to store recordings and have it see all of them as just one. I always liked BTV the best but never felt comfortable with having to use Dynamic disk sharing, or similar to get BTV to see one big storage location.

[deipert]

I am going to second the need for BTV to use multiple storage locations. I really do not understand why this is so hard for them to implement.

[NeoDavinci]

I'm not using network storage, but I am using multiple hard drives and the files all show up in a single list under "Recorded Shows" in BTV4.