SageTV/BeyondTV vs. Free Options

[Maxian]

I am looking to buy the stuff I need for my media center, and while looking I found a package that includes the WinTV 150 and SageTV. This looked good but looking around I saw that there are many free htpc/pvr software options. So I was wondering how does SageTV compair? Specifically with MediaPortal and Meedio? Is it worth not buying SageTV and going with these options?

[smokeyalien]

It's all personal preference.  You can download all of these programs for free or on a time trial basis to allow you to try them out.  Everyone has their own personal tastes on little things about each program so it's sort fo hard to describe why I use one versus the other.

Smokeyalien

[reboot]

With Sage, you'll either love it or hate it.
Personally, I hate playing beta tester for PAY software. BeyondTV also falls in this category.
Try GB-PVR, MediaPortal, and Meedio (if you can get the TV functions working at all in THIS beta).
I tried them all, and even some more expensive types, ended up with gbpvr. Superb support directly from the author, not some techhead on a phone that doesn't speak english, and well worth a little donation

[RedR]

Heya,

Yup, what they said re free solutions first. I suggest taking a look at GB-PVR. Its free, has lots of cool free plug-in's, and best of all its free! It has a solid community that is quite active (that's a major plus IMO) and it supports all the popular hardware out there.
I personally use SageTV. It was one of the first PVR packages I looked at, it dropped right in, and most importantly it got the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) right outta the hat. It has all the features I could dream of, has a strong community and as well supports all the popular hardware.
Getting into the mix of your PVR is important, do not settle or sell short. Test them out, for ease of install/use, features, and community/company support are VERY important. Granted once things are running it may be perfect for ya but if it’s like pulling teeth to get things running then it’s something to consider in the event you have to rebuild.
Another option is MythTV for Linux if you are interested. Again it’s free, has a very strong community/development track and supports all the major/popular hardware out there.
Mind you, even the pay to use software like SageTV and BeyondTV have free trials, be sure to dig deep into that while your trial is running.

Enjoy,
RedR

[Ringo]

Hi,
if you're in one of their supported countries, you should try WinVodio from Vodio.com. Just released a new version 2.1 a few weeks ago, active development with new releases. On top of all the standard PVR functions, it has a very cool integrated EPG (no need trying to keep XML-TV alive) for a large number of countries, scheduling over the web, fixed instructions etc. Works excellent for me!

Ringo