SageTV 2.0 Review

[rampy]

I've posted a review of SageTV 2.0.

Feel free to make comments or ask questions here regarding the review.

I've still got a few more screen caps to work in, but the majority of the review is in place.

rampy :cool:  

[bznotins]

Great review.  I've only used the product for a few days now (still on the free trial) but I must say that I'm impressed as well.

I'm with you on the desire for web-based scheduling though.  That would be the one feature I'd like to see added.

Question though.  What does the "deinterlacing" stuff do?  Do I want to turn that on or should I not care?

[Anonymous]

Rampy,
    With all the stupid little problems I've been having w/ MythTv I almost would switch if it had widescreen and  IR blaster support. Does it have either or those? Thanks

Robes

[MaxRobespierre]

That was my last post. Don't know how I got logged out

Robes

[rampy]

Rampy,
    With all the stupid little problems I've been having w/ MythTv I almost would switch if it had widescreen and  IR blaster support. Does it have either or those? Thanks

Robes

BZ,

re: de-interlacing... I think that's an option if you wanted to NOT interlace (ha!) the signal (normal TV interlaced) for example if you were using a progressive scan/res TV.  There's probably more to it than that.  There's a whole world of descaling/upscaling etc, I haven't gotten into yet till I get an uber TV =)

Robes,

I think patience with the OSS is usually rewarded (both by getting it going and learning), but it can't hurt to try SageTV/etc.  

From the feature list:

#   Infrared or serial control of your cable or satellite set-top box
# Widescreen (16:9) TV support
Zoom options, screen shifting, background overlay

I haven't tested either =)  Although  you have a 350, right?  The real question is can you get widescreen out of the 350... again dragging me to areas where I haven't tried it so I'm not sure.  

Rampy

[MaxRobespierre]

Robes,

I think patience with the OSS is usually rewarded (both by getting it going and learning), but it can't hurt to try SageTV/etc.  
 

Rampy,
     Spoken like a true Jedi Master. I feel enlightened. Lol. Seriously, thanks for all the help. I'm gonna stick w/ Myth, its just disheartening after at least 35 hours trying to get this beast to work perfectly and always coming up a buck short. I might throw the Sage trial on my second HD (seeing as how I'm pretty sure you can't get 2 HD's to mount to the same directory even with LVM) and test it out.

Robes

[Anonymous]

Well based on the review I bought SageTV, BAD MISTAKE!!!

About 2 weeks ago I downloaded SageTV_V2_0_19Setup and had the video out from the PVR 350 card freeze up on me. I gave up with SageTV after I got NO EMAIL reply from Frey Technologies about fixing the problem. I moved on to trying out many of the FREE softwares and eventually download BeyondTV which worked really well but does not have a Video Out from the PVR 350 card. So after reading the review and noticing that a new version was released SageTV_V2_0_20Setup I proceded to BUY the software thinking that my previous problems where gone. WELL I WAS WRONG. The video Out of the PVR 350 card freezed up on me and after 1 channel change refused to change the channel on the directv receiver.

My system worked perfectly with BEYONDTV except for the video out from PVR 350. I had it coming from a video card that has TV out.

So unless they call me tomorrow and help me I will asking my credit card company for my money back.

So far SageTV is a horrible program in my opinion

[rampy]

Well based on the review I bought SageTV, BAD MISTAKE!!!
About 2 weeks ago I downloaded SageTV_V2_0_19Setup and had the video out from the PVR 350 card freeze up on me. I gave up with SageTV after I got NO EMAIL reply from Frey Technologies about fixing the problem. I moved on to trying out many of the FREE softwares and eventually download BeyondTV which worked really well but does not have a Video Out from the PVR 350 card. So after reading the review and noticing that a new version was released SageTV_V2_0_20Setup I proceded to BUY the software thinking that my previous problems where gone. WELL I WAS WRONG. The video Out of the PVR 350 card freezed up on me and after 1 channel change refused to change the channel on the directv receiver.

My system worked perfectly with BEYONDTV except for the video out from PVR 350. I had it coming from a video card that has TV out.

So unless they call me tomorrow and help me I will asking my credit card company for my money back.

So far SageTV is a horrible program in my opinion

FWIW, a poke around the sageTV forums indicates that not everyone using the PVR350 with sageTV had the success I did ( there are some finicky chipsets that don't play nice with the ui through 350 tv out feature... from what I understand )

I understand the posters fustration when something doesn't work like it's supposed, or how we want, especially after seeing how well it worked for me.

I'm sure if you can get in touch with FreyTech they'll more than likely do what's needed to rectify the situation (either help you through the issue or work somthing out etc or however they handle situations like this --- i can't speak for them, but in my dealings and in what i've seen in their forum/community they've been totally on the level)  So, before reversing the charges through your credit card company, try talking to them  (usually the credit card reversal is a last resort with a truly unresponsive or unwilling vendor)  

The hard part is narrowing down the issue... (unfortunately the downside to pc based pvr's is the complexity when troubleshooting)  what OS, what JRE, what chipset mobo are you using?  Does SageTv work in pvr350 UI out mode with a terrestial antenna signal...  are you using an IR blaster or a serial cable, which directTV box?  There's a lot of variables, have you posted about your woes in the SageTV forums (just curious -- you'll get a larger audience of sage users with a similiar config as you there)?

I feel bad that based upon my finding sagetv easy to use and great as sliced bread review you purchased it and did NOT get the same immediate  satisfaction I did.

I always say use whatever works for you, try everything and see what you like (and what's compatible with your system).  

I wish you left some sort of email or handle or something, anon...  feel free to drop me a line so I can see If i can be of any assistance (my email is in the nav bar of the site up top or in the reviews).

rampy

fwiw, here's their refund policy

here's the thread with the changelog for the _20 revision (i reviewed/run the _19 revision)


SageTV thread of interest re: pvr350 (info and some people hit or miss/things to try -- ie SHS beta drivers/etc... )

[Edited on 7/14/04 by rampy]

[Anonymous]

I've been considering buying a PVR350 and SageTV, so I've been doing some poking around.  There is a pretty extensive thread on the issue you are having in the SageTV forums.  Let me see if I can link to it...
 http://forums.freytechnologies.com/forums/showthread.php?s=77d60c643e0136b7b644877c28abe685&threadid=6124

(If the link doesn't work, look in the hardware section of the forums).

It looks like some people have had success using special drivers, but it's not a sure thing.  The drivers are available in this thread...

http://forums.freytechnologies.com/forums/showthread.php?s=77d60c643e0136b7b644877c28abe685&threadid=5879

You may want to try this.  Myself, I am waiting to see how this gets resolved before I go ahead an make my purchases.  (In addition, it seems like the world is sold out of PVR350's right now).

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Oops.  Either Rampy updated his message, or I previously missed the end of it.  Now my last message is redundant.  I'd delete if I could.  Sorry, I was only trying to help.

[rampy]

Oops.  Either Rampy updated his message, or I previously missed the end of it.  Now my last message is redundant.  I'd delete if I could.  Sorry, I was only trying to help.

Its ok (you did link to one thread I didn't so that's cool!) ! I appreciate the effort!  Plus it helps to have another opinion on what the dealio, is...

Definitely don't be shy about sharing links, info, tips, opinions, experiences... that's what the site/forum is all about =)

I just wished the person who had the issue left an email, and I hope he/she comes back to tell us how they made out with Sage support, did they "solved" the issue or give him an rma, or what have you?

rampy

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the help, I will try what is suggest and hope that fixes my problems. The only problem I have is paying $79.99 for software that doesn't work without tweaking or installing special drivers. I even got a email from George from Frey Technologies and he NEVER mentions special drivers or anything like that to fix my problem. In fact what George suggested didn't help my problem. I would expect these types of problem if the software was FREE, but its not. They charged me money for it and unless his second email performs some type of magical fix, I'm getting my money back.

Also my problem is that both TV Out through my PVR 350 and Video card are freezing up, not just through the PVR 350. In my case I don't have working software at all.

[Anonymous]

Rampy - read your review and I have a question no one can seem to answer about Sage 2.0  so since you've used it, maybe you can answer my question:

"will the software remember where I am on 2 different shows? or more? I sometimes stop in the middle of many shows and finish them later."

Thanks, Rampy.

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to put in my two cents about Sage 2.0. I've had the product (and PVR-350) for about three weeks. I have to say that while the interface is pretty and professional, the performance and features have been disappointing. I have had mulitple instances of the app freezing up, but not so often that I can say there is a problem with my configuration. My biggest problem is with the programmed behavior in some cases. When watching live tv, the picture will freeze at the point that one program ends and another begins. I have to hit fast forward in order to continue. If I cancel a recording with only a couple of minutes left, Sage will delete the program rather than keep what was recorded up until that point. If I have a show as a favorite, it is impossible to NOT record any particular episode. I went into the recording options of one episode and said 'cancel recording', and it still recorded it, even when the interface indicated it would not. Problems like this just make me more impressed with Tivo, and how they were able to create software that works so intuitively and reliably so many years ago. BTW, I will be writing to Frey with these problems, I just wanted to let you all know first.

[rampy]

Rampy - read your review and I have a question no one can seem to answer about Sage 2.0  so since you've used it, maybe you can answer my question:

"will the software remember where I am on 2 different shows? or more? I sometimes stop in the middle of many shows and finish them later."

Thanks, Rampy.

Hi there, I remember you/your question (sorry forgot to mention it in the review)

It *does* remember where you are when watching a show (in 1, 2, or more shows), but there is the "set as watched" "clear watched" label / setting that's a little confusing.  If Sage thinks you've watched the show in it's entirety (i.e. watched) it seems to think you don't care where you left off,  and you ahve to "clear the watched flag", setting... it's not that bad, but a little bit annoying/confusing/could be easier/more apparent.  I normally watch things through so I hadn't noticed at first.

One little update: I had listed as a CON that I couldn't enable 3D accelleration... after RTFM, I understand this is normal and a restriction of doing the overlay through the pvr350's tv out.  The only reason I was interested in it is to make the menu's a little snappier/more responsive... granted it's as responsive (or more so) than my Tivo series 2 for most things, but it's still a little annoying (also granted the m10k isn't exactly a barn burner cpu wise)

Obviously if you've read the threads here YMMV with SageTV.  I had an effortless install and was blown away by it, but I encourage you to take full advantage of the 15 day trial to test it out in your exact configuration (original anon guy with the crashing problem, did you get it resolved to your satisfaction? please reply/let me know... email me whatever...want to make sure you were taken care of)

rampy