HTPCentric

You’ve heard Tim and I go back and forth about SageTV vs. Windows Media Center.  Believe me when I tell you that we’re not the only people out there who are passionate about which HTPC software they use or the reasons behind it.

On Friday, March 13th, you’ll get to hear it hashed out for real as Tim and I are joined by Josh Pollard, co-host of Entertainment 2.0, Brent Evans of Geektonic and Josh, the Minnesota Maven in a two-on-two grudge match between software.

With Tim and Brent taking up the cause for SageTV and Josh and I taking up for Media Center, Josh Pollard be stuck in the middle trying to moderate.  While I don’t think anyone will change their mind about which software they use, You’ll get a chance to hear people with a lot of knowledge on the subject help you make a decision.

Again, the show will be posted on Friday, March 13th.  We look forward to hearing your questions and comments.

We’re back!  It’s been awhile since we’ve had the chance to get together and push out an episode of the show but we wanted to get one out this week.  Sometimes real life has to interfere unfortunately.

On this episode of the show we take time to talk a bit about other HTPC software options.  Specifically BeyondTV and MythTV.  While Tim has some experience with BeyondTV, it’s been awhile now and neither of us have ever used Myth. 

The main focus of the show today however is SageTV plugins.  These are apps created by the community to help extend and and expand your SageTV experience.  Since this is Tim’s forte, I let him take the reigns for the show to feature some of the better ones.

Notes:

• Sage Web User Interface
• Comskip Monitor
• DVRMSToolbox
• SageMC STV
• Media Scraper

Thanks for listening to this week’s show!  We should have a special episode for you on Friday and I look forward not only to recording it but hearing what the community has to say.  You can follow Adam and Tim on Twitter or email the show to reach us.

Click Here to download Episode 3

Tim and I talk a lot about Media Center and SageTV during the podcasts.  This happens because this is what we each use.  I don’t think it’s unfair to say that people will (and probably should) talk about things which they have knowledge.

Of course there is other HTPC software out there and since we don’t have the deep knowledge required to discuss it reliably, we’ll have to defer to someone who’s taken time to work with it.

John Clabaugh from Missing Remote has been a MythTV user for awhile now and has completed the second of two articles comparing Myth with SageTV.  The first article was written last year but John has now completed the set with the second article.

There’s a full comparison of each package including price, features and all the other information you’d want to know before making a decision about what runs your HTPC.

Click here for Part I

Click here for Part II

Me, I’m hooked on Media Center but both articles make for great reading.  Thanks to John for taking the time to write them up!

While I won’t pretend that I’ve used every one of the methods you’re going to find listed in this post, I thought it a good idea to take time to help people thinking of getting into the use of an HTPC by listing some of the software options you have. 

Each software choice has different qualities.  I doubt there’s one that will do everything which is why it can be such a hard choice.  You have to look at each system, see if it has the features you want and go from there.  I’m going to try and compare each one and tell you exactly how they can benefit you as well as hold you back.  Let’s get started!

Windows Media Center

Sure, I’m going to cover this first.  It’s probably the best known and not only that, it’s included with ever PC running Vista Premium/Ultimate and with the new Windows 7 Beta.  With no extra software to buy, almost anyone with a PC fast enough to run it has an HTPC in their home already.

Media Center (MCE) will provide you with the following features:

• DVR-with an added TV tuner, you can use Media Center to replace your cable/sat company’s DVR and stop paying monthly fees.
• Program guide-MCE has a built in program guide you can set up if you have a tuner installed.  You can use it to schedule recordings, see what’s on, etc.  just like your provider’s guide.  Especially helpful if you get OTA signals.
• Access to your other media-MCE allows you to bring pictures, music and video files right to the TV. 
• The use of MCE Extenders to access your media across your home network-Attach one of several MCE Extenders (Xbox 360, Linksys DMA-21/2200) and you can stream your media to other TVs.

While MCE is great, (I use it in my home) it does have its limitations.  For one, if you know anything about video codecs, you’ll need the knowledge.  Extenders won’t play every video file type out there so you have to watch what you download/record your content in.  Also, to really get extra functionality out of it, you may need to purchase third party applications.

Overall I’m very happy with Media Center.  It doesn’t do everything I want it to but it’s family friendly and if you don’t need more than DVR as well as access to music and pictures, it should be perfect for you.

SageTV

SageTV is what Tim uses.  Sage has been around for awhile now and it shows.  With proprietary extenders that play nice with almost any file type you throw at them, built in DVR (with a tuner of course) as well as Placeshifter software that allows you to access your content outside of your home network, this is some great software.

While the UI isn’t as pretty as Windows Media Center, it is customizable and the community has come up with some great designs and layouts.

The same goes with add-ons.  Sage has a huge community of users who develop new apps for the core product.  Movie, TV, Music and picture add-ons can make Sage into whatever you want it to be.

Here are some of SageTV’s features:

Earlier today, Front Line Geek posted that SageTV has released the latest version of the SageTV software, Version 6.5.9

Version 6.5.9 will provide the following features:

• Full support for the HD200 as a media extender
• Optimized bandwidth usage in the Placeshifter
• Beta support for Hauppauge HD-PVR on the Mac

This is just a partial list.  For the full list of updates head over to Front Line Geek’s post.

If you’re a SageTV user, you may already have one.  If you’re thinking of getting into the HTPC arena, you need to read about it.  That’s where Brent Evans of GeekTonic fame comes in.  Awhile back I watched his video of unboxing the HD200 HD Theater he received from SageTV.  Now that he’s had time to play with it, the review is here.

From the review:

The extender concept at SageTV has become so successful, you could ask a sample of SageTV users whether they have at least one HD100 or HD200 extender and I’ll bet 90% or more would answer yes.  Now one year later on December 2008, SageTV began selling the new "HD200 HD Player" that is a "step up" from the HD100 with many new features.  After putting the HD200 through the paces for about a month at the GeekTonic House, it’s finally time to share how the new SageTV HD200 performs compared to the earlier SageTV HD100 and how it stacks up as a HTPC extender and as a Stand-Alone Media Player.

Brent has a huge number of pictures with the post as well as all the details on construction and functionality. 

Not only that but when you head over and read, you find out that he’s giving the review unit to a lucky Geektonic reader!  I don’t use SageTV in my home so you don’t have to worry about me gunning for it but I know a few people who do, so keep reading over at GeekTonic for future details!