Ok... maybe leaning towards SageTV

And I'm just starting down the MCE path...

MCE extender was expensive but mine is an XBox 360 purchased for $350. So for less than $250 more than a Sage extender, we have a gaming console, DVD player (much better than our existing DVD player), CD player (again, much better than our existing DVD player :)), and access to other MCE features.

Might consider other recording software if it will operate under MCE and provide better features than MCE's recording.
 
electron said:
What parts of MCE are not controllable via home automation software/hardware?
If you wanted to go down a touchscreen controller route, can you control any of the functions in MCE from another application or remotely?

Don't get me wrong, I really like MCE, but when I wanted more than MCE (and when I made the switch there was essentially only an initial version of mControl, I am aware there are a few more plugins now).

To give you an indication, my preferred Sage Skin is the one that looks like MCE...

I think it was designed for a packaged solution, which it does well (barring the limitations on extenders and how they playback. Complex does not make for good WAF).
 
Ok... since I own BeyondTV I figure I might as well try it first. I am going to be using the MCE remote and receiver so what do I need to do to get those going on a new PC?

John
 
You can control MCE by automating the IR part (using an ocelot or something), or you could get the tcp plugin which lets you control MCE using a simple connection.

I definitely like the idea of $100 extenders, but the sad part is, I don't have any issues with MCE 2005. It does everything I want it to. I just don't want to shell out $299 for an Xbox360, since it won't be hooked up to a HDTV, and I wouldn't play any games on it.
 
Good point electron.

I was not aware of the plugin.

I wanted to go down a more integrated route and started down the CQC path, which MCE is not a natural choice then. I agree with you, MCE is nice, and were it not for the issues I noted I would still be using it.

The other thing Sage allows that I have been meaning to try is placeshifter which from how I understand it, allows me to turn pc's in other rooms into sage players. For $20 or so (I think that is what it was) it may be a nice option for pc equipped rooms without the need for a full tv setup.
 
You can manage (and watch) your MCE recordings on any machine using WebGuide or the free Orb service. I tried some other applications this weekend in between downgrading from Vista to MCE 2005, and I can't find anything that is as stable and flexible as MCE. But everyone has different requirements, so I can understand why you went the SageTV route, and maybe will look at it again once 6.0 has been released.
 
electron said:
You can manage (and watch) your MCE recordings on any machine using WebGuide or the free Orb service. I tried some other applications this weekend in between downgrading from Vista to MCE 2005, and I can't find anything that is as stable and flexible as MCE. But everyone has different requirements, so I can understand why you went the SageTV route, and maybe will look at it again once 6.0 has been released.
Oh, now I know what you are talking about. I had not thought about being able to watch things remotely with that, and had originally thought it was equivalent to Tivo's remote scehduling. Good to know.

Jim: It is a great point that if you will use the XBox's other features it is a much better value. My media is streamed from a DVD jukebox or otherwise 'extended' from the main PC, so the DVD is not as valuable to me (I originally thought local DVD's would be useful, but found I don't use them). Same thing with the games (I was not going to use that aspect of it).
 
Mike said:
...
Jim: It is a great point that if you will use the XBox's other features it is a much better value. My media is streamed from a DVD jukebox or otherwise 'extended' from the main PC, so the DVD is not as valuable to me (I originally thought local DVD's would be useful, but found I don't use them). Same thing with the games (I was not going to use that aspect of it).
I keep telling my wife about the great deal and she keeps rolling her eyes :)

She did have fun playing the FIFA 07 soccer demo. She picked up the controller . Figured it out right away and managed to scrore quire a few goals. Took my soccer player daughter who want the game a lot longer to score.

Wife hasn't had a chance to play music yet. I'm still ripping our CD collection. In some cases, I am reripping to higher quality since I have a couple hundred gig of storage dedicated for music.
 
since I have a couple hundred gig of storage dedicated for music.

Careful who you say that in front of. I was told I had issues after mentioning I had 1.35TB in the living room at the moment....

Of course those who are frequenting this forum I suspect will understand 'these issues' (or have worse ones).
 
Well after trying BeyondTV and finding out that there seemingly was no way to play ripped DVD's from the hard drive (VOB files) I then tried SageTV which will but then I could not get the sound working from my VBOX 150 HD tuner card. It worked fine from my PVR-500 card and DVD's. Also mixing a SD cable with a OTA HD card was really cumbersome. I also really did not like the menu setup.

So I decided to just order another copy of MCE2005 and stay with that. It works with no hickups.

Thanks for the feedback....

John
 
jwilson56 said:
Well after trying BeyondTV and finding out that there seemingly was no way to play ripped DVD's from the hard drive (VOB files) I then tried SageTV which will but then I could not get the sound working from my VBOX 150 HD tuner card. It worked fine from my PVR-500 card and DVD's. Also mixing a SD cable with a OTA HD card was really cumbersome. I also really did not like the menu setup.

So I decided to just order another copy of MCE2005 and stay with that. It works with no hickups.

Thanks for the feedback....

John
I know longer use it, but there was a plugin what would allow you play your DVD's from the HD. It would also catalog them, and if in an ISO format use Daemon Tools to mount the ISO prior to playing it.

It is a free download on the BTV board.

Brian
 
Mike said:
since I have a couple hundred gig of storage dedicated for music.

Careful who you say that in front of. I was told I had issues after mentioning I had 1.35TB in the living room at the moment....

Of course those who are frequenting this forum I suspect will understand 'these issues' (or have worse ones).
It's interesting - I work on the biz side @work, and I'm constantly mocking the IT crew b/c of how much they want to charge me to do stuff. For example, they just charged me $50K/terabyte to setup some stuff, and as I needed 5TB of formatted space, that was $250K.

So imagine how nice I am on this forum, and consider what I would do in a non-written form. I heavily abused them about their standards and said "I have 3.5TB in my house at home and I paid $400/TB. Would you like ME to set it up, or do you have a better price?".

Didn't have the response I thought it would. I still paid $250K, but now I get abused every time I see those guys. I suppose healthy banter what makes work fun though...
 
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