SageTV - PVR and Media Center

Several months ago I decided to take SageTV for a spin. I'm a long time XBMC fan, but with HD becoming ubiquitous, I needed to find a solution that could deliver HD content to my TV, and XBMC on the Xbox wasn't doing it.

My first experience with SageTV was a little disappointing. I only needed a HD Media Center, and Sage's Media Center functionality is severely lacking. But, despite that, I forged ahead with a complete SageTV install. The final selling point for me was the SageTV could use a thin client media extender as a front end. Shortly after installing SageTV, I purchased the HD100 Media Extender for SageTV. This extender product worked flawlessly on my divx, xvid, dvd, and HD content. Without the HD extender, SageTV is just like any other Media Center solution, except that it costs money.

One of the core features missing in the SageTV Media Center is the lack of an automated metadata import tool, that can import movie metadata from external sources, such as IMDB, or other locations. This is a standard feature in my XMBC configuration and not having it made the movie experience so much less enjoyable. Not having this feature bothered me so much that I decided to write an external tool that could scrape movie information from several sources and allow SageTV to import that information. This tool is the Batch MetaData Tool. Although the Batch MetaData Tool was written with SageTV in mind, it can be extended to output it's metadata information in different formats. I'll post more about the this tool later.

Since Installing SageTV and buying the HD100, I decided to give the PVR funtionality a try. I started out with SD content, then I purchased the HD-PVR and a Bell 6141 reciever and I started recording HD content. The quality and the performance was very good. SageTV has a very nice interface for recording TV shows, resolving conflicts, and managing recorded shows. I still can't use it to replace my Bell dual tuner HD PVR, but I do use it to supplement it. The great thing about having SageTV is that all of my recordings can be accessed via any computer, or extender, in the house, or even over the internet using the Placeshifter client. Record once, Watch anywhere; a dream come true.

Unfortunately, it's not all bliss. My SageTV setup has locked up from time to time. It seems that it is a combination of SageTV and the HD-PVR. If I disconnect the HD-PVR, then SageTV does not lock up at all. In fact, my SageTV was up for several months until I hooked up the HD-PVR. This may have nothing to do with SageTV and everything to do with the HD-PVR drivers. I'm still investigating.

Just for reference, I thought I'd make a Pros and Cons list of SageTV features.

SageTV Pros

• Stable and reliable PVR and Media Center
• Supports SD and HD extenders
  
• Supports Plugins
• User-friendly UI
• Java based (not everyone would consider this a Pro, but I do)
• Runs on Windows/Linux/Mac
• Has built-in EPG data
• Great at managing recordings
• Placeshifter that turns SageTV into a Sling like appliance.
  

SageTV Cons

• Linux version has no trial
• Plugin model requires learning a new Xml scripting language
• Media Center is very lacking in features (IMDB lookup, Stacking, Genres)
• Cost. You license everything. Server, Client and Extenders.
• No UPnP Media Server or Renderer support.
• Can't play DVDs unless they have been decrypted.
• Can't play iso files.
• Placeshifter can't play DVDs at all.
  

Despite its shortcommings, SageTV is still a great buy, in my oppinion. Keep in mind that SageTV has a very active plugin community and many of it's shortcommings are addressed in user contributed plugins. For example, IMDB support and Web support are both available as plugins. Also, Microsoft Media Center converts are happy to find that there is a SageMC UI replacement that seems to appeal to their visual senses.

If you want a slick HD setup, without a computer in the living room, then SageTV is your answer. It may not be the most visually appealing software, but it will get the job done. If you plan on having a full blown computer in the livingroom, then perhaps something free and open source might be a better option. When I first bought SageTV, XMBC for Linux was not available. Given all that I really wanted was a HD Media Center with lots of functionality, then XMBC for Linux would be been a great choice. It would have required that I put a computer in the livingroom, but given what I've spent on SageTV licenses and hardware (HD-PVR and HD100), I could have put a computer in the livingroom.

So, I've jumped into SageTV with both feet. My next steps are to personalize it and make it better for my needs. To achieve this, I've compiled a list of projects that I'm either working on, or plan to work on, in order to make SageTV better suit my needs.

Proposed Personal Projects

• GWT based media management tool (extending what I've already done with the Batch MetaData Tool) (in progress)
  
• Add in UPnP Server support so that I can use my Xbox's as SD clients, and potentially a PS3 as a client. (researching)
  
• Remote API for SageTV (Export the SageAPI as a set of restful services) (in progress)
  
• GWT based plugin manager. Tool that will show plugins, and allow you install them from the web interface. (researching)
  

Stay in touch, and I'll keep you posted on how I make out with these ambitious projects.